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As the biggest-ever high school graduating class gets ready to head off to college in the midst of an economic slump, the scramble for tuition -- not to mention room and board, books, and airfare home -- is on.
Private scholarships account for 7% of all grants awarded, and they average just under $2,000. The typical student applies for five to six awards, and the odds of winning one are about one in ten. You don't have to be an all-star athlete, a musical prodigy or even an A student to collect, either.
For instance, the Vegetarian Resource Group offers two $5,000 scholarships per year to students who promote a vegetarian lifestyle. Budding free-market capitalists can vie for one of 521 awards from the Ayn Rand Institute, ranging from $30 to $10,000, by writing an essay on one of Rand's novels.
Start your search in the high school guidance office. The financial-aid officer at the school you're applying to can help as well. FastWeb.com lists more than 1.5 million scholarships worth more than $3.4 billion, and matches scholarships to your profile. You'll get the most bang for your buck by staying local. You may have to look no further than an employer (the student's or a parent's) or a community group, club or lodge. The narrower the field, the less the competition.
Schools may reduce aid if scholarships and aid combined equal more than a student's calculated need. But that might mean a reduction in loans. Don't pay a nickel for services that purport to match you with awards you can find on your own. And never pay an application fee. Scholarships, by definition, are free.
POSTED BY: Dave (February 04, 2009 02:05 PM)
"Every bit helps, and scholarships aren't that hard to get. Really."
Really? Athletic scholarships maybe, but good academic scholarships are extremely hard to come by. My friend's large football playing son was offered and given a full four year scholarship to a private college. This is in contrast to my non-athlete straight A sons who had to apply to dozens of sources and finally got a $50 award, a $200 award, and an offer of free tuition to a small junior college for two years. A few larger colleges and universities offered them token scholarships which wouldn't even cover the first semester. They lived at home and went to the junior college and then got small transfer scholarships to state universities. They went on to grad school and got teaching assistant jobs which helped with tuition. After 5 1/2 years they earned their advanced engineering degrees and both maintained A averages. They then struggled to find employment because most large American companies only wanted H-1b visa workers and wouldn't even give American graduates interviews. While my sons appreciate the aid they received,it was quite obvious that a scholarship system that rewards athletes and short changes academics is quite unfair and misdirected. Even more unfair is the fact that after spending many thousands of dollars to get a good education, American companies would shun them or pay them so little that they may never be able to pay off their college loans. If a company is chartered in the U.S. and under U.S. protection, it should have to hire Americans first.
POSTED BY: Alex (February 05, 2009 01:55 PM)
I agree with Dave - there's no easy money for regular middle class Americans. I registered on a scholarship site which must have sold my email to every spammer out there. The FAFSA (federal student aid) is an insult to my intelligence. They want the student to enter parents' financial info, sign up for selective service and still not get a dime. They do consider Mexico a state though....
POSTED BY: Tim Barlow (February 25, 2009 04:21 PM)
Scholarships are impossible to get. Loans can be gotten but who wants to have their kids with $80,000 in student loans out of college? The system is set up to benefit banks at the expense of families.
Companies would rather hire H1B candidates anyway cause they can pay them less and it is harder for them to switch companies. Globalization does not benefit the average American, only the super rich.
Also the only tax deduction for tuition is for people making under $65000 per year. So a person making $70000 per year with 2 kids in college gets no tuition deduction. Makes no sense.
POSTED BY: Bruce Quill (March 26, 2009 06:56 PM)
Such a big headline for such a poor article. As a parent of a daughter going to college this fall I agree with Tim's comments. A parent plus loan now has a current interest rate of 8.5% !! What a joke with an economy in shambles and the poor banks needing more of our money to bail them out. How about giving your readers a little more tangible information than can be of use , most middle class families are up against it to help their kids pay for school - oh and by the way how much is left in the average 529 plans after the market has tanked! very frustrating
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