Grants and students loans aren’t the only game in town when it comes to getting financial aid for college, and the other form of aid besides grant money that never has to be paid back at any point involves getting a scholarship.
Scholarships are indeed money that you shouldn’t ever have to payback under normal circumstances, and in this regard they are very similar to grants. Ultimately, scholarships can provide you with a wide range of aid, with award amounts totaling from only a few hundred dollars, all the way up to your entire cost of attendance.
The Pell Grant and Full Scholarships
If you are able to get a full scholarship, you should be aware that such an award will negate your ability to get the Pell Grant. Remember that you can only receive the Pell if you need financial aid up to your cost of attendance, and by getting a full scholarship you will therefore be canceling out your need for such aid.
If you are somehow given a Pell Grant in concert with a full scholarship, make sure to let your school’s financial aid department know. This is because you don’t want to have what is known as a “Pell Overpayment” on your record, as this can prevent you from receiving any sort of future federal student aid.
Getting a Scholarship
Most scholarships are given to students who exhibit certain credentials, such as being part of a specific ethnicity, getting good grades in school, and excelling in a particular sport.
There are countless reasons why students may receive a scholarship, and while most scholarships are given to students who demonstrate some sort of outstanding characteristic, ability, or achievement, you may be able to find a scholarship that is of a more general nature, and can thus be secured simply by applying and having a strong application.
- Some scholarships are given to students without the need of a formal application. Others require that students take the time out to apply on their own on an independent basis.
By filling out a FAFSA you should be taken into consideration for various scholarships that may be provided by your college, or by the government. If you want to improve your chances at getting a scholarship, you should choose to do your own independent research in order to locate any awards that you may be able to qualify for.
Upon identification of such awards, you should then go through the appropriate application process and make sure to pay attention to detail, as each scholarship typically has a unique regimen that students must abide by in order to become eligible.
Most scholarships are given out by certain organizations, whether they’re rooted in the government, in academia, or in the private sector. Places to begin your search include:
- Your college
- Your high school
- The government
- The town you’re from
- Past employers
- Civic organizations
- Local businesses
- Other organizations that you may have had some kind of association with in the past.
Utilizing Scholarship Aid
Most scholarships are given on a one-time basis once you have been granted the award. This means that you rarely have to re-apply each year to receive the aid that a particular scholarship may be able to provide you, and rather the proceeds of most scholarships are either disbursed to you, your school, or scheduled according to a semester-by-semester, or year-by-year basis.
You can of course use the money you receive from a scholarship in conjunction with most other kinds of financial aid, including the Pell Grant and student loans, just make sure that your financial aid department knows about all of the various aid you are receiving for a particular award year.
While scholarships are fairly difficult to get, they are a feasible option for any student who requires additional aid for college, and either exhibits some sort of unique skill or trait, or is willing to take their chances in applying on an independent basis for various awards.
While most students don’t have the energy to do this, it is highly recommended that you at least ask either your secondary school guidance counselor, or your college’s financial aid department about what awards may be available for someone who has a profile similar to your own. If these places don’t give you the answers you were looking for, it may simply be a better idea to start doing some digging on your own—you’d be surprised about what you can discover by doing your own research.
