Lesson – Scholarship Research
Lesson: Performing Scholarship Research. With Internet searches yielding thousands, if not millions of results, it would take thousands of hours to go through a fraction of all available scholarships, and perhaps just as much time to determine which scholarships you have a high probability of being awarded. Consequently, you must develop a scholarship research and application strategy consistent with the amount of time and resources you have to devote to researching and applying for scholarships.
Create a Scholarship Table: If you did not complete the ‘Lesson – Get Organized for Scholarships, in which you received instructions for creating a ‘Scholarship Table:’
- Click here to Create a Scholarship Table Form.
- Share your Scholarship Table form to cpc@collegeplanningcohort.com
Review the following steps for developing a workable and manageable scholarship research and application strategy (Show Me the Money, pp. 175-216):
- Determine your primary method of research, i.e., Internet or printed material
- Review the available grants and scholarships on your state finance commission website by performing an Internet search on “(your state, e.g., South Carolina) + student finance commission”
- Identify and tally the state grants and scholarships for which you qualify (indicate the name of the program and amount on the following line
- Identify the scholarship criteria that best reflects your focus, i.e., GPA, ACT/SAT scores, class rank, race, gender, community service, leadership, foster care, military, college major, vocational or trade program, and for each of your clubs and extracurricular activities (see reference tables included in this activity)
- Begin locally by identifying scholarships that have been awarded at your high school, in your community, and local by faith- and community-based organizations, fraternities/sororities, local businesses, and the clubs and activities in which you participate
- Develop a list of trusted scholarship and financial aid sources, such as your high school counselor, the financial aid administrator at the colleges to which you are planning to apply, families where students have won scholarships, or organizations that have successfully provided assistance to students in your community
- Develop a list of credible scholarship programs for which you personally know students who have successfully applied for and received scholarships
- Identify need-based grants and merit-based scholarships offered by each of the institutions on your college list
- Visit your school’s media center or local public library, and ask a librarian to guide you through some of the local scholarship resources and listings of some of your local community and civic organizations offering scholarships
- Use different Internet search engines and scholarship websites (see reference tables on the following pages)
- Focus your scholarship research on those scholarships best suited to your achievement level and personality. For example, some students would do well applying for scholarships requiring an interview, while other students would experience difficulty interviewing.
- Identify scholarships that may not be offered by your institutions, such as institutional scholarships, but which may be associated with your institution such as the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society scholarships (http://www.ptk.org/scholarships/associatedegreescholarships.aspx), or which may be offered for certain types of institutions, such as the NRCS 1890 National Scholars Program (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/contact/sep/?cid=stelprdb1044309) offered to students attending 18 HBCUs.
- Identify the key phrases to guide your initial scholarship research. For example, using different Internet Search Engines to research the phrases, “First-Generation Scholarships,” “Minority Scholarships,” and “Leadership Scholarships” yielded vast differences in results differences in results, from a few thousand to several million.
- Search for scholarship deadlines. For example, “scholarships with december deadlines,” “accounting scholarships with december deadlines,” “first generation scholarships with december deadlines,=” etc.
- Go to high school and college websites to research scholarships posted by counselors and financial aid offices. Begin with high schools or colleges similar to yours, such as public high schools, community colleges, HBCUs, etc., as they are more likely to post scholarships for students from similar demographic backgrounds. Expand your search to the websites of top high schools and selective colleges, such as those posted on the U.S. News and World Reports “Best U.S. High Schools,” and “Best Colleges.”
The most direct pathway to fully funding your college costs is matching to the right college—one to which you qualify for generous need-based grants and awards or merit-based scholarships. Any remaining unmet costs can be supplemented by small local scholarships. At many colleges, large private scholarships that you receive will lead to the college reducing the amount of their grants and scholarships.
Search Engine | First-Generation Scholarship | Minority Scholarships | Leadership Scholarships |
www.aol.com | 6,860,000 | 28,800,000 | 71,400,000 |
www.ask.com | 44 pages | 48 pages | 46 pages |
www.bing.com | 2,010,000 results | 5,560,000 results | 22,700,000 results |
www.dogpile.com | 84 pages | 79 pages | 100 pages |
www.duckduckgo.com | Unknown. Results shown on scrollable page. | Unknown. Results shown on scrollable page in alphabetical order. | Unknown. Results shown on scrollable page. |
www.entireweb.com | 788,000 | 3,290,000 | 38,400,000 |
www.google.com | 3,220,000 results | 8,020,000 results | 18,900,000 results |
www.lycos.com | 2,060,000 results | 15,200,000 results | 62,500,000 results |
www.search.com | 1,390,020 results | 2,100,020 results | 3,770,020 results |
www.yahoo.com | 11,500,000 results | 15,700,000 results | 62,500,000 results |
www.yandex.com | 24 pages | Over 100 pages | Over 100 pages |
www.yippy.com | 37,000 results | 15,400,000 | 62,400,000 |
The following table provides a partial listing of scholarship websites (as scholarship websites regularly open, close, and are absorbed by other websites) that may assist with your scholarship research.
Website | Web Address |
Big Future | https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/grants-scholarships |
College Grants Database | |
CollegeNet.com | |
College Scholarships.org | |
Cappex.com | |
Chegg | |
College Xpress | |
Edudaris Educational Network | |
Fastweb.com | |
Scholarship America | |
Scholarship Money | |
Scholarships360 | |
Scholarship Experts | |
Scholarships.com | |
Scholarships for Women |
The following table provides a partial listing of clubs and organizations offering scholarships to its members.
Club/Organization | Scholarship Website |
American Sign Language Honor Society | |
Cum Laude Society | |
Delta alpha Pi Honor Society for Students with Disabilities | |
Delta Epsilon Phi National German Honor Society | |
Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business | |
Eta Sigma Gamma | |
Future Business Leaders of America | |
Golden Key International Honour Society | |
International Thespian Society | |
Japanese National Honor Society | |
Junior Achievement | |
Junior Chamber International | |
Kappa Mu Epsilon National Math Honor Society | |
Key Club | |
Mu Alpha Theta National High School Math Honor Society | |
Mu Eta Sigma National Homeschool Math Honor Society | |
International Distinguished Scholars | |
National Art Honor Society | |
National Beta Club | |
National Business Honor Society | |
National Chinese Honor Society | |
National Elementary Honor Society | |
National English Honor Society | |
National Forensic League | |
National Honor Society | http://www.nhs.us/scholarshipsandawards/nhsscholarshipprogram.aspx |
National Honor Society for Dance Arts | http://www.ndeo.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=893257&module_id=53094 |
National Honorary Junior Beta Club | |
National Italian Honor Society | |
National Junior Honor Society | |
National Society of Collegiate Scholars | |
National Society of High School Scholars | |
Pi Delta Phi, the National French Honor Society | |
Quill and Scroll | |
Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society | |
Science National Honor Society | |
Tri-M Music Honor Society | |
United States JCI Senate | |
United States Senate Youth Program | |
Veterans National Honor Society | |
Who’s Who Among Students | |
World Scholar International Honor Society | http://www.worldscholar.org/international-honor-society/honor-society-becomeamember.php |
Tri-M Music Honor Society | |
United States JCI Senate |