Introduction

Searching for college scholarships can be long and frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be. What’s more, many scholarship search engines are available online that offer various resources and opportunities at the click of your mouse. In this guide, we’ll outline some of our favorite ways to find scholarships so you can start your search today!

Scholarship search engines

. These websites allow you to enter information about yourself, your educational goals, and other relevant details so that they can match you with scholarships that meet your specific needs and interests.

College financial aid websites

College financial aid websites are a great place to start your scholarship search. Most colleges have their financial aid websites, which offer information on the various grants, loans, and scholarships available to students at that institution.

These sites typically list scholarships for all students attending that college or university. You can search for these scholarships by entering criteria such as your major, state, or zip code into an online database (or “portal”) associated with your chosen school’s website. Each portal may have different features; some may allow you to search by keyword, while others only allow Boolean searches by entering two keywords at once (e.g., “biology” AND “medicine”).

Once you’ve found a potential match among your results, read each scholarship description carefully to understand exactly what it entails before applying–you don’t want any surprises!

Nonprofit organizations offering scholarships

Nonprofit organizations can be local, national, or international. They may be focused on religious, political, or cultural issues; government grants and private donations may fund them. Whatever the case, these organizations are dedicated to providing scholarships for students who might not otherwise have access to higher education due to financial hardship.

Nonprofit scholarships are much less common than other funding sources because they require more work from both sides–the student (or their parents) must apply directly with the organization that provides funds for their program; there is no centralized database like NACAC has created for traditional college-sponsored scholarships. However, if you’re willing to put in some legwork and do some digging online or at your local library/archives center, where they keep old newspapers and newsletters from local organizations, you could find a nice little windfall at graduation time!

Professional organizations offering scholarships

Professional organizations are a great place to search for scholarships. The most common types of professional organizations offering scholarships are medical, military, and engineering. However, professional organizations also focus on specific fields such as nursing, teaching, and law.

If you are interested in one of these fields, check out the websites of your chosen profession’s association or union to see if they have any scholarship opportunities available.

High school guidance counselor offices

Ask your high school guidance counselor. If you need to know who the guidance counselor is, ask someone in the office who can point you in the right direction. The guidance counselor’s job is to help students find scholarships, so they’re often eager to help.

If there are any local scholarships available for which you might qualify–and if your high school offers any–it’s worth asking about them as well. You never know what kind or amount of money might be available until you ask!

If none of these options pan out (or if they do), then it may be time for plan B: using a search engine such as Google or Bing and searching by keyword terms like “scholarships” or even just typing in “scholarships” without any additional words added onto it first.

Community and religious organizations offering scholarships

Community and religious organizations offering scholarships

While many scholarships are offered through private companies, community and religious organizations can also be an excellent place to start your search. These organizations provide scholarships for students of all faiths, making them a great resource if you seek funding from a specific group in your community. Some examples of these types of organizations include:

• The Rotary Club (Rotary International)
• The Lions Club (Lions International)

Employer tuition reimbursement programs

• Employer tuition reimbursement programs are more common than you might think. If your employer offers this benefit, you may be able to pay for your education with pre-tax dollars.
• To find out if your company has a tuition assistance program, search the HR section of their website and read through any materials related to benefits or employment policies. If they don’t have one listed online, ask someone in human resources about it; they may be able to point you toward other sources that could also help (like employee handbooks).
• Once you’ve established whether or not an employer-sponsored program exists at your workplace–and if so, how much money is available per year–it’s time to apply! Applications will often require proof of enrollment in an eligible program as well as evidence that classes will lead directly toward career advancement within the organization where the student works; many companies also require students to take courses during business hours so they can remain productive throughout their studies without missing too many days mainly due because travel time would eat up valuable hours spent working instead.

College and university scholarship databases

• College and university scholarship databases
• These online databases can be used to search for scholarships by topic, school, and state. They’re beneficial if you want scholarships at a specific school or in your home state. For example, suppose you want to attend college in California and apply for an engineering scholarship. In that case, using the Cappex Scholarship Finder is an excellent way of doing so because it allows users to filter their results based on those criteria (and more).

National and local scholarship competitions

If you’re looking for a scholarship, knowing where to look is essential. There are many different types of scholarships, which can be found at the local, state, and national levels. National and state competitions are often organized by nonprofit organizations like the National Merit Scholarship Corporation or your state education department.

Local organizations may also sponsor scholarship competitions open only to residents of your area, including Rotary Club awards or awards from community businesses like restaurants or grocery stores.

Military and veteran scholarship programs

Scholarships for veterans and their families

Many scholarships are available to active military members, veterans, and their families. These can be used for college, vocational training, or technical education programs. Some of the more common programs include:

• The Department of Veterans Affairs Survivors & Dependents Educational Assistance Program (DEA) provides up to 36 months of education benefits for eligible dependents who lost a parent in service or later died from a service-related disability. It’s unnecessary that you were born after your parent entered active duty; if you were already born when they joined the military, you may still qualify! You must apply within two years after reaching age 18 or 22 if enrolled full-time at an accredited institution.
• The Military Child Education Program helps children whose parents are deployed overseas by providing help with finding tutors and counseling services as needed during deployment periods; this includes giving transportation between school locations if required by distance from home base.

Diversity and identity-based scholarship programs

Diversity and identity-based scholarships are offered to people from a specific group. For example, there are scholarships for women in STEM fields or for people with disabilities.

Another common type of diversity/identity-based scholarship requires you to self-identify as belonging to a particular group (e.g., African American). These types of scholarships can be found on sites like Fastweb and CollegeScholarships.com.

State-specific scholarship programs

There are state-specific scholarship programs available on a variety of topics, including:

• STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)
• Arts & Humanities
• Health care professions

These scholarships are available to students from all 50 states, and many offer awards for undergraduates and graduate students. They also cover a wide range of majors and career paths, including nursing or teaching, as well as business administration or graphic design.

Merit-based scholarship opportunities

Merit-based scholarships are available to students who have demonstrated academic excellence. A student’s GPA, test scores, and other achievements determine merit-based scholarships. In some cases, students may be eligible for more than one scholarship based on their high school or college academic performance.

To find out if you qualify for a merit-based scholarship:

• Research your options by searching for “scholarships” using Google or another search engine of your choice
• Contact the financial aid office at your college or university; they might be able to recommend some options that aren’t found online.

Need-based scholarship opportunities

Need-based scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate financial need. These awards can be based on academic or athletic performance, but the main focus of these awards is ensuring that those who need them most receive them.

Essay and creative writing scholarship contests

Essay and creative writing scholarships are the most common academic scholarship, with thousands offered each year. These contests are open to all students, even those who still need to meet the eligibility requirements of other types of awards. There are many different types of essay and creative writing scholarships available:

• Scholarships for particular majors or fields of study (e.g., nursing)
• Prizes based on ethnicity or gender (typically awarded by organizations such as the [National Association for Women](https://www.nawpfkcvolunteers.org/))
• Grants for research projects

Video and multimedia scholarship contests

Video and multimedia scholarship contests are a great way to showcase your creative side. You must create a video to answer a specific question or problem to enter. For example, one contest asks students how they would use 1 million dollars in their community if they won it. Another asks them what they do when someone says something offensive or inappropriate about their race or ethnicity — and then encourages them to share their response on camera!

There are also other types of multimedia contests that don’t require you to produce a video but still allow you some freedom in how you express yourself through media: One example is an essay contest hosted by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), where entrants must submit an essay explaining why music education is essential in today’s society; another requires applicants write about themselves as either an author or musician/composer before submitting three pieces created using any combination of writing/composing tools like pen & paper; computer software such as Word documents with spell check enabled plus additional features such as AutoCorrect which corrects spelling mistakes automatically when typed text contains misspelled words while ordering without actually having any knowledge beforehand whether those errors exist within sentences being written out manually by users into separate paragraphs separated by periods (full stops) at endpoints within longer texts containing multiple sections each consisting solely from single sentences each containing multiple clauses linked together through connective words relating these individual parts together into longer passages comprising several sentences which may include various clauses per line depending upon whether one wants simple paragraphs consisting only 1 sentence long instead -or- complex ones made up entirely out multiple combinations thereof depending upon context requirements specific situations dictate whether we should choose single sentence ones instead multiples thereof)

Conclusion

You’ve got to be willing to put in the work to find a scholarship. It’s not just about applying–you have to research and make sure you’re applying for scholarships that fit your interests, goals, and needs. Then there are all those other details! But don’t worry: we’ve got you covered here at StudentScholarships.com with our extensive resources on how students can find the best scholarships available today.