Recently, I've received several messages regarding where to find scholarships for college. Many, many things have changed since the "olden days" when your parents and I went to college and, unfortunately, the mythical "I got a million dollars for college!" news stories you hear are just headlines designed to grab attention. So let's discuss scholarships now and talk about what's really going on, where to find money and where to dedicate your time.

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The General Scam of Online Private Scholarships

Those mysterious "$1000 No Essay" scholarships you see online and the various scholarship search engines where you enter all of your data to see a special list just for you? Scams. All of them. There is a saying that if you're not buying the product, you ARE the product. These are all data mines. You, and your data, are what is being sold to companies and colleges. Sure, they might give away $1000 a month to one person somewhere. But you need to understand that the volumes of spam emails you're receiving are in part, because you entered a contest and it is definitely not for a scholarship based on your merit or anything you did. If you decide to go down this path, know that you are entering contests, not scholarships, and that you are selling all of your data in the process. 

 

There are a handful of private scholarships that are worth your time, if your family is very low income, typically below $60,000 a year, depending on your family size. These are the national scholarships you've likely heard of by this point- Gates Foundation, Coca-Cola, Questbridge, to name a few. These are more selective than even the Ivy League and go to only a few students each year with the highest grades and the most rigorous coursework, along with outstanding leadership. 

 

Local Scholarships

There are smaller private scholarships that *might* be worth your time, but be sure to read the rest of this email before deciding. These come from parent employers, local Rotary or Lions' Clubs, small businesses and other local contacts in your area. These are specific to your region or to someone you know. They will require time and energy though, often requiring an essay, a letter of recommendation and a transcript or other paperwork and possibly attending a meeting and giving a speech or receiving an award in public. You'll need to do the math- if you had a part-time job working 10 hours a week, would you make more money than if you applied to 10 of these and received 2? What is the cost-benefit analysis and are you willing to put in the time? Would studying for that AP/IB exam or taking a dual enrollment class actually pay off more in the long-run? Is the scholarship renewable? And importantly, can you "scholarship stack" at your school of choice? 

 

Scholarship Stacking and Scholarship Displacement- the Zero-Sum Game

Everybody wants to keep money in their pockets when possible, and this is no different in the college financing world. Most private colleges, and many public colleges, will take every dollar you receive from a private scholarship and subtract that from any financial aid award. So you can hustle and get yourself $10,000 from outside sources, and you think you're going to add that to the $30,000 merit scholarship you received, right? No. In many cases, you still only end up with $30,000. The colleges want to keep their financial awards for students who need them and don't have outside sources, so they'll just subtract $10,000 from your grant! Worst case scenario, your scholarships from outside sources are not renewable either, and now you have lost that source your sophomore year, but your college doesn't restore your previous merit award either! 

 

It's important to understand that you may not know what a college's policy is on scholarship stacking until the summer before you go off to college. They may have a policy that is clear on their website, or they may not. You will have to call each financial aid office of the colleges on your list to get an understanding of their policies. But they also change and do not have to notify students when they do. 

 

Chasing Merit

The best scholarships will always come from colleges themselves. If you're looking for bang for your buck, you'll want to chase merit scholarships. These won't come from selective schools- they don't need to throw money at top performers! Jeff Selingo calls these Buyers and Sellers in his book Who Gets In and Why Some colleges are looking to "buy" students. These are the schools that are looking to give significant merit scholarships and discounts to students they'd like to attract and they're willing to pay for it! In order to truly chase merit though, you have to be willing to put away the notion that you have to attend a national name-brand school. You're looking for a bargain, which means you're more likely looking at a smaller school, with a much higher acceptance rate and in a state you may not find all that favorable. If you are financially sensitive at all, or you are hoping to chase merit, your list should have at least one "likely school" that includes a private school option where you will receive a significant scholarship. Most of these merit scholarships are automatically awarded with your acceptance and there's nothing else you need to do.

 

Other colleges will have a merit scholarship portal that will be open after you submit your application. These are specialty scholarships, often created by donors with special qualifications or specific majors. You'll be able to go through and apply directly to those once you submit your application and again each year you are enrolled. These are absolutely worth your time!

 

Public schools, particularly large flagship universities, are not going to give you piles of merit scholarship money overall. However, if you're in a WUE state, you have many options that are less expensive, but are in less-desirable locations. East coast students can find similar options through https://nebhe.org/ and southern students can use the Academic Common Market. 

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