Student Aid on the Web offers information about federal education scholarships.
Information about scholarships is available from a wide range of sources, including individual colleges, governmental agencies and commercial, professional and private organizations. Most of this information can be found online, allowing you to search based on your educational goals, your background or personal characterizations or the area in which you live or hope to attend school.The majority of web-based sources also provide applications that can be downloaded and mailed in or submitted online.
School Student Aid Offices
The student aid office at your college or university can provide information about school scholarships, state grant programs and federal funding. The majority of school financial aid offices also have websites with scholarship information and applications. For example, the University of Washington has online information for undergraduate and graduate scholarships available at its campuses in Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma. The University of Tennessee Knoxville has a financial aid website that includes the types of funding available, including programs funded by Lottery Tennessee.
State Student Aid
The majority of U.S. states fund scholarship programs for college students and have dedicated websites on their programs.. For instance, the state of Mississippi operates the RiseUp! website, which enables students to apply for federal aid, state grants and private and school-based scholarship programs. The California Student Aid Commission administers scholarship and grant programs for that state and operates a website with comprehensive aid information. You can learn about the need-based Cal Grants program, along with scholarships specifically for such groups as nursing students, future teachers and foster children.
Commercial Websites
Commercial websites, such as Scholarships and Fastweb (see Resources), provide tools for you to search for college programs and find funds to pay for your education. You can search for scholarships according to the school you plan to attend, your field of study, your ethnic background or personal characteristics such as community involvement or extracurricular activities. The search technology at commercial sites can help match your specific personal information with grants and scholarships available from your school, professional organizations associated with your field of study and state of residence.
Federal Student Aid
The federal government operates multiple student aid websites, including Grants, Students and Student Aid on the Web (see Resources). The Student Aid on the Web website offers information about need-based programs, such as Pell Grants, along with merit-based scholarships, such as the SMART Scholarship. The Students website provides information about planning for college and student life as well as offering a database of grant and scholarship programs offered by the federal government, state governments, individual schools and private foundations.
Private Organizations
Private organizations that focus on your field of study or your personal characteristics also offer scholarships. For instance, if you plan to go to law school you may qualify for the Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund offered by the American Bar Association. If nursing is the career you plan, the National Student Nurses' Association offers scholarships for nursing students in associates, bachelor's and doctoral degree programs. If you are a minority student, the United Negro College Fund administers dozens of scholarships for students of all races and in all fields of study.
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