The Smart Scholarship Search
College applications are in, and it’s time for the nation’s seniors to do just the opposite of what they’ve been doing for the last 6 months — try not to think about where they will end up going to college. A good distraction from “watching-water-boil” is to think about the next most important question: Once they go, how will they pay for it?
An ambitious senior could easily sink weeks into searching for and applying to a hundred scholarships. A few will pan out; many will not. They will all take time. And while that mythological scholarship for redheads sounds like a great idea, how much energy and effort will it take? One hundred dollars will help with the first year’s tuition, but what of the second, and the third? In many cases, a part-time job would more reliably earn the student the same amount of money.
Better, then, to be very strategic about the scholarship search. Skip the big name search websites which are likely only to award the student with an inbox full of junk mail. Search wisely, keep an organized list, expend effort on the applications themselves. Students will get better results and feel less like they are throwing darts at the sky.
Search Engines
I have been teaching students to use scholarship search engines for years, and every year I am more disappointed with the results. Ads, scholarship “sweepstakes” (in which no application is required and the real goal is to mine the student’s data), pay-to-play schemes, and outright scams abound on these websites. Unless a student is very savvy and committed to separating the gold from the garbage, they might be better off skipping them entirely.
If a student wants to see what’s available on a national scale, try government websites like the US Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website. Students can search by state, degree level, affiliations, and even deadlines. No account required. The Chamber of Commerce also keeps a scholarship list. These tools are less likely to be funded by ads and less likely to include “scholarships” that aren’t really scholarships at all.
A few educational consultants curate excellent lists of scholarships. These are still most often national-level (or local — to them), but a student would at least know that one knowledgable person vetted the list. One list focuses on less known scholarships awarded by colleges themselves; this list is an exhaustive selection of scholarships organized by donor type or student profile.
Narrow the Scope
An even more effective way to find viable scholarships is to think small. A student is more likely to win a scholarship with a smaller pool of applications, so spend time and energy looking for those scholarships that are at the state, and, better yet, local level, or are specific to the student’s interests, talents, and attributes.
By College — One great way to look for scholarships is to look at the financial aid office website of the schools they hope to attend. In California, there are scholarships that are specifically for any California State University (CSU) student. Similarly, the University of California (UC) system keeps up-to-date information on financial aid and scholarships.
In some cases, students are automatically considered for institutional scholarships, but in other cases they are not. Check the college’s website and search for “scholarships” or for their financial aid office for more information. Also look at the department websites for specific majors; some have “first time freshman” scholarships within their majors.
Local Businesses — Think about the larger businesses in the area and search their websites to see what they offer. (For example, in the East Bay, PG&E offers 150 different scholarships to high school seniors; Google also has a large scholarship program.) Local banks and credit unions are also good sources of scholarships.
Education Foundations — Local school and district education foundations often manage smaller scholarships or raise money for their own. In Castro Valley, the Castro Valley Education Foundation’s scholarship program reached nearly $100,000 in scholarships in 2020, and their process makes applying easy.
Your School’s College and Career Office — Finding out about local offerings can be challenging. High school college and career centers often cultivate lists of these scholarships. Here’s the list for Castro Valley High School. It always surprises me how many seniors will spend hours doing generic Google searches but don’t think to start with their own school’s college and career center.
Your Community Affiliations — The final step of narrowing the scope includes looking at the student’s own attributes and community affiliations to find scholarships. Who is going to be “rooting” for this student to succeed in college, and would put money behind trying to help such a student succeed? Their church? Their mother’s employer? Their ethnic community? An association from their prospective career? I’ve listed examples of such scholarships below.
Get Organized
When searching, keep an organized spreadsheet of prospective scholarships and their deadlines (like this one). Give recommenders plenty of time to write letters if they are needed. Put time and energy into the applications themselves instead.
Sample List
It helps to realize that scholarship lists take time to cultivate. Scholarship donors change their criteria and deadlines regularly, and smaller scholarships come and go. I’ve been trying to keep a scholarship list for years. I won’t lie: I can’t keep up….But I also never give up.
Below are a few examples to inspire ideas of what kinds of organizations and attributes a student might use in their search.
[This list is subject to broken links, passed deadlines, and all other errors which arise from even attempting to maintain such a list.]
Happy hunting.
National/State
Prudential Scholarships — for students who volunteer
California State PTA Scholarships — for student PTA members
Friends of the California State Fair — any California student
Bay Area
Palo Alto Medical Foundation (premed students)
Pedrozzi Foundation (Livermore area)
Krishnan-Shah Family Scholarship (larger Bay Area/Silicon Valley-East Bay)
By Attribute
LINK magazine for Counselors — detailed list for minority students
AICPA — Accounting Majors
