Where Do I Find External Scholarships?
Scholarships offer students the opportunity to enhance their academic careers by obtaining funding for college or graduate school. Many scholarships are offered through colleges and universities, often with the help of the college’s financial aid office. The alternative is external scholarships or outside scholarships. These private scholarships are not associated with any specific college. Instead, they are provided by foundations or organizations, businesses, and even private donors. It is important to do research on what scholarships are available in order to find which ones can help you achieve your educational goals.
There are many scholarship websites that list thousands of scholarships for different interests and backgrounds, but it can be difficult to find one that suits your needs perfectly unless you know exactly what scholarship you want to apply for. This becomes increasingly difficult with external scholarships because they are not often advertised by the college's financial aid office. In fact, it helps to investigate these as early as possible in your high school career so you fulfill requirements as soon as possible. Finding external scholarships is a long and tiresome process. A student has to spend hours on Google looking for scholarship providers, reviewing their qualifications and application deadlines.
Surprise – Ask at Your College or University
Although external or outside scholarships are not provided directly by colleges and universities, the ones you applied to may offer information about them. The financial aid offices are supposed to help you find money for college no matter what the source. Of course, this can only help after you are already accepted and enrolled. It makes more sense to start earlier like during your high school years to find a way to get free money for your education.
Scholarships From National, State, and Local Organizations
Most outside scholarships come from funds controlled by non-commercial organizations and groups. These can be part of a legacy from an individual, family, or committee or be associated with a nonprofit organization. These range from merit-based for academic excellence like the National Merit Scholarship to ones focused on specific demographics like the Point Foundation Scholarship for LGBTQ students or the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
In order to find ones that you can apply for, simply start searching for scholarships focused on any group you belong to or achievement you have. Look for ones based on test scores, grade point averages, heritage or social groups, volunteering associations, and ones focus on specific degree programs like those in STEM or government.
Corporations Offer External Scholarships
A long list of companies and corporations also provide scholarships for college education. Some of these require you or your family to be associated with the company, but others do not. They are most often awarded to high school students and cover both merit and need-based situations.
No matter why you want to attend college, you can find external scholarships to help you pay without going into excessive debt with student loans. Although it is essential to fill out the FAFSA form and talk with the particular institutions' financial aid offices, searching for as many outside scholarships as possible can help through your entire four-year educational adventure.