A Guide to Finding Scholarships

Start with your school’s aid office

A scholarship is a gift you do not repay, but an advertised award is not an offer to you (FSA: finding and applying for scholarships). Begin with the financial aid office at each school you are considering and ask which awards apply to your program, whether a separate application is required, and what you must do to keep an award in later terms. That office can also tell you how an outside award changes the aid it offers you.

Search for free, and confirm every award at its source

You pay nothing to find scholarships or to file the FAFSA. Free places to look include the school’s financial aid office, a high school or TRIO counselor, your state grant agency, your employer or a parent’s employer, community and religious organizations, and professional associations in your field (FSA: finding and applying for scholarships). The U.S. Department of Labor’s Scholarship Finder searches thousands of awards and sorts them by deadline, but its own guidance is that sponsors can change deadlines and eligibility without notice, so confirm the current rules on the sponsor’s website (CareerOneStop Scholarship Finder).

Each scholarship has its own application requirements, and its website should show who qualifies and how to apply (FSA: finding and applying for scholarships). Some deadlines fall about a year before college starts, so it helps to begin the summer between your junior and senior years of high school and to keep applying to any awards whose windows are still open.

Compare the conditions, not just the headline amount

For each award, write down the official application address, the deadline for the applicable cycle, the eligible programs and enrollment load, the renewal conditions, and whether other aid changes the amount. A renewable award and a one-year award are different, so ask what happens if you change your course load, transfer, or take longer to finish. Award money may go to the school and be applied to tuition, fees, or other amounts you owe, with any leftover paid to you, or it may be sent to you directly; the provider should say which (FSA: finding and applying for scholarships). Confirm these details with the awarding organization rather than assuming a directory is current.

FAFSA and scholarship applications are different steps

Filing the FAFSA is free and is the main route to federal, state, and many school awards; our FAFSA guide covers the deadlines, contributors, and corrections. A scholarship from a school or another organization has its own application, so finishing one form does not finish the other. Keep in mind that all of your aid together cannot be more than the school’s cost of attendance, and that you must tell the school about an outside award so the aid office can adjust your package (FSA: finding and applying for scholarships).

Watch for the signals of a scholarship scam

A legitimate company never guarantees or promises a scholarship or grant (FTC: how to avoid scholarship and financial aid scams). Treat each of these as a scam: a guarantee or a “money-back” condition, a “finalist” notice for a contest you never entered, a request for a credit card or bank account number to hold an award or confirm eligibility, and pressure to pay at a seminar or on a call. Never pay a processing fee to apply for a scholarship, and never share your FSA ID with a company or consultant — only you and your family should complete the FAFSA, which is always free (FTC; FSA: avoiding student aid scams). If a company is unfamiliar, check it before you pay, and report scholarship and financial aid scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general (FTC).

Bring each award back to the comparison

This guide does not list awards or predict your eligibility. The degree guides compare a program’s published per-credit tuition and confirmed fees for the residency rate and transfer credits you enter; they cannot confirm admission, an aid offer, or any scholarship. Check an award’s conditions before you rely on it, and report a correction with the official award page if a linked detail changes.