Private Scholarships
When combined with other sources of Federal student aid, private scholarships can make online certificates affordable. Even better, you may be able to find a scholarship that can help you, regardless of your financial status.
Private scholarships encourage different kinds of students to achieve their goals of completing a college certificate. Each scholarship sponsor has its own motivation for funding college education and its own method for awarding these funds. The most frequent sponsors of private scholarships include:
- Charitable foundations
- Employers
- Local governments
- Private citizens
- Social action groups
Unlike some grants and scholarships, which are often need-based or based strictly on merit, private scholarships can assist students from all academic and economic backgrounds. For example, some large corporations extend scholarship programs to the children of employees. Other groups sponsor scholarships to recognize student achievements in sports, politics, academics, or community involvement.
Many scholarships can be relatively small. Although a growing number of Web sites and professional search services attempt to track available scholarships, you can usually get the best scholarship leads by asking leaders and mentors in your own community, such as:
- Managers at local companies
- Law enforcement agencies
- Elected officials
- Leaders of community organizations
- Religious leaders
Colleges and universities often manage a portfolio of scholarships on behalf of alumni and other donors so make sure to ask your school financial aid office how to apply for their scholarships. Many successful alumni often allocate donations that benefit students much like themselves. For instance, a successful communications professional might establish a scholarship fund to benefit students, from her hometown or high school, who want to attend her college.
On Student Aid on the Web, the Federal Student Aid Web site, you can enroll in 'My FSA' and initiate a scholarship search. A number of scholarship compendiums, which contain extensive information about different and often unusual scholarships available nationwide, are published annually and are available at your local library.
Many scholarships have their own application requirements. Scholarships administered by colleges, however, often use information from the FAFSA to determine financial need for the scholarships they administer. SallieMae's Web site can also help you find information about scholarships.
