When you think about scholarships, you might imagine awards for students with artistic, academic, or athletic talent, but you don't need to run a four-minute mile or ace an entrance exam to get a great scholarship.

Companies and special-interest groups have created scholarships to encourage students of specific ethnicities, nationalities, or backgrounds. Corporations often set aside funds to help employees or future-employees get an education that benefits the business.

Scholarships for Part-Time Students

• College Scholarship Programs. Many educational programs have substantial scholarship opportunities. Alumni may have endowed a scholarship, or community groups may fund scholarships that they ask the school to administer. Online schools often award additional scholarships for military service.
• Prestigious Awards. Companies like Intel and Hallmark offer huge tuition benefits to promising students. These popular scholarships are competitive and often hold applicants to certain age, academic achievement, and future employment restrictions.
• Community Service Awards. If you're inspired to serve others, you may find yourself eligible for scholarships that reward people who reach out to their communities. Many community service awards require recipients to commit to a specific number of service hours while they're still in school.
• Essay Contests. Use your love of writing to earn yourself money for college. Special interest groups hold essay contests on a range of topics from patriotism, to vegetarianism, to religion. Take a passionate stance on an issue that matters, and you could profit.
• Other Scholarships. Could you make a prom dress with duct tape? Could you do it left-handed? Believe it or not, scholarships exist for people with unique skills and abilities. If you speak Klingon or practice mental telepathy, there may be a scholarship out there with your name on it. Really.

When you budget for your college career, think of scholarships as money that rewards you for pursuing your dreams. With 1.3 million scholarships worth an estimated $3 billion dollars, you have a lot of options. Scholarship search Web sites can be helpful, but you shouldn't have to spend your own money on an expensive search site. Consider free sites like FastWeb or Student Aid on the Web to start your scholarship search. See the private scholarship section for more information.