College Scholarships
When you’re planning your college career, you’ll likely be looking for ways to help subsidize your education. After all, school tuition is one of the largest investments you’ll ever make in your life. The good thing about scholarships, compared to other forms of student financial aid, is that you do not need to pay back this type of money when you graduate. Scholarships, grants and fellowships should be your first search, before you go running to loan office. College scholarships come from a number of sources, so here is a brief overview of who awards scholarships and why.
Athletic scholarships are some of the most desirable college scholarships available because they usually offer athletes a “full ride” to college. This year, $1 billion was given out to competent athletes. In rare instances, college offers come pouring in for top players; however, in most cases, you will need to send letters to coaches at your universities of choice and market yourself. Many students start applying in their junior year of high school, including a resume, high school experience, grades, field of interest, relevant statistics and sports experience, athletic or service awards won and coach contact information. If possible, it’s best to include game footage videos, statistics, a recommendation letter from a current coach and a list of upcoming games or meets. For more information, visit the National Collegiate Athletic Association at www.ncaa.org.
A college scholarship can also be given out by a private organization, some of which offer from $50 to $20,000 to aspiring students. A scholarship can come from a corporation who wants to attract new employees and support their community. Businesses like Best Buy, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Intel, Wegmans, Sunoco, Target, Dell, Toyota, General Motors and Sallie Mae offer awards to local students. A good place to start your scholarship search is with your own employer or your parents’ employers. The Chamber of Commerce will also have details on community players with scholarships for local students. Indirectly, students may also seek paid internship opportunities, which provide real world experience and training in exchange for a decent wage. The best fields for internships are accounting, hospitality, manufacturing, engineering, consulting, insurance and consumer goods. Some of these jobs pay as much as $25/hour and typically 80 to 100% of all interns are offered full-time jobs after their intern session is over.
There are many other sources of college scholarships available to you. Unions like the AFL-CIO offer a scholarship service that has $4 million in available funds. The military gives out billions of dollars in scholarship opportunities for family members of a veteran, active duty recruits, reserve personnel and National Guard members. Additionally, each religion has a few organizations that provide scholarships for their members, so that’s another area worth looking into. A good place to learn more about all scholarship opportunities is www.students.gov.
Thomas Bronson has been working and generating a lot of leads from the internet over the last few years and one of his recommended course that teaches it is traffic secrets 2.0. Go to his website to check out his traffic secrets 2 today or alternatively, you can also get his free course on the step by step of how to start a home business.