Find Scholarships for Current College Students
You are almost finished your first semester as a college student and likely enjoying living more independently, studying subjects you truly find interesting, working toward a career and making a bunch of new friends on campus.
But then it occurs to you: Many of the scholarships you were awarded were not renewable. How will you be able to come up with the necessary funds to continue your pursuit of postsecondary education, and all that it will likely provide later on, when you begin your career? Like most things that are worthwhile, it might not be easy, but there is always a way.
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First things first: Make sure you are committing sufficient time to academics to ensure you keep any institutional scholarships and grants you were awarded. If you need help, ask for it. Go to professors, counselors and students who have taken a class in which you are struggling.
Work-study or other employment is another option, but this should only be considered if you can work in some capacity without compromising your studies. This is especially true if you compromise them to the point where you are seeing a precipitous decline in your GPA, risking scholarships you have received that might be taken away or failing to earn credits for a required class.
One of the best options is to find scholarships for which you qualify, even as an undergraduate student. While there may seem to be few options for those already enrolled in college, you just might find you qualify for several -- perhaps even dozens, or even more -- scholarships as a college freshman and beyond.
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In fact, you will find that there are many scholarships exclusively for college students. Keep searching and working and studying and you will probably be surprised at the number of resources available as you make your way through college.
For starters, scholarships.com has a huge list of scholarships that are for undergraduates. Here are some more specific examples:
High school seniors and college students can apply for the Second Marine Division Association Memorial Scholarship. To qualify, applicants must be an unmarried dependent child or grandchild of a family member who has served in the 2nd Marine Division or a unit attached to the division. Recent awards have been up to $1,200 per year.
At the time of application, the applicant must be either a high school senior, high school graduate or currently enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited college or vocational school. The applicant's total family income must also be less than $90,000 for the tax year prior to the application. The application deadline for next year's award is April 1.
College students pursuing a career in hospitality management can check out the NEWH Hospitality Scholarship. The organization is offering two $5,000 awards for students pursuing a career objective in hospitality management. Applicants must be attending an accredited college, show financial need and have a 3.0 GPA, among other requirements. The application deadline is Jan. 2.
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There's also the Tobin Sorenson Physical Education Scholarship. The award is for students interested in a career as a physical education teacher in grades K-12. The application for the $1,000 award must include evidence that the applicant has sophomore standing or higher at a regionally accredited institution along with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
The student must also display the potential for leadership and extracurricular involvement related to sports education or recreational therapy. The deadline for next year's award is April 1.
To recap, you needn't panic if you are about to go into your second semester of college and don't yet have all the funds you are going to need in order to pay for your second year. However, you should begin looking for scholarships, grants, paid internships, work study and any other potential sources of college funds you can think of.
Start now and see what is out there. The sooner you begin , the sooner you can set your mind a bit more at ease knowing you have a plan for your continued education that you will be able to sustain through at least undergrad. The next step might be grad uate school, but let's take it one degree at a tim e.
Kevin Ladd is the vice president of Scholarships.com, one of the most widely used free college scholarship search and financial aid information resources online. The organization also formed RightStudent about five years ago, a company that has built relationships with colleges and universities across the U.S. to provide students with the opportunity to not only interact with prospective colleges, but to also be recruited by them. Follow Scholarships.com on Twitter and Facebook.
