The statistics on college debt are grim.
In 2013, 69 percent of college seniors graduated with debt, averaging $28,400 per senior, according to the Project on Student Debt.
If that doesn’t make you wince, you’ve probably lost touch with reality. Many seniors will make less than that their first year out of college.
College can be expensive, and many students can’t pay that much out of pocket. But students give up too easily. Applying for loans and working full time isn’t the only way to pay for school.
Scholarships are essential to affording your college education. Before you roll your eyes and say you’ve tried that and it didn’t work, keep reading.
Most students readily admit that Florida Bright Futures barely pays their bills, and we would agree. The standards for Bright Futures become stricter every year, and the dollar amount paid to students becomes less and less. Students spend so much time being depressed over Bright Futures that they don’t realize they need to think bigger.
Scholarship opportunities are literally everywhere. A lot of them aren’t worth your time, but you have a better chance than you think. Here’s where to look:
USF and Foundation Scholarships. These scholarships are a huge secret around USF, and they’re not even intended to be. Philanthropists and organizations across the Tampa Bay area pour money into the USF system, so students like you can afford your college tuition.
The application process is relatively simple. A quick Google search on “USF Foundation scholarships” will yield the scholarship application wizard, called STARS Online. You must fill out basic information about yourself, complete your FAFSA, answer a couple of questions and write a brief essay. The database hosts numerous scholarships, several of which you will be eligible for, no matter who you are. Some scholarships require additional materials, such as an extra essay, but filling out the basic application will put you in the running for many of the scholarships.
Sure, it helps if your financial situation isn’t great, if you are the first in your family to go to college or if your GPA is a 4.0. But you can still get a few great scholarships without meeting any of these categories.
For returning students, the deadline to apply is April 15. But don’t wait that long. Many of the individual scholarships have earlier deadlines # some as soon as early February.
Your local bank. If you bank with a small bank or local credit union, your bank might invest in education. Check to see if they offer any scholarships. If they do, the pool of students applying is likely small. You might have a better chance of standing out. Banks also tend to favor community service, so if you’ve done a lot of work in the community, a bank scholarship may just be coming your way.
Local museums. Find a museum with a subject area you are interested in. Chances are, they may offer a scholarship for people like you.
Sometimes you just have to look and apply. Stay away from national scholarships, because the pool of candidates will likely be large. You’ll have to stand out or just get extremely lucky to win.
Don’t buy the lie that you’ll never win a scholarship. Many of your peers go to college for free because they were diligent in applying for scholarships.
