Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial assistant for a student to further their education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria, which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Scholarship money is not required to be repaid.

Getting a scholarship is a very good option to finance your studies and enables you to fully concentrate on getting your degree instead of worrying about money issues. This article is giving you an overview on the life and legacy of the donor or founder of various scholarships across borders, the colleges and universities that offers the scholarships, when to look out for the scholarships and how to succeed with that.

International Students on Scholarships

Classification of Scholarships

The most common scholarships may be classified as:

• Merit-based: These awards are based on a student's academic, artistic, athletic or other abilities, and often factor in an applicant's extracurricular activities and community service record. The most common merit-based scholarships, awarded by either private organizations or directly by a student's intended college, recognize academic achievement or high scores on standardized tests. Most such merit-based scholarships are paid directly by the institution the student attends, rather than issued directly to the student.
• Need-based: In the United States for instance, these awards are based on the student and family's financial record and require applicants to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to qualify if the scholarship is a federal award. Private need-based scholarships also often require the results of a FAFSA, which calculates a student's financial need through a formula that looks at the expected family contribution and cost of attendance at the intended college.
• Student-specific: These are scholarships where applicants must initially qualify by gender, race, religion, family and medical history, or many other student-specific factors. Minority scholarships are the most common awards in this category. For example, students in Canada may qualify for a number of aboriginal scholarships, whether they study at home or abroad. The Gates Millennium Scholars program is another minority scholarship funded by Bill and Melinda Gates for excellent African American, American Indian, Asian Pacific Islander American and Latino students who enroll in college.
• Career-specific: These are scholarships a college or university awards to students who plan to pursue a specific field of study. Often, the most generous awards to students who pursue careers in high-need areas such as education or nursing. Many schools in the United States give future nurses full scholarships to enter the field, especially if the student intends to work in a high-need community.
• College-specific: College-specific scholarships are offered by individual colleges and universities to highly qualified applicants. These scholarships, given on the basis of academic and personal achievement, usually result in either a full-ride to the college, or for a reduced rate of tuition.

• Athletic: Awarded to students for showing exceptional skill in a sport provided by the college.

Local scholarships

It is typical for persons to find scholarships in their home region. Information on these can be found by asking local institutions and organizations. Typically, these are less competitive as the eligible population is smaller.

• Guidance counselors: When starting to explore scholarship opportunities, most high school students check with their guidance counselors. They can be a reliable resource for local scholarships.
• Non-profits and charitable trusts: Most non-profit organizations have at some point of their history founded scholarships for prospective students. The Good Schools Guide, a guide to schools in the UK, states "Charitable grant-making trusts can help in cases of genuine need," and goes on to outline several instances where this may be the case, including an "unforeseen family disaster" and a "need for special education".

Community foundations: Many counties and cities and regions have a local foundation dedicated to giving money in the form of grants and scholarships to people and organizations in the area.

If you are reading this articles and you find it informative, then you will not want to miss my next edition that comprehensively explain the process you need to take to get that scholarship. IF YOU DREAMS IT, THEN YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT.