How to Find Scholarships for College Students: Top 9 Resources

Scholarships are like free money. They give you funds that can be used for your college expenses, including tuition. The best part is, you don't have to pay back the scholarship money, so it helps reduce your student debt.

However, it can be challenging to find scholarships that are suitable for you. Here are some excellent resources that can help you discover scholarships that align with your talents and interests. These resources will give you an advantage in funding your education.

What are the Best Scholarship Websites Offer

The top scholarship websites provide various types of scholarships, including niche awards, sweepstakes, and prestigious national prizes. These websites often allow you to create a profile where you can save scholarship applications for future reference or receive alerts when a scholarship that matches your skills becomes available.

A best scholarship websites should also offer filtering options based on specific categories and characteristics, such as your location, grade point average (GPA), or ethnicity. This ability to narrow down scholarships is essential because it increases your chances of winning awards that align with your individual talents and interests.

We researched well-known scholarship websites and compared them based on features like the ability to filter and organize listings, save information to your profile, how easy they are to use, and additional tools like automatic matching. Here are the best websites for scholarships that you can use to find awards you qualify for:

1. Scholarships.com

Scholarships.com organizes scholarships into different categories, such as GPA, military connections, ethnicity, artistic skills, and ACT/SAT scores. Within each category, you can find subcategories that list all the relevant scholarships. This feature helps students find specialized awards with fewer applicants, increasing their chances of winning.

2. Fastweb

Fastweb gathers scholarships from various sources, both big and small. To search for scholarships, you need to create a profile, similar to other websites. Once you sign up, you can easily search and filter scholarships based on different criteria. Fastweb also sends notifications for new scholarships that match your profile and reminds you of upcoming deadlines.

3. College Board

If you've taken the SAT, AP tests, or other college entrance exams, you're likely familiar with the College Board. However, they also provide assistance in finding scholarships after you've been accepted into a college. Once you create an account, you can filter scholarships based on your interests, field of study, club affiliations, or specific circumstances like parental divorce. The College Board also offers automatic matching with scholarships that fit your profile. They have an autofill feature that allows you to reuse information from previous scholarship applications, saving you time and enabling you to apply for more awards.

4. Going Merry

Going Merry simplifies the scholarship application process by allowing students to enter their information once and apply for multiple scholarships simultaneously. If you're short on time, it's worth checking out scholarships on Going Merry before exploring other major websites. They also emphasize local awards, which are less competitive and may be easier to win compared to national scholarships.

5. ScholarshipOwl

ScholarshipOwl is a well-known scholarship website that compiles awards and categorizes them based on factors like the amount, requirements, number of winners, and application deadlines. ScholarshipOwl automatically resubmits your application to recurring scholarships that only require basic information, freeing up more time for scholarships that require essays and recommendation letters.

6. Bold.org

Bold.org stands out for its user-friendly interface. It allows you to easily search and discover scholarships you may be eligible for. You can filter scholarships by your education level, award category, amount, and deadline. They even have a "no-essay" toggle to find scholarships that don't require a written essay.

7. US Scholarship Guide

US Scholarship Guide has been helping students find college scholarships Since 2007. Many students received assistance from the website in achieving their educational goals. Whether you're an average student or need aid managing your student loans, USScholarshipGuide.org provides accurate information and advice.

8. Cappex

Cappex claims to have the largest online scholarship database, making it worth checking for potential opportunities. Like other websites, you need to create an account to see scholarships you qualify for. Cappex's filtering system allows you to sort awards by year in school, scholarship amount, gender, ethnicity, and application deadlines. You can also search for renewable scholarships that provide funding for multiple years.

9. Scholly

Scholly uses an algorithm that matches your profile with available scholarships to create a list of eligible awards. Each scholarship has a Scholly score, indicating how well it aligns with your background and experience. A higher Scholly score means you're a strong fit for the scholarship's requirements.

Additional Resources

Your college's official financial aid website can be a valuable resource for finding internal scholarships and grants. It may also provide suggestions on how to discover more scholarships, such as applying through specific departments or local institutions that offer awards to students.

Local Organizations

Don't overlook the opportunities available within your local community. Look for scholarship options offered by nearby community foundations, rotary clubs, women's clubs, and similar organizations. Conduct a Google search to find these types of organizations in your area and check if they have a list of scholarships on their website.

You can also search online through your state's Department of Education or higher education agency, as they might provide information on local awards and grants. Remember, local scholarships often have less competition, as the number of applicants is usually smaller.

Bottom Line

Applying for scholarships may seem discouraging if you don't have a perfect GPA or a lengthy list of extracurricular activities. However, success in winning scholarships depends more on your determination than your achievements. If you persistently apply for scholarships that you qualify for, your chances of success will be much higher compared to not making an effort.

Set aside regular time each week to explore these resources and identify scholarships that you may be eligible for. Every dollar you receive in scholarships is a dollar you won't have to borrow through student loans.