Private Scholarships

Private scholarships can make your education affordable if you know where to look. Many private scholarships are offered regardless of your financial status or the school you attend. Check out the basics to finding these lucrative awards.

Private scholarships encourage all kinds of students to achieve their educational goals. Private scholarship sponsors generally have their own motivation for funding education and often have their own award methodology. The most frequent sponsors of private scholarships include:

• Charitable foundations
• Employers and local businesses
• Local governments
• Private citizens and alumni
• Community and social action groups

Unlike some financial aid options based strictly on merit or financial need, private scholarships often assist students from all academic and economic backgrounds. Some large corporations extend scholarship programs to the children of employees, while other groups sponsor scholarships that recognize student achievements in sports, politics, academics, or community involvement.

Many private scholarships can be relatively small. Although a growing number of Web sites and professional search services track available scholarships, you can get excellent scholarship leads by asking leaders and mentors in your own community, such as:

• Small business owners
• Law enforcement agencies
• Local government officials
• Community group leaders
• Religious leaders

Start your scholarship search on a free Web site like the Federal government's Student Aid on the Web. A number of scholarship compendiums, which contain extensive information about public and private scholarships available nationwide, are published annually and are available at your local library. You should also check with your high school to see if there are scholarship opportunities specifically for their graduates.

Private scholarships often have their own application procedures, which may not be affected by the information you submit on the FAFSA. Apply early for private scholarships so you don't have to scramble for recommendation letters and school transcripts at the last minute.