Tag Archives: scholarships

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: A Job and a Scholarship

 

There’s been much talk in the news lately about Starbucks offering its employees college tuition. But did you know that there are companies that offer scholarships to their employees? What better incentive for your college-bound teen to get a job than a job and a scholarship!

Here are three companies that offer scholarships to their employees:

job and a scholarshipMcDonald’s

Good old Mickey Dees offers the McDonald’s USA National Employee Scholarship Program. To qualify, you must have been employed at McDonald’s for at least four continuous months for a minimum of 15 hours per week. Each state selects one student-employee from that state to receive a $1,000 scholarship.

Wal-Mart

Who doesn’t love Wal-Mart? The Wal-Mart Associate Scholarship Program is a $2,000 scholarship that is paid over one year. It is offered to Wal-Mart employees who are graduating high school seniors.

Chick-Fil-A

Not only is Chick-Fil-A a great company to work for–they take care of their employees. The Chick-Fil-A Leadership Scholarship Program gives student-employees the opportunity to compete for $1,000 scholarships for college. Employees have to commit to completing high school and move on to an accredited college to qualify. In addition to the application, a letter of recommendation from his or her operating store must also be submitted.

Other company options

While some programs are merit-based and others are need-based, one requirement for receiving an employee scholarship is that (surprise!) you must be employed by that company. Check with your employer to determine whether there is a minimum employment requirement that must be met before applying.

Don’t dismiss your employer just because they’re not a national corporation with a marquee name.

Many small businesses offer scholarships to their workers as well. No matter what the size of your company, ask your supervisor and check your company’s Web site to find out whether there are any scholarship opportunities available. A scholarship for college would be a great supplement to your college-bound teen’s paycheck.

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarships for All Ages

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scholarships for all agesMost parents, and students, believe that you have to wait until senior year to apply for scholarships–believing the theory that all scholarships are for seniors in high school. That theory is incorrect. There are scholarships for all ages from children, to middle school, to high school (even before senior year). The hard part, however, is finding them.

None of the online scholarship databases includes information about college scholarships that are available only to children under age 13 because of federal privacy laws. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), 15 USC 6501, and the Children’s Privacy Protection Final Rule, require web sites to obtain “verifiable parental consent” before collecting, using or disclosing individually identifiable information from children under age 13. This effectively prevents online scholarship databases from matching students under age 13 with college scholarships. Because of the difficulties in obtaining consent, all of the scholarship databases avoid the problem by omitting scholarships for underage children from their databases and refusing to register users under age 13. That makes it difficult for parents to find scholarships in that age group.

Today’s post gives you an alternative to searching–links to many of the scholarships available; because it’s NEVER too early to start the scholarship search and application process. Summer is the best time to begin the search and start preparing your scholarship folder/notebook/file.

College Scholarships for Children

https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/scholarships-for-younger-childrenhttp://www.scholarshipexperts.com/blog/college-planning/college-scholarships-for-children

College Scholarships for Kids

https://www.edvisors.com/plan-for-college/scholarships/college-scholarships/students-under-age-13-scholarships/

20+ Smart Scholarships for Kids Under 13

https://how2winscholarships.com/scholarships-for-kids-under-13/

College Scholarships for Middle School

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/college-scholarships-middle-school

Top 190 scholarships for High School Freshmen,

https://scholarships360.org/scholarships/top-scholarships-for-high-school-freshman/

Scholarships for Age 13 and under

http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/age13.phtml

Scholarships for Elementary and Middle School Students

https://www.mefa.org/blog/scholarships-for-elementary–middle-school-students

 

Scholarship Friday, scholarships, Uncategorized

Scholarship Friday: Summer Scholarship Search Tips

 

summer scholarship searchThe lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Kids are out of school. Families take vacations. The last thing anyone wants to think about is scholarship searching. But wait! According to Monica, The Scholarship Mom, summer is “primetime” to search and apply for scholarships. And it makes perfect sense. Everyone is playing and your college-bound teen is hard at work (well maybe not that committed, but he’s putting forth some effort). A college-bound teen’s work is NEVER done!

Here are a few summer scholarship search tips to help your teen on the path to finding big scholarship bucks over the summer (and it’s not just for upcoming seniors):

Sign up on some search engines that match you to scholarships

You might as well maximize your time by letting the search engines match you with scholarships. Complete the questionnaire and you’re on your way to locating all kinds of scholarships.

Devote some time each day to checking your email for scholarship matches

Now that you’ve registered on the search sites, you’re going to get daily emails. Read them. It does you no good to let them pile up in your inbox. That’s the way you miss application deadlines.

Devote some time each day to searching

Decide how much time you can devote each day to searching (parents can help). If you’re teen gets overwhelmed, start with 20 minutes a day. If he’s motivated, reach for an hour. And don’t just look online. Research local organizations to discover scholarship opportunities.

Apply for at least one scholarship a week, more if possible

Once you’ve done your searches, start applying. Set yourself apart by submitting a killer application packet. Then wait for the money to roll in.

With a little effort, a ton of organization, and some stellar detective skills those scholarship awards should start rolling in. The first one is always the most exciting!

 

 

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: Scholarships with June Deadlines

 

scholarships with june deadlinesIt’s Friday and with a long weekend ahead, I’m sure your college-bound teen would like to do nothing better than apply for scholarships. Yes, I’m being sarcastic. But seriously, summer is quickly approaching and it’s the best time to research and apply for scholarships. Looking for some scholarships with June deadlines? Read on . . .

Why should your teen apply for scholarships?

This seems like a no-brainer to me, but many parents brush it off as a waste of time because of the number of applicants and their student’s chances of winning. It’s just like any other “winning” strategy–the more you apply, the more your chances of winning increase. Also, if you’re wise and apply to the right scholarships (locally, for instance) your chances of winning increase.

Where do they begin?

You can start on my blog. Read my series of scholarships posts to find out how to search, what tools to use, scholarships that are available, and even scholarship apps that can help.

What is the best use of their time?

Apply to the easy ones first. Zinch has a weekly 3-sentence scholarship that requires you answer a question with three sentences to win a $1000 scholarship. For a list of easy scholarships you can start with, read my post: 10 Easy Scholarships.

What can they do to jumpstart the search?

Recently, I wrote a series of posts for TeenLife.com regarding scholarships with June deadlines. This is a great place to jump right in and start applying to the ones with upcoming deadlines. Once they do that, register on some scholarship search sites to get email notifications when a scholarship becomes available that matches their search criteria.

Following are the links to the two posts for TeenLife.com:

Scholarships with June Deadlines: Part 1

Scholarships with June Deadlines: Part 2

Remember: they can’t win FREE money if they don’t put the effort into the search and follow through with the applications. It’s your job as a parents college coach to guide them and help when needed. Once those scholarship dollars start rolling in it will be worth all the time and effort. Happy Hunting!

 

 

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: The Best Scholarship Podcasts

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college scholarshipsEach week, Celest Horton, of How to Pay for College HQ, interviews experts in the field of college admissions, college prep, financial aid and scholarships. Her goal is to help parents pay for college without going into debt.

This week, I’ve chosen to highlight some her best scholarship podcasts. If you aren’t subscribed to her podcasts you should do so immediately. Perhaps these few will wet your appetite and make you want to listen to more.

 Scholarship Gold Consulting

There was so much information to cover, there were two podcasts. Her guest, Elizabeth Hartley, has been building her credentials and experience for the last 20 years by pursuing and receiving full scholarships, judging for scholarship competitions, coaching students who win prestigious full scholarships all across the country and guiding hundreds of students through the college search, admission and financial aid process. She is also the founder of Scholarship Gold Consulting where her clients have secured millions of dollars in scholarship funding and admissions into their most desired schools. Head over to her website and sign up for her free monthly newsletter, it’s so filled with helpful information.

The C Student’s Guide to Scholarships

Can you imagine being told by your High School Guidance Counselor that you will never make it to college and to just give up and look into vocational schools? That is what happened to Felecia Hatcher, but she didn’t let it stop her.

Author and Founder of Scholarships.Org

Gyan returned to college in her 40s and received a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Professional Coaching. As an educator and a nontraditional, disabled, first-generation student, she is uniquely qualified to write a series of books that provide detailed listings of scholarships and advice on how to find genuine scholarship opportunities online. She shares her knowledge with parents and students on her website, in her books, and through coaching calls on Skype.

Jason Lum of Scholarship Edge

Jason’s background and track record are impressive. Jason graduated from America’s most competitive programs at Harvard, Berkeley, and Washington University in St. Louis. Jason also received rigorous training in leadership and coaching from MIT and Columbia University. He’s also an expert in college advising, having graduated with honors from UCLA’s program in training professional independent college counselors.

Jason won over $250,000 in scholarships, winning virtually every major national award available to college students in the USA. He graduated debt-free.

Monica Matthews-The Scholarship Mom

Monica Mathews is the proud mother of three sons and has earned the title of Scholarship Mom when she helped her oldest earn $100,000 in scholarships. Her second son is a Freshman this year and has currently been awarded $27,000 and will continue the application process while in college. She has written a simple, but easy to apply and understand booklet for parents and students: How to Win College Scholarships.

 

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: How to Find Scholarships Online

 

scholarships onlineThe full title of this book is Get a College Degree Without Drowning In Debt: How to Find Scholarships Online. This is NOT your average scholarship book. While many scholarship books list the names and details of the scholarships, this book takes a different approach by providing you with the search sites and ranking them. With so many scholarship search engines available this will save your college-bound teen valuable time and energy.

What makes How to Find Scholarships Online unique is:

  • The internal links that send you directly to the search sites.
  • The scholarship search engine ratings.
  • The extensive list of scholarship search engines.
  • The step-by-step guide on how to begin your search.
  • The list of online resources related to scholarships: blogs, podcasts and videos.
  • Demographic search links (i.e. military scholarships, minority scholarships, etc.)

Authors Gyan Devi and Myrriah Lavin explain their detailed reasoning behind spending time on scholarships with facts and figures, ending with this statement:

. . .  spending 450 hours applying for and winning scholarships takes substantially less time to pay off your student debt than the 2,940 hours at a part-time undergraduate job, or the 1,470 hours working full time after graduation. The choice is yours. Wouldn’t you rather work for 450 hours at a job where you set your own schedule and the better you are at your job, the more you’re paid?

Scholarship research and writing is a part-time job that pays you handsomely and allows you to work from home, in your jammies, on your own schedule. But, more importantly, it gives you financial freedom upon graduation to live debt-free and make decisions about your life that aren’t driven by monthly student loan payments for the next 20 years!

In a world of so much information and very little time to assimilate it, Gyan does all the leg work for you. She has followed these steps herself to pay for her own education and has proven her technique personally. The great thing about an ebook is that it provides you with an online copy, allowing you to go directly to the links provided.

Interested? If you are (and you should be) today is your lucky day! Gyan is providing my readers with a coupon code good until May 31st to download the book for FREE. That’s right: FREE. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! Just follow the link below:

Get a College Degree Without Drowning in Debt: How to Find Scholarships Online

USE COUPON CODE: SL92E at checkout

 

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: Top 10 Scholarship Posts

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top 10Today I’m sharing my top 10 posts about specific scholarships, the scholarship application process, and scholarship tips. If you haven’t looked at them before, this is a good time to check them out. Sit down with a cup of coffee and be prepared to be informed!

1. Scholarships for special groups

This is a recap of some previous posts about college scholarships for special groups. If your college-bound teen fits into any of these groups these posts should help you find scholarships.

Read more . . .

2. Minority scholarships

Your cultural heritage, your sex, and your sexual orientation could end up paying for your college education. There are scholarships and grants that are reserved for specific minority groups. You don’t need to be a first generation immigrant to qualify for these scholarships; you just have to prove that you are indeed a member of the minority to qualify for the awards.

Read more . . .

3. How to apply for scholarships

There are many scholarship opportunities that anyone can apply for. Some are merit based, meaning you need to meet particular standards, some are based on financial need, and there are many for having a certain background. They can be awards of a few hundred dollars or can cover all of your tuition costs, but whatever the amount, they will decrease the price of your education. How do you apply for scholarships?

Read more . . .

4. Go local

Consider going local. Unearth local scholarships in your own community. The applicant pools for these scholarships are smaller and your chances of winning them increases. You will be surprised at the local scholarships that are often overlooked and no scholarship money is dispersed.

Check out these resources and add them to your scholarship search criteria:

Read more . . .

5. Merit Aid

Financial aid is always on the minds of parents and students, especially when they begin to research college costs and their financial aid statistics. The terms can be a bit confusing and today I want to discuss merit aid and answer a few questions about what it is, how do you find it, and how do you apply for it.

Read more . . .

6. What are the odds?

Most students hope for some sort of scholarship for college. Few are able to pay for the entire four years. Parents dream of getting that letter in the mail that says, “Congratulations, you have won a full ride for four years.” It happens, but it’s not the norm. The students who receive scholarships work hard and spend time searching and applying.

Read more . . .

7. Ask an expert

My commitment has always been to provide parents with the best information available to help with the college process. I recently listened to two podcasts on How to Pay for College HQ about scholarships. The guest was Elizabeth Hartley, owner of Scholarship Gold Consulting. I thought the information was so valuable, I wanted to share some of the excerpts with you. Make a point to listen to both complete interviews (you won’t regret it and you will save money paying for college) via the podcasts.

Read more . . .

8. 10 Scholarship summer prep tips

For students, summer vacation usually means sun, beaches, and fun.  For parents of the college-bound, however, summer means one step closer to college tuition bills and students loans.  There are a number of things students can do to get a jump-start in the college scholarship process during the summer, while at the same time saving time for fun in the sun.

Read more . . .

9. 10 Easy Scholarships

What could be easier than winning a scholarship and you didn’t even have to write an essay and/or fill out a long application? There isn’t. The rewards may not be as big as those long, involved essay scholarships, but 10 $1000 scholarships add up to $10,000. That’s not chump change! Most of them just take a few minutes to enter:

Read more . . .

10. Should your college-bound student apply for scholarships?

There is great discussion among parents about whether or not scholarship applications are worth it. I happen to be one who believes they are. My daughter attended an expensive private university based on the scholarships she won from outside sources and from the university itself. Those scholarships allowed her to attend a school that was financially out of reach. Hence, I’m a firm believer in the value of scholarships.

Read more . . .

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: ScholarshipExperts.com Scholarships

 

scholarshipexpertsEach year, ScholarshipExperts.com funds several unique scholarship programs for high school students, college students, grad students and non-traditional adult learners. To make it easy, they have listed their scholarships and the application links on for each of them.

 

 

Here’s a list of available scholarships:

infographics

Creative Ways to Fund Your Education

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If you’ve been to college, are in college or are planning to go, you know that a college degree can cost enough to affect your personal finances for years – sometimes for life. We look at some facts and figures about college, tuition, and some of the ways that students pay for their degree.

Funding College: The Numbers

There are three timelines for raising funds to pay for college tuition: before, during and after. Obviously, having some or all funds upfront is nice. It gives you a 3-4 year head start on students who accumulate college debt. But given the cost of college, it’s not an option for everyone. Earning and paying tuition during college costs you time while you’re studying, potentially delaying your degree with distractions — but it’s a fact of life. Paying for college after graduating — i.e., acquiring student debt — is of course the most costly option because it involves interest payments. Of course, if you drop out of college and have loans, those could come due immediately.

BestCollegesOnline.org takes a look at the numbers for college enrollments, tuition and other related figures to give you creative ways to fund your education. Click on the image to see the complete infographic.

fund your education

 

infographics, scholarships

Scholarships Demystified

 

Everyone knows that students in America love scholarships. Each year, millions of students apply for financial aid as they prepare for college in the hopes of easing the financial pain of rising tuition costs. But did you know just how much money was being dished out every year? Or where that money came from?

FluidReview, a company that specializes in scholarship management systems, has put together this infographic that demystifies the topic of scholarships in America. Some of this information might surprise you. Click on the excerpt below and it will take you to the complete infographic.

scholarships demystified