Scholarships, Free Money For You?

Many of us are going to attend college soon and most of us probably cannot afford to pay the tuition right out of our pocket. Since most of us come from low-income backgrounds, we have to look for other options to get us through college without putting us in massive debt. A great way to find those opportunities is taking into consideration scholarships and grants: a sum of money given by an organization, especially a government, for a particular purpose.

The Basic Requirements

There are some requirements that you need to fulfill in order to be eligible.

According to Federal Student Aid there is a large criteria pool in order for you to be eligible for scholarships. You will need to demonstrate financial need, and in order to do this you will need to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. From there, they will determine the amount of money you will receive. According to Financial Aid, there is no income cutoff. As long as you think you need help paying for college, then you should apply.

You need to be a US citizen with a valid Social Security Number.

If you are a male, you will need to be registered with the Selective Service — Selective Service is when you can be drafted for the military in times of crisis.

You have to maintain good grades. According to Scholarships.com, good grades are mainly for merit scholarships. However, there are still many scholarships that do not require you to present your GPA.

You will need to demonstrate that you are qualified for college, and to do this you will need a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.

How to Apply for Scholarships

There are many ways to apply for scholarships and grants.

Obviously, you start off by looking for scholarships you wish to apply for. Cut the numbers down to the ones you think best fit you! According to Undocumented Student Program, you can get some scholarships for being involved in your community, community service, minimum GPA of 3.0, and personal achievements. The more you apply, the more likely your chances of getting one increases. However, applying does not guarantee that you will get it, but not applying guarantees that you won’t get it.

You can look for websites that will help you find scholarships like: Scholarships.com, Fastweb.com, Zinch.com, Scholarshippoints.com, and so on according to Her Campus January, 23 2012.

You must also submit your application to FAFSA. According to Federal Student Aid, you must sign up for FAFSA to see how much money you can get and by when you will receive it. The amount you receive is based on your family size, income, number of family members in college and so on.

Search early and turn in applications, essays, etc. before deadlines. According to The College Board, some scholarships are due early in the fall of senior year so

• Organize applications by due dates.

• Have some needed items at hand because they may be necessary like: High school transcripts, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, etc.

Funds for Hispanics

Aside from the normal scholarships we can apply for, there are also scholarships specifically for Hispanics!

You may be wondering why there are funds specifically for Hispanics. According to U.S News January 24, 2014, the reason there are funds for Hispanics is because over the years, the graduation rate for Latinos has jumped 10% from 2006-2010. Plus, the reason many Hispanics cannot afford a postsecondary education is because of the price.

There are many programs that give Hispanics scholarships. According to U.S News, some of those are:¡Adelante!, U. S. Education Leadership Fund, SHPE Foundation, and League of United Latin American Citizens.

There are still many more, but those have certain restrictions. For example, Cappex states that The Golden State Minority Foundation Scholarship requires you to be a resident of Southern California and require you to major in business, economics, or public administration.

The requirements for these program are basically the same as other scholarships. According to U.S News January 24, 2014, the basic requirements are having a minimum GPA of 3.0, must be a U.S citizen or legal permanent resident, need to pursue a degree, and must fill out the FAFSA form.

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