Scholarships are the best form of financial aid out there for college students and soon-to-be college students. Period. There are several reason why college scholarships are better than almost every other form of financial aid out there.
Scholarships for college beat student loans any day. If you get a student loan, you are going to be in debt after college. And when you first start earning money from a job, it is going to have to go towards repaying your student loan. Depending on how much you take out in student loans, you could end up paying two to three times the cost of the student loan back after college. Student loan consolidation doesn’t make it too much of a better deal either. By pursuing scholarships, you will (hopefully) not have to worry about paying back anything after college.
Scholarships for high school and college students are also a much better deal than work study. In college, the money you will earn from work study will probably amount to somewhere around ten dollars per hour. On the other hand, even if you spend 100 hours applying for scholarships but only win $10,000 in scholarships, that still amounts to $100 per hour, which is clearly a much better deal!
In my opinion, scholarships are on the same level as financial aid grants for college students. In fact, federal and university grants for college students are usually a better deal than scholarships. Why is this so? When it comes to grants, applications usually don’t involve writing essays, which take time; eligibility for grants is usually based on merely financial need and sometimes your grades in school. Thus, if you meet the qualifications, you could receive a federal grant for college by spending only 10 minutes filling out a form.
Many scholarships for college out there can be found simply by using scholarship search engines online. However, to be eligible for almost any financial aid grant for college, as well as many scholarships (often including ones offered by universities), you must complete the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) form. Many grants for college students out there and several scholarships are awarded based on the information you provide in the FAFSA, so it is essential that you fill it out and submit it by the deadline.
Dec 17, 2009
