Scholarships, most students have heard about them but very few have ever taken the time out to learn about how they can be utilized to full effect. The reality is that they are very similar to grants in that they can provide you with money that never has to be paid back, and certain scholarships can provide you with enough aid to pay for your entire cost of attendance. Most scholarships however cannot provide with that level of aid, although it is not uncommon for most scholarship awards to pay out thousands of dollars for any particular academic term.
You have probably already heard of two of the more common scholarships that are in existence, as both academic, and athletic are the two types of scholarships that students often think of when they hear about these types of awards. While it is true that these are a couple of the major categories of scholarships that are available to students, there are countless of other types of scholarships in existence that you can obtain. Most of these are given to students who are part of a certain organization, exhibit a certain set of traits, or have a unique skill or ability.
Getting A Scholarship
If you are now wondering how you should go about approaching getting a scholarship, the first critical moves involve applying to college, and filling out a FAFSA. Hopefully you have already, are in the process of, or have planned to do these two things, as they are of course two of the essential steps you need to take if you want to attend college, and pay for it successfully. When it comes to scholarships, applying to school and filling out the FAFSA will automatically put you in the running for various scholarship awards, and both the Department of Education, and your school will review your application in order to see if you qualify for any particular awards.
Other scholarships require some work on your part if you want to apply, and the key here is to first perform some research in order to locate any awards that you might be able to qualify for. Due to the fact that there are a myriad of different scholarships in existence, a good way to start this process is to ask yourself what your interests are, and what organizations and associations you may a part of. This will allow you to consolidate your efforts on the awards that you have the best chance at receiving, and it will prevent you from having to weed through the countless number of scholarships that are available during any particular award year.
Applying for a scholarship is not much different than filling out a college application, or even the FAFSA, and most applications for scholarships should actually be shorter in length, and easier to fill out than these previous two forms. Be ready to have certain personal information close by before you go ahead and decide to fill out any particular application, as most scholarships will want to know about your personal background, your academic record, and any extracurricular activities you may be involved in. It is never a bad idea to apply for as many scholarships as you think you may have a chance at getting, as you can typically utilize whatever aid you receive from a scholarship in conjunction with other awards for any particular school year.
Scholarships and the Pell Grant
You can get a Pell Grant and a scholarship during the same award year, and the main thing that you must keep in mind is whether or not you have received a full scholarship, or enough scholarship aid to pay for your entire cost of attendance. If this is the case you will not be eligible to receive the Pell Grant for that particular award year, and if you do receive Pell Grant aid when you are getting this amount of scholarship money you may risk having a Pell Overpayment be stricken to your record.
This happens when a student has Pell Grant funding attributed towards their student account when they weren’t supposed to, and have not returned the Pell Grant aid back to the school. Pell Grant money can only be used towards education-related expenses, and by getting enough scholarship aid to pay for your entire cost of attendance, you are automatically disqualified from receiving any Pell Grant funding. If you don’t return the money you get from the Pell Grant when this is the case, a Pell Overpayment will be placed on your record and this will prevent you from getting any sort of future federal student aid.
Scholarship Review
Ultimately scholarships are great financial aid instruments that should be considered by any student who needs additional funding to pay for college. You may be able to get a scholarship simply by applying to school, or by filling out a FAFSA. Other times you will have to go out and apply yourself on an independent basis, and while this may be painstaking and very time consuming, it can pay off in the long-run even if you are able to get one or two significant awards.
If you are one of those students who is fortunate enough to get a full scholarship, such as a Presidential Scholarship, or a full athletic scholarship, you must be careful if you have received any Pell Grant aid for that particular award year, as this can cause a Pell Overpayment to be placed on your record. Overall most scholarships can be utilized in concert with the other major forms of aid, including educational grants and student loans, and should therefore be welcomed as part of any financial aid package.
