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Top dollars for Black scholars: how to get your piece of the $122 billion scholarship boom
Ebony, Sept, 2005
While the country is fussing and fainting at the gas pump, college-bound kids and their parents are more concerned with the rising costs of getting a higher education.
According to recent reports from the College Board, on average, annual tuition and fees at a four-year private college can hover around $20,082; tuition and fees at a four-year public college can set you back around $5,132; and tuition and fees at a two-year public college costs around $2,076.
However, the published price of a college degree is often a far cry from the actual price you must pay if you know how to find a little extra college dough, according to financial aid experts and scholarship strategists.
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Here, then are a few tips to help you find funding for school:
TYPES OF FUNDING
There are four main types of financial aid: loans (low-interest, federally subsidized funds that must be repaid), scholarships, grants (merit-based financial gifts that do not have to be repaid) and work-study (federally-funded part-time jobs that assist with college expenses).
Make two very important calls before you apply for any federal financial aid. First, call the Federal Student Financial Aid Information Center (800-4FED-AID) to make certain that the institution you wish to attend is eligible to participate in federal student-aid programs, and second, call the college's financial aid office directly to ask which federal forms it prefers.
On January 1, obtain and complete the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), provided by the government, and the College Scholarship Service-Financial Aid profile.
WHERE TO FIND COLLEGE FUNDING
Finding funds for college isn't as difficult as it sounds, if you know where to look. Here's a quick basic treasure map suggested by financial aid experts:
* Register online for a free scholarship search at www.wiredscholar.com; www.fastweb.com and http://search.cashe.com (College Aid Sources for Higher Education) from Sallie Mae.
* Contact your state agency responsible for public elementary and secondary schools to get information on the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program. Call 1-800-4-FED-AID for additional information.
* Contact the college financial aid administrator at your prospective college to find out what scholarship and grant programs are available.
* Contact your state higher education agency to get information about state aid, including aid from the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) Program, which is jointly funded by individual states and the U.S. Department of Education.
* Volunteer--the AmeriCorps' NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) allows you to travel the U.S. full-time, while making a difference in people's lives by building affordable housing to provide disaster relief. Upon completions of the 10-month program, you'll get nearly $5,000 to help pay for school. Visit www.americorps.org for details.
* Network in your neighborhood--friends, neighbors, community activists, sororities and fraternities, and local business people often award scholarships to community students who need funding for college.
* When applying for scholarships, don't get discouraged about not having a perfect 4.0 GPA; believe it or not, there are scholarships that you are eligible for. You've got to rework your strategy by taking a self-inventory of everything that you've got going for yourself outside of the classroom (community service, church affiliation, hobbies, sports, etc.), and apply for scholarships that reward those qualities.
Once you take this approach, you're more likely to find money in some of the most unusual places. Here are just a few examples:
Psychics. Are you a budding psychic? If so, the Eileen J. Garrett Scholarship for parapsychology has a $3,000 scholarship offer for you. Visit www.parapsychology.org.
Golfers. Each year the National Minority Junior Golf Scholarship Association awards one-time grants of $1,000. Visit www.nmjgsa.org.
Female coaches. More Sisters are needed in the locker room. The NCAA sponsors the Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Grant Program to encourage diversity among the NCAA membership's athletics personnel. Funding will cover the intern's salary and travel expenses for NCAA events. Visit www.ncaa.org for details.
Future filmmakers. This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Academy Foundation Institutional Grants Program has awarded $500,000 to 47 universities, colleges and cultural organizations throughout the United States and in two foreign countries. Visit www.oscars.org for more details.
Special needs scholarships. The Courage Center is a not-for-profit rehabilitation and resource center for people with physical disabilities, brain injuries, speech or vision impairments, and/or hearing loss. The Center is offering two major scholarships this year: the Scholarship for People with Disabilities, funded by Melvin and Sally Mooty, which assists students with a sensory impairment or physical disability who want to pursue educational goals or gain technical expertise beyond high school; and the Empower Scholarship Award funded by the David M. Hersey Endowment Fund. Visit www.courage.org or call 763-520-0214 for details.
