Looking for the right scholarships is probably the hardest part of asking for scholarships. There are so many gifts to choose from, but it might be hard to figure out which ones are worth sending in without carefully going through a huge amount of material.
We have put together a list of some of the best grant websites and offline search tools to help you narrow down your search. Of course, some are better than others, so I’ll also talk about the pros and cons of each way to look for grants.
Friends or family may have told you that there are college scholarships; all you have to do is look for them. This could be helpful if you’re trying to figure out how to pay for it.
However, if you’ve ever really tried to look for scholarships, you know how hard it can be to find the right ones. There are more than 5 million scholarships out there for kids in the US.
As a big pile, we understand if you feel like you have too much to do. On the other hand, if you work hard enough, you can get extra money that you don’t have to pay back. It’s true that there is a better way for you to look for grants.
Top Websites to Find College Scholarships
The best websites for finding college grants make it easy to find and apply for real scholarships that you have a good chance of getting. These are the places we think are the best.
1. Scholarships.com
It is one of the oldest and most trusted free scholarship search engines and keeps an eye on about $19 billion in scholarships. Elizabeth Hartley, who runs Scholarship Gold Consulting and works as a freelance education adviser, says, “It’s basically like an eHarmony site for money.”
After you fill out a profile, the website will use your criteria to sort through all the grants and give you a shortlist. Based on what they say, it will try to match the kid with scholarships that might be a good fit, says Hartley.
2. Fastweb
Since it began in 1996, Fastweb.com has become known as one of the most cutting-edge places to look for college grants online. You can use Fastweb to look for grants based on what you want to study, your skills, your hobbies, and your interests.
For example, if you want to study engineering in college, you might look into the scholarships that are offered for that.
3. Chegg.com
Chegg is a website for buying textbooks that has a grant search tool and more than 25,000 scholarships. The website also has online teachers who can help students with their scholarship writing.
Hartley said, “It’s clear that they’re trying to keep up with what’s new in the scholarship market.”
4. Collegeboard
Collegeboard is famous for its help with finding a college and getting ready for college. They do, however, offer a strong scholarship search tool.
Our list of the best websites for finding college grants includes College board. One reason for this is that it has powerful filtering tools: You can look with several different criteria, such as:
- Location/ locality
- Limits or health issues
- College major
- Religious observance
- A military career
- Membership in a company club or group
5. Peterson’s
Peterson’s first put out an online form of their college search guide in 1997, along with a print version. We put Peterson’s on our list of the best websites for getting college grants because it is a great resource for graduate students.
The other three websites on our list are mostly about helping first-time and current college students find grants. Peterson’s, on the other hand, has a whole section just for helping graduate students who need help paying for college.
6. Scholly
The app is for students who have done well A lot of people were interested in Scholly after it was shown on the famous TV show Shark Tank. They help students write better articles with an editing and proofreading tool that is built in, and they can also help you with math problems.
You can use Scholly to look for grants and fill out applications for them. You have to make an account before you can use Scholly. It costs $44.99 a year to use all of its features.
Scholly says that you will be better off if they give you access to specialized scholarships, which have fewer applications. If you could win even one gift, an app that costs less than $5 a month would be well worth it.
7. Community foundation websites
Like the website for your high school, the website for a local community organization may also have a list of nearby scholarships that you can look at.
Stezala says that many local businesses and veteran groups, such as the American Legion and the Elks Lodge, make grants available. You might not be able to find these scholarships on these big national websites.
8. CollegeScholarships.org
Some of the best websites for finding college scholarships are on our list. You can use their tools without having to sign up or fill out a lot of paperwork. You could, instead, start looking for the best scholarships right now and follow the steps to apply.
You can find scholarships, grants, and loan choices on College Scholarships without having to give any personal information. On their website, you can search through more than 23,000 scholarships by date, gender, race, state, and prize size, among other things.
Conclusion
When it comes to paying for college, scholarships and loans are the most important to us. But if you want to make the most of your grant money, you need a plan. That’s not possible. You can’t just randomly apply for grants and hope to get enough to pay for college.
You might want to make a list of scholarships along with the deadlines and standards for applying. Pay attention only to grants that are right for you. Look for grants based on your major, race, gender, state, or college.
Don’t be afraid to hire a coach or go to your school’s career services to help you find and apply for the right grants. Also, don’t forget to combine your grant search with other ways to lower your student loan debt, like starting a side business.