Scholarship Talk

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If you’ve never attended college before, researching the various types of funding you can receive to help cover educational costs may seem like a daunting task. With so many scholarship options available to prospective college students, it’s easy to get caught up in frustration and not fully understand what you’re doing.

The following list aims to dispel the various myths surrounding scholarship awards, and help answer your questions about the “mysterious” world of financial aid. Remember, the more you know about the scholarship process the better your chances of finding legitimate opportunities to take advantage of.

Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll already be one step ahead of the game!

Scholarship Question #1: Guaranteed Scholarships

If a person or a company claims they can offer you a guaranteed scholarship, be extremely cautious. The person is probably a scam artist, and is more concerned about taking your hard earned money than helping you with your college tuition. In the scholarship world, there is no such thing as guarantees – that’s why scholarships are so competitive! If scholarships were that easy to obtain, no one would have a problem paying for college.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true – it probably is!

Scholarship Question #2: Application Fees

I can’t tell you how many students honestly believe they have to pay a fee to apply for a scholarship. If a foundation, person, or company tells you they need you to pay money for a processing fee, application fee, etc, close your checkbook and walk out the door. Legitimate scholarship opportunities do not charge you to apply for the award, and those who attempt this are probably scam artists.

There are more than enough resources to help you find quality opportunities that don’t charge you a fee. If you end up a victim to scam, your money will be gone and you’ll never hear back about any scholarship.

 Bottom line? If you have to pay a fee, walk away.

Scholarship Question #3: Taxes

If you do win a scholarship (or two, or three) you may wonder how this money affects your tax status. That honestly depends upon the type of scholarship(s) you receive, and what those awards pay for. For example, if your scholarship only covers tuition expenses, books and other education expenses to fulfill your requirements, you probably won’t be required to pay taxes.
If on the other hand, the scholarship counts as a type of income (if it’s to be used for equipment, room and board, or travel, for example) you may be charged taxes. Of course, for comprehensive tax information you’ll want to consult the IRS (if you’re based in the US) for a complete guide to whether or not you’ll be taxed on your scholarship money. International students will need to check with their own tax board for more information.

Scholarship Question #4: Academic Status

It used to be that many students were under the impression that in order to obtain a scholarship, they had to be at the top of their class. Their grades needed to be stellar, as well as their various other academic achievements. While many scholarships are awarded on an academic basis, there are still countless others that are awarded for different reasons.

While these scholarships often require more research to find, there are many opportunities that award scholarship based on financial need, racial background, extracurricular activities, your course of study, and many more. If you don’t have the best GPA of the bunch, finding other scholarships that aren’t awarded based on your academic standing can be well worth the effort.

Scholarship Question #5: Unclaimed Scholarships

You may hear about thousands of dollars worth of scholarships that go unclaimed each year due to lack of interest. While this may sound like a gold mine, unfortunately, this is oftentimes a myth perpetrated by people with less than honorable intentions.

Usually, this type of myth is used by con artists who ask for money from a student in order for the student to obtain a listing of all scholarship money that goes unclaimed this year. Don’t fall for this rumor – they’ll just take your money and run, more often than not.

Scholarship Question #6: Applying for Scholarships

Should you apply for more than one scholarship at a time? YES! The more scholarships you apply for, the better your chances of receiving money to help cover your education expenses. While applying for a bunch of random scholarships without researching them won’t get you very far, careful research on the scholarships you’re eligible for will tend to benefit you much more in the long run.

Limit your time to only those scholarships for which you are eligible, and you’ll probably be able to improve your chances of winning at least one with a bit of effort and hard work on your part.

Scholarship Question #7: Loans

Will applying for a college loan affect your chances of obtaining a scholarship? You’ll be happy to discover the answer is no. Because the cost of a higher education continues to rise each year, scholarship organizations realize that students will obtain funding from a variety of different sources. Because of that, your scholarship award will not decrease if you’ve received a college loan.

While the process of applying and receiving scholarships may seem confusing at first, the more you know about the process, the better your chances of finding the opportunities that meet your needs.

The main thing you need to remember while searching for scholarships is to avoid falling for scams that do nothing but take your money and run with it. Additionally, put in some work researching and finding scholarship opportunities that you’re eligible for and apply for as many as you can.

Applying for only one or two scholarships will drastically decrease your chances of receiving college aid this way, while applying for several scholarships will help improve your chances of receiving money.

Keep the above tips in mind, and you’re well on your way to understanding the not-so-mysterious world of scholarship awards.

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