One of the biggest stressors for students pursuing higher education is how to pay that mounting tuition bill. When I was going through the college process, I was overwhelmed by the thousands of scholarship opportunities out there. It was tough to wrap my head around the different categories and what types of costs they actually helped cover.
After doing lots of research and speaking to financial aid advisors, I gained a much better understanding of the scholarship landscape. I realized these awards are more than just a pot of money for academics – they run the full gamut in terms of criteria and intended usage. Knowing the scholarship terrain was key for targeting the right fits and building a cohesive funding package.
Different Scholarship Categories
Most students are familiar with scholarships reserved for stellar GPAs or SAT scores. But academic achievements only scratch the surface of eligibility factors. The scholarship world has an award for just about every niche, demographic and interest area:
Athletic Scholarships: From football reserves to equestrian teams, colleges dole out scholarships recruiting top talent across all NCAA sports. Even recreational club sports can have funding opportunities.
Field-Specific Scholarships: Think writing, arts, STEM competitions, speech/debate, culinary arts – any special skill where students can showcase exceptional abilities is fair game for scholarships.
Minority Scholarships: There are loads of scholarships earmarked for underrepresented groups like minorities, LGBTQ+ students, those with disabilities, military families, first-generation scholars and more.
Academic Scholarships: Tons of professional associations, companies and organizations offer scholarships to encourage students pursuing particular fields like healthcare, business, engineering, education, etc.
Merit-Based Scholarships: Granted based on a combination of academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, leadership qualities, and community service.
Need-Based Scholarships: Designed to make college accessible, need-based scholarships evaluate family finances and income level to determine aid allocation.
As you can see, barring any talents or qualifications is a shot at scholarships. The key is taking the time to identify your unique profile pieces that could make you eligible.
What Scholarships Actually Pay For
On the surface, scholarships just seem like money awarded to the student. But what costs do these funds actually get put towards? Scholarship coverage runs the full gamut:
Tuition and Fees: This is the obvious big one. Whether it’s a couple thousand or a full-ride, scholarships subsidize the annual price tag charged by colleges. This includes tuition for classes as well as plenty of tacked-on student fees.
Room and Board: Many scholarships bundle housing and dining costs too. This helps tremendously for students living on campus. Commuter students can also use the funds for rent and groceries.
Books and Supplies: The ever-rising costs of textbooks and education materials are often built into scholarship coverage. This eliminates more out-of-pocket costs.
Transportation: I found quite a few scholarships for travel – both for relocating to campus at the start of each semester and any study abroad plans.
Some scholarships fully cover all costs with one comprehensive award. Oftentimes, though, it takes patching together funds from multiple scholarships to cover all the bases.
How Renewable vs. One-Time Scholarships Work
Not all scholarships are created equal in their disbursement. It’s vital to understand the two key durational models:
Renewable scholarships are those long-term renewable awards that follow you year-to-year. As long as you maintain requirements like a minimum GPA, you’ll continue receiving funds for four or more years without reapplying.
One-off scholarships are those single-year lump sums awarded just for that application cycle. So you’d need to reapply each year in hopes of scoring the scholarship again.
With renewables, keep close watch on retaining the GPA cutoff or any other benchmarks. Allow those to slip and you risk losing the multi-year award, which can be crushing financially. With the non-renewables, you must remain proactive and continue seeking new opportunities each year to keep funding incoming.
The scholarship landscape is vast, with so many variations in criteria, types and coverages. But understanding how these awards are categorized and allocated is the first step toward pursuing them effectively. It allowed me to pinpoint fits and maximize the funds I received toward my degree.
