Searching for $$$
Like many parents with college bound students, we saw our daughter’s 529 college fun dip after last fall’s stock market fiasco. Luckily, she had applied herself the summer before her senior year started, and was  rewarded a full ride scholarship.  Students, think of finding a scholarship like a job. You’re getting paid to go to school, so it takes time and effort to hunt down, apply and interview for scholarships. Apply the same amount of work and goals, as if you were working and saving to buy a car.  The goal is to be debt free, not debt riddent before you go to school.

Here are some links that will help begin the process of weeding out scholarships. If you had skills fixing cars and you’re interest was building or designing mechanical products, you’re not going to apply for a scholarship in baking or history, right? No, you’d fit more in the category of mechanical engineer, technology, design or manufacturing.

1. College Board.com – A good source for college scholarships, how to write essays, find the right school, etc.

2. Debt Free College Guide – State by state information on loans, scholarhips, tax credits and tax deductions.

3. Monster.com-Pay For School – Not just a job source, but advice on college.

4. How To Pay For College After Losing Your Job – Here’s an article that has some good points.

5. U.S. Military ROTC – U.S. Military pays full tuition, books, college board plus a monthly stipend if awarded a full ROTC scholarship. For every year in school, you pay back with one year in service. And this scholarship will pay for private schools too.

6. CollegeRecruiter.com – Paying for schooling, or looking for a job to pay for school.

7. Almost $8 Billion in Scholarship – Sign up for the Peterson’s Scholarship Search.

8. Scholarships.com – Find money, go to college.

9. Become A Teacher – Over $385,000 in scholarships to become a teacher.

10. Mapping Your Future – Start planning before you graduate, and more.

All these sources help direct, and lead to securing your goal: paying for an education. Don’t get sucked into paying thousands of dollars for student, or commercial loans. Get organized, treat finding a scholarship like a job, and the hard work will pay off.

And if you’ve found other links that may benefit undergrad and grad students, let me know and I will add to this post.