College tuition, fees and even textbook costs have been rising non-stop for years now with almost no stop insight. The more budget cuts there are at the federal and state level, the more burden students and their families have to take to pay for education.
However, it's shocking to learn that MILLIONS of dollars of scholarship money goes unclaimed every year. There are literally so many scholarship programs out there, that most students don't learn about 1/2 of them.
There are many scholarships that never even get an applicant to them! That means that if you were to apply, being the only one, you'd be guaranteed that scholarship.
Sounds crazy, I know - but there are many booklets out there that actually reveal each and every scholarship in the country, many of them are just fighting for applicants.
Here are 3 easy ways to find free scholarship money:
1. Local Directories
Your high school and/or college should carry a directory of all the local programs you can apply for. However, these directories are usually only good for local programs - there are many federal programs that never get listed here.
2. Google Search
Obviously you can find hundreds, if not thousands, if you look long enough - however, it could take you days if not weeks to cover all your ground searching yourself.
3. Free Directories
There are actually sites out there that will give you a complete list of every scholarship listed out there. Many of them will do this for free as a service to students.
I mostly recommend spending your time with these directories because they tend to be the most complete when it comes to federal programs. You can find a link to the best free directory at the bottom of this article.
So, the best option is to get a copy of one of these free directories and combine it with the local directory your school has - you will have covered your entire basis at that point.