Keep Looking for a Variety of Scholarships
Too many students put narrow blinders on when seeking scholarships.
The variety of scholarships may be divided into specific types. They provide funding for several costs for college. Sadly, many students—of all ages—tend to limit their vision when seeking scholarships. They may focus on scholarships that are only offered to certain school, certain majors, or other obvious criteria. I recommend that they keep their vision open to all the options available to fund their college education. I’ve mentioned this briefly in previous articles, but desire to go in more depth in this post.
Two Types of Scholarships: Restricted & Unrestricted
Many scholarships specify that you may only use them for certain purposes. For example, some scholarships may fund tuition at a certain university. Others will only fund people who declare a certain major. Dell offers a scholarship that may only give the student a Dell computer. In addition, some scholarships will only pay for housing. I call these types of scholarships restricted scholarships because they restrict how you may use them.
Many other scholarships do not specify how you have to use the money. You may use their money to pay tuition, housing, books, housing, food, travel, or even pay off student loans. The committees that offer these scholarships typically require that recipients prove enrollment in “an accredited educational institution.” I call these types of scholarships unrestricted scholarships.
Don’t Limit Your Applications, Apply for Both Types
As I mentioned earlier, frequently students become so focused on applying for restricted scholarships they lose sight of the unrestricted money available to them. Like a horse with blinders they only see what is in front of them. This often confirms their belief in the scarcity of scholarships because they only see a few. They fail to recognize they only see a few because of the blinders they put in place. I recommend that students apply for as many restricted scholarships as available based on their school, major, state, and sponsorships.
In addition, you should apply for the unrestricted scholarships available to you. These may be a little more difficult to find because you will not use your college, major, or other criteria to find them. Instead you may use your themes (leadership, academics, creative talent, or other theme). You may qualify for these scholarships based on your graduation year, service club affiliation, parents’ employment, or other very general criteria. Don’t let the blinders prevent you from seeing them.
Art courtesy of 123rf.com
If you enjoyed Scholarships at Any Age, please consider reading or subscribing to my other articles
12,000 Dreams Podcast (Mondays)
Life Lessons Learned (Tuesdays)
Let Your Dreams Work (Thursdays)
Cultivate Career Dreams (Fridays)