School-specific scholarships are awarded to students attending a particular college or university. This eligibility requirement is where the name of this scholarship prize comes from. There may be other eligibility criteria as well, like you may need to be an engineering, history, or math major, but the primary condition is that you attend a specific academic institution.
College-specific scholarships offer a great opportunity to help you pay for college costs, including tuition, books, and living expenses.
While these scholarship opportunities can be competitive, the school-specific eligibility condition means that you won’t have to compete against every undergraduate student in the country. Ultimately, your school wants to invest in students who attend their institution. This could be you! If your scholarship searches are only focused on finding private scholarships, you may be missing a lot of opportunities in school-specific scholarships. Let’s examine this kind of scholarship more closely.
Types of School-Specific Scholarships
Entrance scholarship awards: If you’re a high school senior who accepts an offer of admission from a college, it’s a good idea to examine potential entrance scholarships you can apply for. Some colleges offer these to students automatically, but other schools require an application. This is a great way to get your scholarship journey off to a good start.
Scholarships by major, level of study, or merit: In addition to the requirement of enrollment, some school-specific scholarships will have other eligibility criteria, like major or year of study. For example, there may be prizes for undergraduate students who are in their senior year majoring in finance. There may also be academic scholarships based on academic excellence or contribution to campus community life, which are known as merit scholarships. Merit scholarships are a great option if you have strong academic achievement and a high cumulative GPA. The thing to know is that school-specific scholarships can have diverse eligibility criteria.
Student-specific scholarships: Another major category of scholarships awarded by colleges and universities are those that are student-specific. This is typically based on criteria related to personal characteristics like gender or race. For example, your school may offer scholarships for Hispanic students or scholarships for women in STEM. Availability of these prizes will differ from school to school.
Scholarship funds for student aid: Many schools offer scholarships and grants in the form of financial aid awards. Often, students may have to qualify for federal student financial aid (by filing the FAFSA), which is based on personal or family income. While this is typically a part of eligibility requirements, these scholarships for college students are not federal student loans. This means, you don’t have to pay the money back.
Graduate Student Scholarships: Many colleges and universities invest heavily in graduate student research. There also tends to be many endowment scholarships at the graduate level, which present great opportunities for masters or doctoral students (there are lots of university endowed scholarships for undergraduates, too!).
Eligibility Criteria
Given that there are many types of scholarships you can qualify for at your school, it’s crucial to know the scholarship eligibility requirements and associated terms and conditions. Some college scholarships may require you to maintain fulltime status or a stated GPA. Another thing to look out for are scholarships that are highly unique, which may fall out of the categories of scholarships described above. For example, there may be scholarships available specifically for transfer students or some other special criteria.
Registrar or Financial Aid Office
In addition to your own personal efforts, you should consider reaching out to your college or university’s registrar or financial aid office. You can start by visit their webpage, but it would likely help if you booked an appointment, too.
College registrars and financial aid offices are equipped with lots of knowledge about how to apply to school-specific scholarships. If you can’t find a list of scholarships to apply for or if you just want more information on the topic, financial aid counselors can help in a big way. These are the individuals who will know what scholarships your school offers like the back of their hands. So, why not ask? It will likely only take a moment of your time, and it may later result in some scholarship money.
Check In Periodically
It’s important to know that you may qualify for school-specific scholarships at different points in your undergraduate journey. For this reason, it’s important to be thorough in your research of these prizes and check in with your school’s financial aid and scholarships office periodically. There may be prizes with deadlines approaching that you didn’t qualify for last year. Or perhaps, you’re in the sweet spot to qualify for a scholarship only offered to students studying in your particular year – incoming freshman, sophomores, juniors, or seniors.
So, try to make a point of scheduling time to find college-specific prizes a couple times per year. You may find a great option that can land you some scholarship money.
University Prizes Not Always Advertised Well
It’s not always the case, but sometimes college-specific prizes can be poorly advertised. This means that they are harder to find. However, if you’re willing to spend some time finding these scholarship opportunities, this could mean a big win for you. When college scholarship competitions are hard to find, that usually means that competition will be less. It makes sense, right? Other students are looking for money too and the more undergraduates who see an opportunity, the more applicants there will be.
Takeaways
- School-specific scholarships are prizes offered to students enrolled in a particular college or university
- There are various types of school-specific scholarships, such as entrance awards, scholarships by major, level of study, and merit
- College-specific scholarships may also be awarded to a scholarship recipient based on student-specific criteria, like gender, race, or ethnicity
- Research school-specific scholarships periodically because you may qualify for prizes at different moment in your undergraduate journey
- Book an appointment with your college registrar or financial aid office to get clear and specific details about scholarships at your school
Original post here: How to Get School-Specific Scholarships in University
No comments:
Post a Comment