Grants and scholarships for College Students

The average cost for a college education per academic year is around $20,000. Most students today are finding it extremely difficult to pay the bill. However, this is where scholarships and grants for college students play an important role. The purpose of grants is to make higher education affordable for students who need it the most. Scholarships are awarded based on many factors like GPA, race, major, and so on.

Grants and scholarships are both free money that students do not have to pay back. However, obtaining them has a few prerequisite that must be fulfilled. For example, grants are awarded only to financially needy students to help defray the cost of an education.

Students that fall into the category of needy and can prove that they have a financial need are eligible for grant money. Scholarships on the other hand are awarded based on a student’s athletic ability, grade point average, nationality, area of study, etc.

Finding Education Grants and College Scholarships by Categories

When looking for college funding, there are a few categories that students can look, for example:

• Minority grants
• Student-specific
• Level of degree
• Academic scholarships
• Subject-specific
• Leadership scholarships
• Scholarships for women

A few reliable sources for these funding are through federal and state government, organizations, and universities and colleges.

Federal Grant Programs

Federal grant programs like the Pell Grant, Academic Competitiveness (AC) grant, and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant, are available to students looking to fund their higher education. There are also state’s grant programs that are awarded to residents of the state based on different factors like merit, financial need, and major.

In Conclusion

Grants and scholarships are programs that give students the financial aid they need to cover the rising cost of tuition and other college related expenses. There are many sources out there for free money which does not have to be paid back, unlike loans. However the key is that students need to keep searching until they find a match. There are all types of funding available to meet every need, so don’t stop searching.