Scholarship Search Engines

Before students can apply to scholarships, they may need some assistance finding them. A high school guidance office will have local listings that are specific to the student’s residential location and possibly their career choice. The college that they are attending will have scholarships that are specific to that school. However, what do they do when these do not cover all of their expenses? There is always the option of taking out a student loan, but a few free internet scholarship search engines can help the student wade through the many scholarships that can be found in the United States and worldwide.

General Scholarship Search Engines

Fastweb.com
This is the best scholarship search engine available. It may not have everything, but it has close to everything. It creates a comprehensive list of all scholarships and grants available to a student on the basis of a profile the student creates. Through their college, GPA, and career information ( among other things) this site narrows down all the scholarships available, so that they do not waste their time applying to scholarships that they do not qualify for. It also keeps track of deadlines for them, so as long as the student is frequently visiting the site, they will never forget when their application is due. Scholarships on this site can range from fifty dollars to over fifty thousand!

Collegeboard.com
Every student who is graduating or has graduated from high school knows the collegeboard from the SAT’s. However, the Collegeboard’s webpage also has a scholarship search engine. Similar to Fastweb.com, students create a profile that helps the site narrow down the scholarship options. The scholarships are not as numerous as on Fastweb.com, but there are some on Collegeboard.com that will not be found on Fastweb.com.

Scholarship.com
Scholarship.com has a variety of prominent scholarships. It allows parents and relatives to search for their children, so if the student’s family members have been wanting to get involved in the scholarship search, this would be an excellent opportunity for them. This site also sends email notifications to the applicant about deadlines and new scholarships.

DiscoverNursing.com
This site is dedicated specifically to finding scholarships for nursing majors. Scholarships are sorted by state, keyword, GPA and scholarship level (e.g Graduating High School Student). There is also an optional ethnicity category, as many scholarships are specific to a certain enthnic identity, such as Native American.

CareerInfoNet
This site is sponsored by the U.S Department of Labor. It not only lets students search for scholarships, but also lets them explore careers, research salaries and search for jobs! Students can search by category, such as location, or keyword, such as “nursing”.

Scholarshipmonkey.com
Scholarshipmonkey.com claimes to have over 1 million scholarships available on their webpage that add up to well over three million dollars. This site not only gives listings, but it also rates the scholarships for the student, indicated by stars located to the left of the scholarship’s name. It also shows internships that are available.

AdventuresinEducation
This site’s search engine is not that great, because applicants can only search by keyword. However, it gives great information about financial aid, and tips on managing your money and budgeting while in school. It also gives a really good explanation of the different types of scholarships available, and has links to other helpful scholarship searches.

Nursing Scholarship Search Engines

Some search sites that can help locate nursing scholarships:

• Campus RN – http://michigan.campusrn.com/network/scholarship_program
• Discover Nursing Scholarships – http://www.discovernursing.com/scholarship_search.asp
• Financial Aid & Scholarships – http://medi-smart.com/finaid.htm
• Nursing Student Loan Program & Scholarships – http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/dsa/pages/nu.htm
• Nursing Web Search Scholarships – http://www.nursewebsearch.com/nursing_scholarships.htm
• Scholarships for Nursing – http://www.free-4u.com/nursing.htm
• Student Nurse Center – http://www.nursezone.com/student_nurse_center/Financial_assistance.asp

General Advice on Finding Scholarships

When searching for scholarships, students should make sure to have general information such as their address, social security number, GPA, and SAT scores with them. Some scholarships will only require this information, as they are similar to a raffle. Others will require more effort, such as an essay or short answer questions. Some even require long term projects, especially those centered around volunteer participation. It is a good idea to create a binder to collect all of the student’s scholarship information. This helps keep everything organized.

If the student feels overwhelmed with paperwork, or they are having a hard time finding scholarships that fit, they should contact their financial aid office or guidance counselor. High school guidances counselors often have books of annual scholarships that students are able to apply to. The financial aid office may be able to point the student in the right direction, or show them which of their scholarships are available to them. Often college financial aid offices have links to other scholarship search engines on their webpages.