National Scholarships

Scholarships
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Find Funds to Help You Pay for College

There are thousands of scholarships offered nationwide with many different sets of criteria. Scholarships may be targeted towards people based on hobbies, financial need, ethnic background and more. Read our guide below to see what national scholarships you qualify for.

Please note: Beware of phishing and scholarship scams. You should not have to pay to find scholarships and other financial aid. Please verify that a scholarship or grant is legitimate before submitting your personal information.

Use a Scholarship Search Engine

There are many websites that will find scholarships you qualify for when you create a username and enter relevant information. Here are a few:

  • Cappex: A popular search engine that helps you filter your results
  • Scholly: This is a paid scholarship search engine. Use Scholly if you want to avoid advertisements. Scholly also does not sell students’ personal information.
  • Nitro: This search engine allows you to explore scholarships without creating a username
  • College Board: An effective and trusted search engine.

Browse with a scholarship directory.

You can search for scholarships by type or with a directory on scholarships.com.

Find an employer with tuition reimbursement benefits.

If you plan to work while you attend college there are many companies that offer tuition reimbursement for full and part-time employees. Check this list of 50 of them to get started.

Ask your family about employer scholarship opportunities.

Many unions and corporate companies offer scholarships that are open only to the families of their employees. Talk to your parents or spouse and see if their employer offers family scholarships.

Check out the largest private funder of minority scholarships.

Each year the UNCF donates more than $100 million to students belonging to racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States. Apply today!

See scholarship opportunities for nursing students.

Use NursingExplorer to see over 15,000 scholarships for nursing majors.

The ultimate LGBTQIA+ scholarship guide.

LGBTQIA+ identifying students, the Human Rights Campaign has an entire database dedicated to you.

Apply for state-funded scholarships.

Visit http://www.pheaa.org to apply for grants, scholarships and loan forgiveness.

Calculate your overall costs.

Finaid provides tools to help you calculate your overall cost of attending college as well as "how to" information on FAFSA, student loans and more.

Tips

Use multiple search engines.

There are hundreds of thousands of publicly and privately scholarships in the United States. Although the results of one search engine may seem extensive, there are likely more opportunities waiting to be discovered on other platforms.

Stay organized.

If you are applying to multiple scholarships take care that you don’t lose track of your information and the work you have submitted. Keep a spreadsheet that accounts for the components of each scholarship you are applying to, due dates and whether you have heard back from them. There is no use in turning in an incomplete or late application and you do not want to miss any pertinent communications.

Keep your eyes peeled.

Scholarships are everywhere. A brand you shop with, an organization you are a part of or a store in your neighborhood might just have scholarship offerings.