Scholarships and Financial Aid

Many different scholarships exist for those interested in pursuing post-secondary education. The awarding of these scholarships may be based on academic achievement or financial need. Additionally, there are many private scholarships available with their own criteria, including: ethnic heritage, geographic location, program of study, hobbies, religious affiliations, etc. Since each scholarship is different the only way to find the one for you is to surf the net and start exploring.

Resources to help with your scholarship search:

www.osfa.mass.edu/default.asp?page=aidPrograms – information on financial aid assistance for residents of Massachusetts
www.fastweb.com – database of private sector scholarships, grants, and loans
www.ed.gov/finaid – US Department of Education financial aid, information for students and parents about grants, loans, work study, and tax credits for education
www.finaid.org – aid estimator and scholarship search
www.collegenet.com – database contains over 600,000 awards totaling over 1.6 billion
www.collegeboard.org – scholarship search and financial planning resource
www.mappingyourfuture.org – student site for aid and scholarships
www.embark.com – choice of majors, careers, links to colleges, scholarship search
www.freschinfo.com – the free scholarship search and information
www.uncf.org – financial aid from the United Negro College Fund
www.collegeview.com – comparative college information from College View
www.wiredscholar.com – college, financial aid and scholarship information
www.money.cnn.com/pf/college/ – guide to making college affordable

Note: Please be very cautious of any site that asks you for a fee and offers to find you money or a “guarantee” of funding. These are most often scams as no one can control who applies for each scholarship and who is selected for these awards. There are many free resources available!