College is expensive. Most college graduates spend 20 years of their lives paying off their student loans (Education Data Initiative). And while there isn’t anything that can change the number on that university price tag, there are a variety of resources students can use to lessen that blow to the bank.
Scholarships are often the front runners when it comes to alleviating college expenses. An estimated $46 billion is given in scholarships each year per the U.S. Department of Education (College Scholarship Statistics), and that doesn’t include the amount given by private sources (upwards of $7.4 billion).
But while the money is plentiful, the actual number of college students given scholarships sits at 7 percent. There’s no guarantee any one person will be included in this percentage; however, there are ways to improve the odds.
The more scholarships a person applies for, the bigger the chances are of getting some money. Services like Niche and BigFuture offer extensive lists of scholarship opportunities, and can suggest scholarships based on specific college aspirations (ex. private or public, location and degree type). These sites also give options when it comes to the scholarships themselves. There are essay scholarships, monthlies, reviews and ones based on student merit. There are even scholarships that can be entered by simply applying (no essay needed).
For seniors, there are also scholarships available in the guidance office. These are typically introduced in the morning announcements and are held in a rack in the office.
“Kids should check [the scholarship rack] every week,” guidance counselor Sue Fox said. “We don’t have a lot [of scholarships] until they start trickling in around October…By January, the amount is huge.”
According to Fox and fellow guidance counselor, Rebecca Anderson, out of the hundreds of scholarships offered through AAHS there are a few that stand out.
“The Altoona High scholarship is one application that probably carries around 50 scholarship options, so it’s not a lot of work for a ton of opportunity,” Anderson said. “There’s also the Alumni Scholarship, another easy application, and then our elementary PTO scholarships.”
The elementary scholarships are for any student who went to an AAHS elementary school. Each school typically gives several scholarships out to its alumni. The Alumni Foundation also usually gives out about ten $1,000 scholarships to AAHS students alone. The counselors advise students to look for scholarships that may be closer to home.
“Always look at where your parents are members or even where your grandparents or aunts and uncles are members,” Fox said. “Often, private places will offer scholarships.”
Other scholarships offered through AAHS can be based on SAT or PSAT scores which can win students a National Merit Scholarship.
“You don’t have to be top of your class to potentially get these [scholarships],” Anderson said. “That is a deterrent for a lot of students. They tend to think that if they are not [in the] top ten they’ll never get it, but that doesn’t have to be the case. You just have to be a good or well-rounded student.”
Overall, the counselors recommend that students apply to every scholarship they can so the opportunities don’t go to waste.
“Sometimes there are scholarships that no one applies for because they take a little bit more effort,” Fox said. “If you can spare even half of an hour on your weekend and look at some of these scholarships it is definitely worth your time because you have a pretty good shot of getting them.”
