Students come from all financial backgrounds, but few people these days consider college a cheap expense. Fortunately, scholarship awards can make a huge dent in the sticker price of your dream school. And with time at a premium, programs that offer significant amounts of money are especially attractive.
There’s a lot of bang for your buck — and your scholarship research — to be found. These generous scholarships often offer a high level of prestige to match their significant dollar amounts and the scope of their competition. And with such large programs, they probably won’t be disappearing anytime soon, and some have even increased their scholarship amounts.
[Take a look at these prestigious college scholarship awards.]
No matter the size of the scholarship program, as you get started, remember to research who’s offering the program. Corporations, foundations and individuals will have differing reasons for offering a scholarship.
Some groups, like the Gordon A. Rich Memorial Foundation, require financial need for their scholarship. The foundation offers a maximum of seven renewable $12,500 scholarships per school year — up to $50,000 over four years — to students who have a parent who works or worked in the financial services industry.
The application is available to high school seniors with a 3.5 GPA who also rank in the top 20 percent of their class. Last year’s award class included 25 students from around the country. The program is open and the deadline to apply is Feb. 18, 2015.
The $10,000 Anne Frank Outstanding Scholarship seeks to award a community-minded student leader who exemplifies “the commitment, ideals and courage that Anne Frank represents today.”
The application requires two letters of recommendation and a 1,000-word essay describing a single personal experience where you demonstrated a commitment to social justice in your community. Last year’s deadline for the program was in February, so check back for an updated application.
[Learn other tips to help pay for college.]
Don’t forget competition awards, too. They may not fit the mold of a traditional scholarship, but they can offer substantial prizes for top finishers.
If you’re an inventor, consider the Collegiate Inventors Competition. The competition awards entrepreneurial students from all fields of study who demonstrate their creativity with cutting-edge inventions.
There are two levels of competition: undergraduate, with a $12,500 first-place prize, and graduate, which includes $15,000 for the top prize. Individuals or teams of no more than four students submit their original idea along with a university adviser, who also receives a cash prize for student winners. Second and third place winners also receive awards ranging from $7,500 to $12,500.
All finalists receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to present their work. Keep tabs on the next award cycle, as the 2014 finalists will be announced this fall.
[Take advantage of scholarships from corporations and foundations.]
In the meantime, check out the application resources listed on the competition website. There’s a lot of helpful information on how to submit the strongest entry possible.
Finally, remember that your institution has its own pool of resources with generous scholarships of varying amounts. Many will be merit-based, like the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music‘s “all-scholarship policy” for incoming undergrad and grad students. Others will be need-based, or a combination of the two, like the Tulane University-sponsored Mayoral Scholarship, which offers full tuition to New Orleans high school students.
Generous scholarships may be more competitive, but that doesn’t mean you should write them off entirely; it never hurts to apply. Your application efforts, whether nationally or locally, could be well worth the effort.
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Invest Time in Applying for These Generous Scholarships originally appeared on usnews.com