Which Group Of College Students Is Typically Offered Scholarships? – Getting a college scholarship is what a majority of high school seniors in the United States desire.
The cost of a college and university education in America keeps getting expensive and becomes somewhat difficult for low income earners to fund, this is why students and even parents go all out looking for scholarships.
However, a large chunk of the college scholarships are merit-based while the remaining are awarded based on certain requirements like income status, race, etc.
So, are you a college freshman, current student, or a transfer student, and you’re thinking if you’ll be getting that scholarship quite easy? Read this article to really learn more about this.
On this article, we will be discussing which group of college students is typically offered scholarships in the United States, we’ll also let you know when and where to apply for scholarships.
Which Group Of College Students Is Typically Offered Scholarships?
Typically, students who are getting into college as freshmen easily get scholarships more than current students or transfer students.
Most of the famous scholarship programs are focused on graduating high school students who are just getting admitted into colleges or universities.
However, being a high school freshman isn’t the only criteria for getting most of these scholarship offers, a student’s high school grades and other important factors are usually considered.
Additionally, several scholarships in the United States are offered to students from low-income earning families. Even with the above factors, college and university freshmen are the major beneficiaries of scholarships in the United States.
Several scholarship programs in the U.S. are aimed at encouraging and assisting students who have the zeal to further their studies but with no means of funding. This explains why college freshmen easily get scholarship awards than current college students.
Also, sophomores (second-year students) also do get scholarship awards, but not as easy and often as the freshmen.
What Is A College Scholarship?
A college scholarship is a form of educational funding support awarded to eligible students, these scholarships can be fully-funded, for a year, or a term.
A college scholarship isn’t refundable and the student may only have to meet certain requirements to be eligible for the award.
For college freshmen, their high school grades may be the decisive factor or what makes them eligible for the scholarship, this explains why graduating high school seniors mostly grab scholarships easily.
While millions of college freshmen are getting scholarships yearly, some students are still finding it difficult to actually land a college scholarship, continue reading this article to really learn where and how to get a college scholarship in the United States.
How To Get A College Scholarship In The United States
There are no specific ways of getting guaranteed of a scholarship award, it solely depends on the requirements from the scholarship board.
If you are a high school graduate and hoping to get admitted in the college, this might be your best opportunity to grab a scholarship.
However, it isn’t enough to want a scholarship, you must put in the work and find a scholarship you can meet up with the requirements.
Ensure to check your eligibility status, some scholarships are for people from specific races, also check the required GPA, you might also be lucky to find a scholarship with no GPA requirement.
For scholarships that require essay or interviews, you would have to prepare for them and ensure you give in your best shot.
The first step towards getting a scholarship in the United States is by searching for it, there are several scholarship platforms you can search for scholarships. Your best and fastest way to search for scholarships is on the internet.
How To Search For College Scholarship Online
Search for a college scholarship online is relatively easy, there are several platforms for scholarships in the United States. You can also
At websites like Unigo, you can find more than 3.6million scholarships and grants. You only need to create a profile, this will enable you save your personal scholarship results. Unigo will show scholarships based on the information you’ve provided, this helps you to view scholarships you are eligible for.
You can also check for college scholarships at Scholarship Owl, the platform matches students with suitable scholarships, this simplifies the scholarship search and application process.
Scholarships posted on Scholarship Owl and Unigo are vetted and verified, this reduces time wasting as the process of searching, selecting and applying for the scholarship happen all in one place.
For scholarships that require essays, Scholarship Owl allows students to write, edit and proof their essays in the website.
How To Apply For College Scholarships Online
For majority of the college scholarships in the United States, interested students are required to submit their applications online. For popular scholarships like Coca-Cola Scholars Program, the entire process of application is done on the scholarship portal.
For scholarships displayed on scholarship websites like Scholarship Owl and Unigo, applicants are required to submit the application online. You simply need to gather relevant documents and upload them during application and as required.
To apply for a college scholarship online, it’s best you start early even if you are a high school junior or sophomore. However, most of the scholarships are for high school seniors who are graduating and on their way to college.
This leads us to the next subhead; when you should apply for a college scholarship.
When Should I Apply For A College Scholarship?
This solely depends on the requirement from the scholarship board. While it isn’t a bad idea to actually start applying for college scholarships even why being a high school junior or sophomore, it’s best you apply as a high school senior that is graduating, this is because several major scholarships require a certain GPA, your high school performance can’t be accessed while you are still a junior or sophomore.
With the above explanation, you would most likely agree that the best and most accurate time to apply for a college scholarship as a graduating high school senior.
Summary
Which Group Of College Students Is Typically Offered Scholarships? Truth is, college freshmen and graduating high school seniors typically get scholarship offers easily. Most scholarship boards tend to favor them more than current college students in the United States.
