Finding Scholarships
Finding Scholarships
There are many sources that can be used to find scholarships. To maximize your chances of winning a scholarship you should use a variety of sources to seek out opportunities. Additionally, books and blog posts can share insights on how to maximize your process and help set you up for success. Sources include:
- Scholarship Guide Books & Directories
- Scholarship Search Engines & websites
- Concordia University Chicago Financial Aid Office
- Articles on Scholarships by type e.g. corporate, first gen, etc.
- Blogs & Podcasts on Scholarships
- U.S. Government and State Financial Aid Agencies (Talk to CUC Financial Aid office)
- Local Scholarships often found through Community Service organizations; Places of Worship; parent employer, etc.
Each source identified above and captured in blue ink redirects you to more information on the topic.
Additionally, you can find each source using the drop down menu when you hover over the red Finding Scholarships tab at the top of the page.
Why Scholarships?
Let's face it college is expensive. While loans are one way to push the payment of college into the future, scholarships can reduce the cost of college. Scholarships pay for college costs while in college thereby reducing the amount of loans that you will eventually need to pay back.
Finding scholarships takes time, but you might want to think about it in terms of an hourly wage. For example, say you receive a $1,000 scholarship that required two 8 hours days to research, to fill out an application, to write an essay, etc. The ROI (return on investment) - in this case time is your investment is approximately $63/hour for 16 hours of work. So to think of in terms of an hourly wage - you just paid yourself $63 for each hour you spent finding and applying for your scholarship award. Even if this were a $500 Scholarship your ROI is $31/hour. The key is figuring out how to minimize your time looking and applying for scholarships.