With the cost of college tuition rising, more students are looking to scholarships to help take pressure off the cost. However, when it comes to athletic scholarships, the odds of a male high school athlete playing basketball at a NCAA Division I school are 107:1, and 88:1 for a female high school athlete. If your student was fortunate enough to receive an athletic scholarship, for the 2014-2015 school year, males received athletic scholarships of $14,270 and females received $15,162 on average at a Division I school. This likely still would not cover the full cost of tuition. So where else should students look for scholarships? According to a report completed by Sallie Mae, many families don’t apply for scholarships because they think they won’t qualify due to grades, finances, or simply because they don’t know what may be available.
Scholarships can come from each school independently, private or community organizations, or state and local governments. With close to $49 billion in grants and scholarships available it is likely that there is a scholarship out there for every student, the tricky part is finding it. Below is a list of websites put together by The Scholarship System to help students get started.
By using these websites, students can narrow their search by filtering scholarships that tie to their interests and majors. This saves time so they can put more focus into applying for awards they have a better chance of receiving. It is important to track deadlines for each scholarship and be wary of scams. Also, be cautious not to avoid scholarships that seem too small or not worth the time to apply. Others may not apply under the same reasoning, therefore reducing the competition and increasing your chances of receiving the award. Every dollar received can quickly add up!
Contact Sharkey, Howes & Javer at 303.639.5100 to speak to a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ about how to incorporate scholarships into your child’s education savings plan.
