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What is a Scholarship?A scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a financial aid award for an individual student scholar, for the purpose of furthering their education. Scholarships are awarded based on a range of criteria which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.Types of ScholarshipsScholarships may be classified into the following primary groups. * Merit: This is financial aid for which financial need is not used to determine the recipient. The recipient may be determined by students’ athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities. The actual monetary value of the scholarship may be negligible, the scholarship being meant to motivate the student and promote the study of the subject. However, this is not always the case and the largest scholarships are almost always merit-based. * Need: This is financial aid for which the student and family’s financial situation is a primary factor in determining the recipient. Usually such scholarship will cover all or part of the tuition and may even cover living costs. Very often even need-based private scholarships require the awardees to be distinguished students, as the deed founding the award may include a phrase like "for the studies of founder's favourite subject in founder's favourite institution of higher education for a talented youths of limited means from founder's home town/county/state, etc.Obtaining ScholarshipsIt is typical for persons to find scholarships in their home region. Information on these can be found by asking local persons and organizations. Typically, these are less competitive as the eligible population is smaller. * Guidance counselors: When starting to explore scholarship opportunities, high school students should definitely check in with their guidance counselors. They can be a great resource for local scholarships. * Non-profit organizations: Most non-profit organizations have at some point of their history founded scholarships for prospective students: * Community foundations: Many counties / cities / regions have a local foundation dedicated to giving money in the form of grants and scholarships to people and organizations in the area. * Labor unions: All the major labor unions offer scholarships for members and their dependent children.
* PSAT/NMSQT: In the United States, students are offered the opportunity to take the PSAT/NMSQT test, usually in their junior year of high school. Not only does it help them to prepare for the SAT later on, but National Merit Scholarship programs are determined, in the first step, by the scores received on the PSAT/NMSQT test. Some private scholarship programs require the applicants to take the PSAT.Other sources of information on scholarships are libraries, newspapers, the yellow pages, and Internet search engines.