There are literally thousands of scholarships, grants and fellowships that you can apply for if you know where to find them. Fortunately, most funding opportunites are listed in one or more of several databases that you can access over the internet. College scholarship awards are sought after by hundreds of thousands of students every year so there is a lot of competition, but there's also a lot of scholarships to be claimed. Going with legitimate scholarship sources is best if you want to minimize or totally eliminate the possibility of scholarship fraud. Below are some top sites from which to start your search.
Arts and Writing Awards - Information on one of the most prestigous arts recognition programs in the country is offered by Scholastic Inc. Over 1,000 awards are given annually. Visit their Web site for more information: www.scholastic.com/artandwriting/index.html
Children's Scholarshp Fund - This fund provides educational opportunities for low-income children. Visit their Web site for more information: www.scholarshipfund.org/index.asp
College Admissions Scholarships - Scholarship and grants related to college admissions are offered through this Web site. For more information, visit collegeapps.about.com/education/collegeapps/msub13.html
College Board - Free online scholarship search service includes aid programs from 3,300 sponsors and also features college and career search capabilities. Visit their Web site for more information: www.collegeboard.org/index_this/fundfinder/html/ssrchtop.html
College Scholarships - Free scholarships are added to this Web site every month (since 1995) for undergraduate, graduate, and international students. Visit the site for more information: www.collegescholarships.com
CollegeNet Mach25 Scholarship Database - This Web site features over 500,000 scholarships from 1,500 sponsoring organizations. The site allows students to save listings and create letters requesting more information. For more information, visit www.collegenet.com/mach25.
ExPAN Scholarship Search - ExPAN is an online version of the College Board's FUND FINDER scholarship database. After you enter information about yourself, the search returns a list of scholarships that you're eligible for. This service is free and includes thousands of colleges. Visit their Web site for more information: www.collegeboard.org/fundfinder/bin/fundfinderOl.pl.
Financial Aid Information - The Web site provides links to sources of information about student financial aid. It is maintained by Mark Kantrowitz, author of the Prentice Hall Guide to Scholarships and Fellowships for Math and Science Students. It includes FastWEB (Financial Aid Search Through the WEB)--a searchable database of more than 180,000 private-sector scholarships, fellowships, grants, and loans. Visit the site for more information: www.finaid.org.
Florida Scholarships - Statewide Scholarship programs for Florida students are covered in the Web site. Visit the site for more information: www.floridaleader.com/soty.
Foundation Center - The Foundation Center Web site contains information about foundations and corporate grant makers, philanthropic news, and frequently asked questions about grants and foundations. Visit the site for more information: www.fdncenter.org.
Foundation Directory - This directory is an annual reference source for information about private and community grant-making foundations in the United States. It provides basic descriptions and current fiscal data for the nations's largest foundations. For a free catalogue, write to the Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003-3076; call 1-800-424-9836
Free Scholarship Databases - In addition to searching FastWeb, you may want to search one of the other free scholarship databases. Visit this Web site for more information: www.finaid.org/scholarships/other.html
FreeScholarships.Com - Win free scholarship money for school through this Web site at www.freescholarships.com
Fresch Scholarships - This is an online database for thousands of sources of scholarships. It has tips on applying for and winning scholarships, and volunteers will answer you financial aid and scholarship questions. Visit their Web site for more information: www.freschinfo.com/index.html
Grants - Search a collection of grants available at schools throughout the United States. Visit their Web site for more information: planet.rtec.org/project/search.cgi
Grantsmanship Center - This Web site contains information about the center and its magazine, grant resources, and training classes. There are federal grant announcements and links to other grant sites. Visit the site for more information: www.tgci.com
GrantsNet Scholarships - GrantsNet offers funding opportunities in the biological and medical sciences. Visit their Web site for more information: www.grantsnet.org
Guide Star - This free service has information on the scholarship programs of thousands of American nonprofit organizations. Their Web site also features news stories on philanthropy. For more information, visit www.guidestar.org.
Help for Grant Writers - You'll find free online grant-writing classes, funding news, and Internet resources for grant writers, plus a glossary of grant-writing terms and acronyms. There's also a discussion section in which grant writers and nonprofit staff share ideas and experiences. Visit their Web site for more information: tram.east.asu.edu/fund/index.html.
McDonald's Scholarships - McDonald's Arching Into Education Scholarship program has more than $425,000 in scholarships available from students in the New York/New Jersey/ Connecticut tri-state area. Visit their Web site for more information: www.archingintoeducation.com.
National Merit Scholarships - Sharpen those No. 2 pencils. The PSAT/NMSQt is good practice for the SAT and gives you a shot at several prestigious college scholarships. Visit their Web site for more information: 4scholarships.4anything.com/network-frame/0,1855,6206-34202,00.html.
National Science Teachers Association Scholarships - Win scholarships for college by inventing something powered by Duracell brand batteries. The National Science Teachers Association sponsors the awards. Visit its Web site for more information: www.nsta.org/programs/duracell.
NEFE High School Finance Literary Awards - This annual award program is intended to help promote lifelong financial literacy and responsibility among today's high school students. Cash awards recognize teens for their creativity. Visit their Web site for more information: www.nefe.org/hsfla/index.html.
RAM-FIE - This organization is oriented toward federal programs and research, with an emphasis on scientific grants for researchers. Visit their Web site for more information; www.fie.com
Sallie Mae's Online Scholarship Service - At this Web site you'll have access to the College Aid Sources for Higher Education (CASHE) database, one of the oldest scholarship databases. Visit the site for more information: www.salliemae.com/planning/scholarships.html
Scholaraid - Scholaraid's database contains over 2.5 million awards worth over $21.6 billion. Visit their Web site for more information: scholaraid.studentadvantage.com
Scholarship Guide - This is a comprehensive guide to financial aid and scholarships for college. Visit their Web site from more information: www.theoldschool.org
Scholarship Resource Network - This database features mostly private, portable, non-need-based scholarships. Visit their Web site for more information: www.rams.com/srn/scholarships/index.cfm
Scholarships Express - This Web site offers personalized scholarship information. Visit www.scholarship-page.com
Siebel Systems Scholarships - Siebel Systems, a California-based supplier of Web-based software, hs donated $3 million toward the goal of allowing more students
