The best way to pay for college is with money you didn’t have to save and don’t have to pay back. This money typically comes in the form of grants and scholarships.
Grants are generally based on need, while scholarships are merit-based. To qualify for federal grants, like the Pell Grant, you will need to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This form is commonly called the FAFSA. Grants from states and schools often require the FAFSA too.
Your school could offer merit-based scholarships. Contact your school’s financial aid office to see what awards are available. For private scholarships — money awarded outside your school — you’ll have to dig a little deeper. Scholarship search engines are a good place to start.
Scholarship websites give you access to many scholarships at once. However, some may sell your information which can result in spam. The sites on this list take steps to protect your information.
1. Scholarships360
Scholarships360 provides students with vetted scholarship opportunities. Students can apply to the scholarships without having to leave the platform. High school students, college students and adult learners can create an account and be matched to scholarships.
2. Bold.org
Bold.org lets individuals and companies create scholarships and grants on the site. Some are Bold.org exclusives not found anywhere else. Anyone can create a profile to look for free money for college. You can customize your search in your profile or use the search tool to search by keyword. Popular searches include scholarships for women, high school seniors, nursing students and Hispanic students. Others are graduate school scholarships and merit-based scholarships.
3. College Board
College Board’s scholarship site falls under its BigFuture brand. The site has over 6,000 scholarships from organizations like UNCF and Scholarship America. You will need to create an account to look through them. College Board then uses your profile information to match you with relevant opportunities.
4. Get Schooled
Get Schooled began as a partnership between Paramount and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It focuses on helping low-income families, racial minorities and first-generation college students. Get Schooled's Scholarship Finder lists 21,000+ scholarships that can be sorted by category. You can also download Get Schooled’s scholarship application tracker.
5. JLV College Counseling
JLV College Counseling is an independent site that has scholarship opportunities by due date. You don’t have to register to browse, and the site doesn’t have a detailed filter function. You do, however, have the option to sign up for newsletter updates.
6. CareerOneStop
CareerOneStop is a website of the U.S. Labor Department. It has over 9,500 college scholarships, fellowships, grants and other financial aid opportunities to search through.
