Stop Believing These College Scholarship Myths

While student loans are the talk of the town , anyone with a child who is in college knows how important scholarships are to get that loan down in the first place. Scholarships play an important role in college admissions; a 2022 Sally Mae report found that 60% of families relied on scholarships to pay for tuition.

The Federal Student Service recommends that students start scholarship searches in the summer after eleventh grade, but it’s never too early (or too late) to figure out exactly how college scholarships work. Here are the biggest college scholarship myths you have to stop believing in order to save every penny.

“First say yes to any college, then look for scholarships”

The last thing you want is to look at your beautiful acceptance letters only to find that none of these dream schools can reward you with the help you need. Hunting for meaningful scholarships is not an afterthought after acceptance, but a guiding force in which schools you apply to first.

To get started, look at the “Common Data Set” for each school to see if they provide financial assistance and how many students received it. Many schools also have some sort of net price calculator , which allows prospective students to enter information about themselves to find out how much their fellow students paid tuition at the institution in the previous year, after grants and scholarships are taken into account.

“Only excellent students get paid”

According to the 2022 Sally Mae Report, 45% of families believe students must be academically exceptional to win college money. While many scholarships are fiercely competitive, there are millions of scholarships available. It is a myth that the best students are automatically selected and the poor students are left with nothing.

Students who boast leadership and other extracurricular activities can explore types of institutional scholarships that are not as heavily dependent on GPA. In addition to looking into specific school scholarships, look into private scholarships – private scholarships tend to be small, but they can add up. Check out opportunities that may come from local businesses, non-profit organizations, sports clubs, etc. Remember that you can apply for any number of scholarships.

“I don’t need to complete the FAFSA”

The purpose of FAFSA, a free federal student aid application, is to determine what financial aid a student is eligible for, including both needs-based and non-needs-based aid. Even if you don’t think this is for you, it’s worth filling out to find out how you qualify for all types of financial aid, including federal, state, and school aid, as well as merit-based scholarships.

Many households do not realize that there is no official income limit to apply for federal loans, but filling out the FAFSA form is necessary in order to be considered. Moreover, many schools require it so that they can award institutional scholarships.

“Scholarships for High School Students Only”

Some college scholarships are open to junior high school students while others are reserved for current university students. Don’t think it’s too early or too late to look for scholarship opportunities; it is worth continuing to apply throughout your college years.

And if you already got a high school scholarship, make sure you read the fine print. You may need to reapply every year.

“Applying for a scholarship is too difficult”

The college application process is tedious. Stay on top of stress by creating a spreadsheet with all the different scholarships you find and what they require you to apply for. Plus, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for each one – many scholarships will ask the same questions over and over again, so save your work to reassign your answers across apps.

Keep in mind that many schools have scholarships earlier than the official application deadline, so it’s important to start your research early and stay organized. If in doubt, contact the school’s financial aid department.