4 Do's and 1 Don't for Finding Scholarships

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This article was not very helpful. "DON'T pay for advice." - especially this one. There are professionals out there that specifically work with students and families to help them with the college planning, funding, and admissions process. If people can do all of this on their own, then why is our student loan bubble about to burst?

Trust of TX 3:50AM October 13, 2012

What is the income cutoff point for getting need considered scholarships? Is the number $75K, $100K, $125K or more? Do the scholarships grant less to students from higher income families? I presume the lower the income, the better the chance of getting a scholarship.
Basically, the question is whether it is worth our time to submit applications?

TH of MN 9:50PM March 30, 2011

Hello Tracie of GA~ The Scholardollars.com site seems to be empty and I would love some help. I'm a mom of a senior and yes it's very over whelming. Can you steer me in the right direction for scholarship money to help pay for college?

Shari of CA 3:48AM March 01, 2011

No kidding. My daughter has already taken out a loan for $25,000.... for the first year alone. Unfortunately, we also fall in the middle class bracket, which really limits our amount of aid. Is it really worth it?

Carole of MD 11:45PM February 20, 2011

I tend to agree with your assessment. I’m projecting that middle class kids are averaging 60k+. I’ve been working my tail off just to get into the middle class and it seems all we do is get pinched from both ends. Your EFC is too high because you did the smart thing and paid down your mortgage and now there is a larger EFC gap, and let’s be honest here, who can afford to buy your child the equivalent of a new luxury car each year for four years and continue to make the payments without going bankrupt! …and if they want to go to graduate school, god bless you. If I worked less, college would likely be paid for but then I couldn't fund my retirement. As a parent, sometimes it comes down to a tough choice; you either invest in your child or invest in your retirement. In my case, my only option is to split the difference and say "here you go, you get XXX amount each year and the rest is up to you". Not fair to a student who also worked their tail off to get good grades and was fortunate to live in a middle class neighborhood and certainly not a good way to start your career; saddled in debt....and the disparities continue.

JW of MA 4:09PM February 14, 2011

Scholarships and grants are an excellent source of money to pay for college. However, most people don't have the time or energy to do exhaustive scholarship searches. And even if they have the time, there is so much information out there that it can be totally overwhelming! I spent my son's entire senior year searching for scholarships (six days a week, two to four hours per day!) and yes, it paid off! As a result of all my hard work and the experience I gained, I founded Scholar Dollars, and I provide personalized scholarship searches for students. I focus on finding more obscure and local and regional scholarships that are not well known and harder to find, which means that my clients have a better chance of winning! You can find more information at www (dot) Scholar-Dollars (dot) com. Of course, the ultimate result and money won depends on the student's motivation, determination, and commitment. You certainly won’t win any scholarships if you don’t apply for them. But the money is definitely there if you are willing to work for it!

Tracie of GA 12:53PM February 12, 2011

This article states that students are graduating with more than $20,000 debt. That seems really low, especially for the middle class who does not qualify for any need based aid at all. Even state college with room and board costs $100,000 over four years. Private colleges, even with partial scholarship offers will cost $150,000 for four years. Seems that if a student owes $20,000 after graduation he should consider himself lucky. Am I missing something?

Dawn of NJ 4:50PM February 09, 2011