You’ve applied and gotten in to the school you most want to go to. Congratulations! You are in for an incredibly exciting adventure. Now how are you going to pay for it? You’ve undoubtedly spent some time searching through the scholarships and grants that are available through local avenues. You’ve probably even already applied to everything for which you are eligible. But what if you still need funding? Where does a young go-getter go?
Spend some time searching for third party scholarships. These are scholarships offered by individuals and businesses, like the 21st Century Scholarship for students who have shown initiative in community service (you can find out more here). There are a few different resources on the web that you can use to find this funding. Fastweb is one. A quick Google search will turn up plenty of others—it might even turn up the scholarships themselves!
Don’t limit yourself to scholarships. Spend some time searching out grants. Grants work basically the same way that scholarships do but the application process is more involved. There are lots of different foundations out there that give out grants to promising students who want to go to school. Sometimes this will involve agreeing to spend a certain amount of time working for the foundation or within a certain field after you graduate.
Approach specific companies about tuition assistance. This is a particularly good plan if you’ve been hoping to get a job with a specific company after you graduate. You can approach the company before you start school, ask for funding and then agree
to work for the company in whatever capacity they deem worthy for a year (or maybe more) after you graduate. You can apply this same technique with government officials. Senators and Representatives at both the federal and state level will often sponsor a student’s education in exchange for a commitment to non-profit or government work after the degree is obtained.
There are lots of places to find outside and third party funding for your education. Before you take any of them for granted, however, you need to make sure you are prepared for the application, interview and presentation process.
1. Do you have all of your resume, letters of recommendation and application materials ready to go?
2. Have you perfected your personal essay or mission statement?
3. Have you polished up on your interview skills? Ask a teacher to work with you on ensuring that you make a fantastic impression.
4. Do you have your elevator speech down pat? This is the first thing that people are going to want to know about you. You need to be able to rattle it off in any situation. Make sure it’s great!
5. Do you know how to properly and professionally follow up on an application or meeting? Ask a teacher to help you work on your approach to this as well.
The simple truth is that if you are determined, creative and willing to work hard, you shouldn’t have much trouble finding the funding you need for school—without having to take out a lifetime’s worth of debt in student loans! Good luck!
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