Colleen Said:

Can my college grants total more than I actually need for college?

We Answered:

schools.medianewsonline.com - it provides some tips about applying to US federal and state grants for college students.

Corey Said:

I would like to do some grant writing. How can I find out what kinds of college grants are out there and how?

We Answered:

Here are some sites that offer both grants and scholarships:
http://www.fedmoney.org/
http://www.findtuition.com/scholarships/
http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss…
http://www.freegovmoney.net/
http://www.educationplanner.com/educatio…
http://www.studentawards.com/
http://www.college-scholarships.com/

Here are sites that offer helpful hints for writing grants:
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/writ…
http://www.marcias-lesson-links.com/SoYo…
http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/grants/fi…
http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/p…
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/sflib/libmgn…
http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/writegrantapplic…

Good luck!

Roger Said:

What websites are good for finding college grants?

We Answered:

Erika:

First of all, let's get one thing cleared away - the only way to apply for a college "grant" is to complete the FAFSA. Grants are offered by the federal and the state governments, and they all use that one universal application, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Certain state grants require that you submit additional documents or application forms - but you didn't mention your state, so I can't refer you anywhere specific for that.

Scholarships are a completely different type of financial aid - don't confuse them with grants. A scholarship is a form of "merit-based" aid - which means, simply that some organization "rewards" you with a scholarship to recognize either something that you have done, or some talent or potential that you have demonstrated.

You'll often hear the claims that there are "scholarships for everything", like the things you mentioned about being left-handed, or having brown eyes, but to be honest, there isn't a whole lot of that. Those kinds of scholarships are very, very few and far between, and the only reason you hear about them is because they are so odd and unusual.

The majority of scholarships are offered directly by the colleges and universities themselves. If you looked at the total dollar amount of scholarships offered every year, I'd guess that probably 80% or more of that money is awarded directly by the schools. Schools use these scholarships for one reason only - and that's to attract the smartest or most talented students to their school. Schools typically offer scholarships for the brightest students, the students with the highest SAT or ACT scores, or students with musical, theater, or athletic talent.

The remainder of the scholarships are offered by companies and private organizations. They use these scholarships to promote certain types of education, or sometimes as job perks to attract quality employees. A company like UPS offers scholarships and tuition reimbursement to its workers and to their family members. Programs like that encourage the employees to seek advanced education (making them better, more talented workers), and create goodwill for the company. Some membership clubs offer scholarships to the families of members.

The kinds of scholarships that you are asking about - scholarships that reward you for doing nothing in particular - are those rare scholarships that are awarded mostly to create publicity for the organization that offers them. They're not large scholarships - the famous "Duck Tape" scholarship ("Stuck at Prom") has a top prize of $3000. The Frederick and Mary Beckley Scholarship offers $1000 for left-handed students.

If you want to see some of the weirder scholarships, FinAid.com has a list, which you can find here: http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/unusu…

I can't tell, from reading your question, if you are aware that most students get significant financial assistance from the Federal Student Aid program, and that form of financial aid has nothing to do with merit-based scholarships. All you have to do is complete the FAFSA, which will enable your school to evaluate your financial aid need, and determine whether there are any forms of aid that you qualify for.

I'd strongly recommend this booklet if you haven't already seen it: http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/images… This is the Department of Education's official guide to the Federal Student Aid program.

I hope this helps you - good luck!

Rhonda Said:

What websites can I find some college grants?

We Answered:

The first answerer gave you good advice. You can also find many different scholarships at the link below.

It's an "org" weblink, which means they are actually trying to help you, not sell you something.

Gordon Said:

What are some ways to find college grants?

We Answered:

Grants are given out on a "need' basis. The fafsa application is the only true grant application that I know of for folks who want to go to college. By filling out the fafsa you are applying not only for federal grants but also state grants. It sounds like you are looking for additional money, which would be scholarships, not grants.