Lack of funding is never an excuse for missing out on a college education, because there is financial help available if you know where to go to find them.

Every year, more than $80 billion is given to deserving students by either the federal government or hundreds of private foundations. This money comes from taxes and donations from private sources such as large corporations, private employers, professional associations, educational and religious institutions to name few. They give scholarships because hey can use the donations as a tax deduction, and would rather give money to deserving scholars instead of giving it to the government.

Who can apply for free college scholarships?

All high school graduates are typically qualified college scholarships, although some programs pose special qualifying criteria. Some free college scholarships are awarded based on financial needs, academic characteristics and your personal background. For example, scholarships are available for children of military men and women. There are also special scholarships available to women and minorities.

Free scholarship searches

Search portals for college scholarships databases that catalog hundreds of awards are available on the Internet. They compare your characteristics as a student to the qualifying and selection criteria of their scholarship awards. There are many free college scholarship search engines out there, but not all are accurate in generating the right results.

Warning

Legitimate college scholarship search sites do not ask for any payment, so don't fall prey to sites that promise you 'exclusive" scholarship leads for a fee. These sites are scholarship scams - they take your money without giving you relevant scholarship leads.