A topic I find parents, in particular, are extremely interested in is that of scholarships. Many are at least a little familiar with state-funded scholarships. Nearly everyone is aware that athletic scholarships exist, and the large merit-based scholarships that colleges and universities award are on the radar of most parents with high school students looking to head to college. Local scholarships also receive a fair amount of publicity in college-going circles.
There is one source of scholarships though that few people know about. In fact, despite their abundance, many go unawarded because no one applies for them. They can be a bit tedious to find and apply for, but for those willing to do the work, the payoff for this treasure hunt can be lucrative. I’m referring to the large number of endowed, departmental, and targeted scholarships that many colleges and universities offer.
Let’s begin with where to find these which will help me illustrate more about them. Each college and university takes a different approach to how they list and advertise these, but a college’s financial aid website is the best place to start looking. I’ll use the University of South Carolina’s site as an example. They have a tab for scholarships. Clicking on that opens another menu with several options including one called “departmental scholarships.” Clicking there opens a list three pages long of colleges, departments, and programs within the university. Each line there includes a link that says “View Scholarships Available” It’s not unusual for this treasure trove to be buried behind several clicks like it is at South Carolina.
So, let’s say I want to be a business major. I click on the “View Scholarships Available” for the College of Business (which I found on page 3 of those 3 pages) and that presents me with 187 scholarships available to University of South Carolina business majors. That’s a lot.
Congratulations. You found the treasure, but the hard work is just beginning. Now you have to sort your way through all those scholarships and find the ones that might pertain to you. I see one that is just for residents of Chesterfield County, SC. There’s one for track and field athletes majoring in business. One is for PhD candidates in the Department of Finance. These and others have very narrow scopes. Others seem very scant on information and just invite students to call or email for more information.
There are just many though that don’t seem too restrictive (as long as you’re a business major) and provide a good snapshot of who might be eligible. After identifying these, there is still work to be done in the application process which can span a wide array of complexity and work.
Because there are so many of these, some of these scholarships can go years without being awarded. However, if you’re willing to go on the treasure hunt and do what needs to be done to “get the treasure out of the ground” you can do fairly well applying for some of these awards.
