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by Paulina Mis

If you can name a city in the U.S. with no McDonald's, you deserve a scholarship. McDonald’s fast food restaurants are everywhere, and they offer more than three minute french fries. Since its founding in 1985, the Ronald McDonald House Charities has given away $29 million in scholarship money. Their financial aid program offers four different scholarship opportunities. There is one open to students of all races, one for Hispanic Americans, one for Asian Americans and one for African Americans. It's time to set aside the creepy feeling you get when looking at McDonald's odd characters. If the clown is offering scholarships, it's best to take him up on the offer. For more information about this and other scholarships please visit Scholarships.com and conduct a free scholarship search.

Prize:

Most local McDonald's chapters award a minimum of $1,000

Eligibility:

1. Applicant must be a high school senior 2. Applicant must be under the age of 21 3. Applicant must be a full-time student attending a two-or four-year college or university the fall following the scholarship receipt 4. Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or resident 5. Applicant must live in a participating RMHC Chapter geographic area

Deadline:

February 15, 2008

Required Material:

1. A completed scholarship application to be submitted online or by mail 2. Transcript 3. Personal Statement 4. Letter of Recommendation 5. Parent or Guardian IRS Form 1040 (financial need will be considered)

Further details, including information about the application form, can be found by conducting a free scholarship search or by visiting this page.

by Paulina Mis

The QuestBridge organization has been turning heads lately for its ability to match talented, underprivileged students with excellent schools across the country. It's something of a dating service for students and colleges. QuestBridge has sought after and found numerous exceptional high school students and paired them with some of the nation’s most prestigious, and expensive, colleges and universities. By participating, schools can diversify their campus, and eventually, the demographic of the nation's leading scholars. QuestBridge makes finding gifted and oftentimes overlooked teens look easy.

High school seniors who are nominated, or who nominate themselves, fill out one application that can then be sent to all participating schools. Their fee is waived, and an essay about the student's ability to overcome obstacles is also included. When selecting finalists, QuestBridge considers academics, finances, eligibility requirements and personal circumstances.

From there, applications are sent to schools which make the final decision. Accepted students are offered full four-year scholarships to attend one of the twenty participating colleges and universities. Among these are Notre Dame University, Stanford University, the University of Chicago and Amherst College. There were 103 QuestBridge students who received scholarships to leading schools last year, and the number is expected to increase this year.

Students who may not have otherwise considered expensive schools suddenly find opportunity within reach. A featured QuestBridge student who won a scholarship to Stanford stated, “I didn’t feel like I could get in to a top college. I filled out my application and lost my nerve to hit the ‘submit’ button. I will never forget receiving a call at my home from a Quest counselor, encouraging me to go ahead and apply.”

For more information about the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship, you can conduct a free scholarship search at Scholarships.com.

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), an association representing U.S. Foreign Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service and the International Broadcasting Bureau employees, is awarding a scholarship to students who are willing to do some thinking. This annual contest is a bit more advanced than your typical “Why was George Washington a great leader” essay, and it will probably take some research. Not everyone will be up for that, all the better for those who are. The topic for this year’s competition is “The challenges facing the American Foreign Service in the 21st Century,” and, based on the award description, Condoleezza Rice wants to know what you think. Before answering, you may want to read up on the Foreign Service, a group of employees who work at U.S. embassies around the world. Once you’ve done that, let Condoleezza know what it is that you think.   For further information about the registration form (there is no application form), please conduct a free scholarship search.

Prize:

1. A $2,500 college scholarship for the winner and a $500 award for the winner's school 2. A paid trip to Washington D.C. for the winner and his/her parents

Eligibility:

1. Applicant must be a student in grades 9 through 12 attending a public, private, parochial or home school OR must participate in a high school correspondence program in the U.S., its territories or overseas as a U.S. citizen. 2. Students whose parents belong to the U.S. Service or who have served on the Advisory Committee are not eligible for the award.

Deadline:

April 15, 2008

Required Material:

1. A completed student registration form signed by the student and their teacher. 2. Four copies of an essay on the topic, including four copies of sources used. The essay must be double-spaced, written in 12 point Times New Roman font, have one-inch margins.

Further details, including information about applying, can be found by conducting a free scholarship search. Once a student has completed the search, this scholarship will appear in their scholarship list, provided the student is eligible to apply.

by Suada Kolovic

The fifth annual Bridgestone Safety Scholars Video Contest has begun, and YOU could be one of this year’s $5,000 scholarship winners! This year, they’ve expanded their contest to include all drivers ages 16-21 in the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec). To enter, simply create a 25- or 55-second video about driver safety and upload it to SafetyScholars.com by May 13. They’ll narrow it down, and the top 10 videos will be posted on the site, where it is up to the public to vote on their favorite. The top three winners all receive a $5,000 scholarship!

For more information on this scholarship and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

By Guest Blogger Derrius L. Quarles

Many college students end their first year of college with a significant amount of loans and out-of-pocket cost, forcing them to make the decision of either finding another school for the subsequent year or pausing their college education altogether. However, a mistake that can be made by students receiving loans or that have out-of-pocket costs is believing that undergraduate scholarships are not available for those already in college.

What all college students should know is that there are a plethora of scholarships and financial aid available exclusively to undergraduate students. These funds can be awarded based on many things, including community service done in high school in college, family income, the amount of loans used for college, and your academic record while in college. The places you should start looking for scholarships are the financial aid office at your college, where most schools post flyers or have a simple handout that list scholarships that are available for students at the school. The next step is to go directly to your financial aid advisor and ask if he/she knows of any financial aid sources that are available for you.

If you are unsuccessful in finding any opportunities via flyers, handouts, or asking your financial aid advisor, you should schedule a meeting with the director of financial aid at your school and ask them about ways of lowering your loan amounts and out-of-pocket costs. During this meeting you must remember that many students come into the office every day in need of aid so you must stress how important it is for you to receive additional aid if you are going to continue your education. The director may be able to tell you about grants and scholarships that are available to you. The reason you should tap into your school's resources for financial aid first is because most of the money your school has in its budget for financial aid will be available at the beginning of the school year. The longer you wait to investigate, the smaller your chances of receiving additional funds. The key thing to remember is the earlier you inquire, the better.

After you have tapped into all of your school's resources, you should then start your personal search for scholarships. The best place to start this search is of course Scholarships.com. When using the Scholarships.com database you should narrow your search to scholarships and grants available to undergraduate students. After you have done this you should find all of the scholarships you meet the requirements for and you should start your scholarship list. Almost all of these scholarships or grants will require you to write personal statements and obtain one or more recommendations from professors. If you want more information about writing personal statements and essays or getting your recommendations for scholarship applications take a look at my previous entries, "So You Want To Set Yourself Apart Huh?" (personal statements) and "A Strong Foundation Means a Strong Application" (recommendations). These entries will go into deeper detail about how to get great recommendations and how to write personal statements that will set you apart from other applicants.

Besides personal statements and recommendations, any scholarship you apply for as an undergrad will rely heavily on your academic record. This means that doing well in your classes and having a strong GPA will greatly increase your chances of being awarded most scholarships and grants. Your search for financial aid while in college may be a rough one, but it is definitely a search worth making. If you utilize the information listed above you too will soon realize that scholarships are not just for high school students.

by Agnes Jasinski

A group of Cuban students that had plans to attend American community colleges on U.S.-funded scholarships have been denied visa requests to leave their home country.

A Miami Herald article today says that some of the students were also expelled from the Cuban universities they had been attending prior to winning the awards. The group of about 30 Cuban students were part of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs scholarship program. The program, which received more than 750 applications from Cuban students this year, provides scholarships to international students interested in attending American colleges. Candidates are chosen based on merit and are offered one-year scholarships to community colleges in Arizona, Tennessee and Idaho in fields like business, agriculture and communications.

The article suggests that the Cuban government felt the students would have been adversely affected by enrolling in colleges in the United States, and that the scholarships aimed to "ideologically permeate university students" because they included a summer program for the students on developing their leadership skills. This was the first year Cuban students would have participated in the program.

American students, on the other hand, have had success enrolling in Cuban programs. Recently, a medical student from Dallas opted to finish her degree in Havana because the Cuban school offered her a full scholarship, monthly stipend and room and board paid for by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health. The Latin American School of Medicine in Havana has seen an increase in the number of American students applying to its program the last few years. For those interested in less of a commitment but want a taste of college life outside the United States, perhaps a study abroad program is the way to go.

by Emily

The University of Texas has announced plans to withdraw as a sponsor of National Merit, a popular national scholarship program that students qualify for based on standardized test scores. In an effort to focus on providing need-based financial aid, the university will no longer offer scholarships specifically for National Merit Scholars. The University of Texas, which was second only to Harvard University in the number of National Merit Finalists it enrolled, offered qualifying students awards worth up to $13,000 over the course of four years.

Texas is not the first major university system to choose to cease participating in National Merit, a program that offers $2,500 scholarships to high school juniors who do well on the PSAT, with the potential for honorees to receive much larger scholarship awards from partner companies and universities. Other institutions, including the University of California system, have previously chosen to withdraw sponsorship of National Merit, while many other schools have chosen not to offer awards specifically for National Merit winners.

National Merit has previously drawn criticism for its strong emphasis on high PSAT scores (other application materials are considered in selecting finalists, but semifinalists are chosen solely based on test scores). Students from wealthier families who have access to the best high schools and a variety of test preparation resources typically do best on standardized tests, such as the PSAT, which results in scholarship awards like National Merit skewing towards affluent students who need less assistance paying for college.

A University of Texas official cited similar reasoning in the university's decision to stop awarding National Merit Scholarships, stating that only one fourth of students receiving the scholarships typically bothered to apply for federal student financial aid, indicating the vast majority had access to other means of covering their college costs. The students who are most likely to be hurt by the loss of this scholarship opportunity will likely be helped by the increase in need-based financial aid that the university is promising.

University officials stressed that applicants who would have been eligible for this award will still be able to compete for other academic scholarships, and the undergraduate students currently receiving this award will continue to do so for their full four years of eligibility. Still, this announcement is likely to upset some students and to fuel the fires of the ongoing debate over merit-based versus need-based financial aid in colleges and universities.

by Paulina Mis

We're nearly a week into August, and for many students, that means that back-to-school preparations have begun. Whether you're picking out notebooks and extra-long twin sheets, or trying to squeeze one last trip or a few more hours of work into your calendar, now is a good time to start looking ahead to the fall term if you're in college. This includes thinking about financial aid. One of the least pleasant aspects of the start of the semester is finding yourself in the line for the college financial aid office as it grows to epic proportions the first week of class.

Luckily, at most colleges the fall rush has not yet started, so if you have some extra time now, you can take steps to make sure you won't find yourself standing in a packed office and trying not to panic on the first day of class. From a financial aid office veteran, here are three things to check into now to avoid waiting in line later.

First, if you are applying for federal student financial aid, by now you should have filled out a 2009-2010 FAFSA and received a financial aid award notice from your college's financial aid office. If you're still waiting to complete a FAFSA or hear back from your school, now would be a good time to take care of these things. You may want to call your college's financial aid office, or check your account online if you have the option, to make sure that everything is in order for timely disbursement of your fall financial aid. Ask if you have any other paperwork you need to complete (such as verification or a master promissory note), especially if it is your first time receiving financial aid. Double check disbursement dates, as well, so you know when you are due to receive the money.

Second, if you've won any scholarship awards (and we hope you have!), now would be a good time to make sure you know when you will be receiving the funds, whether the checks will go to the school or to you, and whether you will need to sign anything or wait for the school to do any additional paperwork before you receive the money (the financial aid office may need to recalculate your aid based on the scholarships you've received). Many scholarship providers notify you of disbursement arrangements or include this information in their official rules, so review correspondence with them, as well as information they've published. If you have questions, you can check with your college and the scholarship provider.

Finally, make sure you will have sufficient funds to cover your bill and make arrangements if necessary to take care of whatever costs grants, scholarships, or federal student loans do not cover. Your parents may want to take out a PLUS loan, or you may want to take out a private loan to cover whatever gap is left. You will want to do paperwork for these as soon as possible, as processing times may take up to a few weeks, especially once things get busy. Many colleges also offer payment plans if you'd like to pay the rest of your bill without borrowing, but you cannot afford to do so all at once.

by Paulina Mis