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This weekend is San Diego Comic-Con, the biggest event of the year for fans of comic books, graphic novels, online comics, and virtually anything else related to comics or the surrounding culture. While no one in the Scholarships.com office is making the trek to Comic-Con this year, we are looking at ways to help students who love comics pay for school. If you're looking for something to do while all your favorite webcomics are on hiatus, consider applying for some of these scholarship awards.

If you're interested in reading comics, you may also be interested in writing or drawing them, and creative writing and art scholarships are both widely available. Even if you're less interested in art and more interested in science fiction (comic conventions are nerd meccas, after all), there are scholarship opportunities for you. We encourage you to take a few moments to do a free college scholarship search and check out our information page on unusual scholarships, which features some interesting awards that may work for you. To give you an idea of some of the scholarship opportunities available for comics enthusiasts, here are a few examples.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards: Aspiring artists and writers are asked to submit portfolios of three to eight pieces in this annual scholarship contest. Winners receive up to $10,000 in college scholarships.

L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests: Amateur illustrators and writers participating in the quarterly L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest can receive awards of up to $5,000 for creating an original illustration or short story with a science fiction theme.

Starfleet Academy Scholarships: Any active member of Starfleet, the official Star Trek fan club, is eligible for a Starfleet Scholarship. Members can be attending community colleges, four-year colleges, most technical schools, junior colleges and universities or graduate school.

Are you an graphic designer and t-shirt aficionado? Do you dream of one day having people across the world wearing something you created? Maybe you just really liked the screenprinting unit in high school art class. If you've ever seen someone wearing a cool t-shirt and thought to yourself, "I could make something like that," this week's Scholarship of the Week is for you.

The Threadless Scholarship gives college students a chance to not only see their t-shirt designs printed and distributed internationally, but to also win a $3,000 design scholarship. The best part? Winners are chosen weekly, so you have multiple chances at winning scholarships.

Prize: A $3,000 college scholarship plus a $500 Threadless gift certificate (or $200 in cash) and the chance to compete for other cash awards of up to $20,000.

Eligibility: Any undergraduate or graduate student currently enrolled at least part-time or pending enrollment in a college or university. This scholarship contest is open to students in the United States and other countries, regardless of major, GPA, or test scores.

Deadline: Ongoing

Required Material: Register as an artist on the Threadless website and submit a t-shirt design. If your design is chosen for print, you can elect to receive a $3,000 scholarship in place of a $2,000 cash award. Artists can submit multiple t-shirt designs and will receive an award for each shirt that is printed.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

by Alexis Mattera

Do your Facebook posts gain numerous likes within seconds of sharing? Can your Twitter followers keep up with your updates easier than they can keep up with the Kardashians? Are you the person your friends and classmates turn to for what’s hot, what’s not and what’s on the verge on campus and beyond? If so, we want you...to be a Scholarships.com Campus Insider!

Since our debut in 1999, Scholarships.com has become a go-to site not only for high schoolers in search of financial aid but for college students living away from home for the first time, trying to balance limited money for food and fun, and adjusting to postsecondary academic expectations. We have plenty of information on those topics and more but we want to hear from you – our users – about what’s going on in real time at the campuses you call home for the majority of the year. From parties to politics, from housing to hazing, and from class registration to commencement exercises, let us know what’s trending at your school and your musings could be featured regularly on our blog.

If you're interested in becoming a Scholarships.com Campus Insider, please submit your resume, a 300-word writing sample detailing a campus issue and links to your personal blog, Facebook profile and Twitter pages (if applicable) through our Website Content contact form. Looking forward to hearing what your unique voices have to say!

by Suada Kolovic

It’s that time of year again when Scholarships.com relaunches our Resolve to Evolve Scholarship. This isn’t your typical essay scholarship: The R2E (as we like to call it) is about providing students with the opportunity to move beyond finger-pointing and offer constructive criticism and workable solutions for problems facing an administration or an organization. Essays must be written in response to one of two questions; this year, they focus on the possible detrimental effects of technology on the masses and whether or not a college degree has value.

This scholarship is open to all United States citizens who are registered users of Scholarships.com, will be enrolled in high school (grades 9 through 12) during the 2011-2012 school year and will be between the ages of 13 and 19 at the time the award is given. The applicant who submits the best overall essay will receive a $2,000 scholarship. One (1) winner will also be selected from each grade level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and will receive a $1,000 scholarship each.

The deadline for entries is August 15, 2011. Winners will be notified in late September and announced mid-October. For more information on this scholarship and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

Scholarship opportunities for international students can seem few and far between. However, money is out there. If you want to study in the United States but are having trouble finding money for college due to your citizenship status, this week's Scholarship of the Week is for you. The myUsearch International and Undocumented Student Scholarship will award $1,000 to one student who is not a United States citizen but plans to attend college in America. All you have to do is register on myUsearch and complete a short scholarship essay to be eligible.

Prize: $1,000

Eligibility: International students and other non-citizens planning to study in the United States. Must begin your first semester at an accredited undergraduate institution on or before October 1, 2010, either as a freshman or a transfer student.

Deadline: July 15, 2009.

Required Material: Completed myUsearch registration, plus an essay addressing how the completion of a U. S. degree will impact your life, your family, and your home community.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

by Radha Jhatakia

Hi all! My name is Radha and I’m one of Scholarships.com’s newest virtual interns!

In high school, I was a well-rounded student – high GPA, honors classes, extracurricular activities and volunteer work...you name it, I did it – but after getting accepted by both the University of the Pacific and the University of San Francisco, limited finances and financial aid prevented me from attending either school. To save money to put toward transferring, I instead enrolled in De Anza College and Evergreen Valley College to complete my gen eds. It wasn’t easy (De Anza was a distant commute and made it difficult for me to take the classes I needed to transfer) but I amassed enough credits to transfer after two years. I didn’t get into my first choice (UCLA) and my second choice (Berkeley) did not have my intended major so I enrolled at UCSB, where I was accepted into the Honors Program and received plenty of financial aid. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned when my transfer status affected my major so I am back at EVC but transferring to San Jose State University in the fall. Whew!

I’ve always enjoyed writing (I hope to write a book someday) and I believe my interest in working with others – plus my excellent persuasion abilities – will lend itself to a career in public relations. Being a Scholarships.com virtual interns complements my goals perfectly: It’s an excellent opportunity to gain experience in something I enjoy doing and since I’m always looking for scholarships to pay for school, writing for a website that helps students do just that seemed ideal. Hope you’ll all enjoy reading my opinions and advice just as much as I enjoy sharing them!

by Agnes Jasinski

If the crisis in Haiti has caused you to up your volunteer efforts or if you've always been interested in community service as a way to help out your local community or even build on your resume, there are a number of scholarship opportunities out there for you to get some payback for those good deeds. This week's Scholarship of the Week awards 1,000 scholarships of $1,000 each to high school students involved in volunteer efforts in their schools and communities.

The Best Buy@15 Scholarship Program is looking for students with impressive academic records who give back to their communities. Students with work histories in high school will also be considered, but you have to be planning to attend a college, university or technical school in the fall immediately following high school graduation. If you think this fits your student profile, make sure you look for this award in your search results. Remember to check off "community service" before conducting your free scholarship search, because volunteerism is a top criteria on many scholarship awards.

Prize: 1,000 scholarship of $1,000 each

Eligibility: Students must be planning to attend a college, university or technical school in the fall immediately following their high school graduation. Students in grades 9-12 from private, public, alternative or home schools are eligible to apply. The program is looking for students with solid grades who are involved in volunteer efforts in their schools and communities, and/or have a work history.

Deadline: February 15, 2010, although applicants are urged to file their applications early

Required Material: Scholarship applications are available only to @15 members, but you can become a member for free on the program's website. Paper applications will not be accepted, so please file yours electronically.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

by Paulina Mis

Scholarships are great, all free money is. But as is true for earned income, students who receive awards may have to report them to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To be in the clear, undergraduate and graduate students should take the time to check if their scholarships and fellowships are tax free. As long as students are careful about how they spend the money, their awards will probably be tax exempt.

Scholarships and Grants are tax exempt if:

1. The recipient is a degree candidate at an educational institution with a regular faculty, curriculum and enrolled body of students who attend at the location of educational activities.

2. The scholarship money is used for required tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment. Scholarship money used for room and board, travel and optional supplies is taxable.

3. The recipient is not accepting the scholarship in exchange for services received (e.g., teaching and research). This rule does not apply to scholarships received from the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program or the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship and Financial Assistance Program.

Sometimes, only a part of a student’s scholarship or fellowship will be taxable. For example, a student may receive $3,000 in fellowship money from a school. However, $2,000 of the money will be offered in exchange for assisting a professor in her research (fellowship money usually accompanies such stipulations.) The remaining $1,000 will not be taxed, as long as it is used for qualified school expenses. A student’s future research service earnings may have to be estimated and reported, even if the work has not yet been completed.

To be certain that all income is accounted for, students should take a look at scholarship conditions and whether they can be used to cover qualified expenses. Students who believe their scholarship and grant money may be taxable should report their award to the IRS. If the scholarship is not taxable and the student has no income aside from the scholarship, a tax return does not need to be filed.  To find additional information on scholarship, grant and fellowship opportunities, students should conduct a free scholarship search and take a look at Scholarship.com’s financial aid resources.

by Agnes Jasinski

Returning students have many options available to them when it comes to finding money for college. Soroptimist International is one organization that wants to help women better their job prospects. The group has local clubs across the country that fund Women's Opportunity Awards for women who are the primary providers of their families and wish to return to school for undergraduate degrees or vocational skills training programs. If you fit that category and are someone who wants to not only better your life through additional skills but have come across financial hurdles to do so, consider applying for an award through Soroptimist International, this week's Scholarship of the Week.

Soroptimist International is a volunteer service organization for business and professional women. Those who win their local chapters' awards are then eligible to compete in regional and international competitions. The $2,000 award can be earmarked for not only tuition and fees, but any costs associated with returning to school, including childcare and transportation.

Prize: $2,000

Eligibility: Eligible women are the primary providers for their families, have financial need, and are looking for funding to pay for an undergraduate degree program or vocational skills training program. Applicants must be residents of one of Soroptimist International of the Americas’ member countries/territories: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guam, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, United States of America, or Venezuela. Applicants must not have been a previous recipient of a Soroptimist Women’s Opportunity Award, and are not a Soroptimist member, employee or immediate family of either.

Deadline: December 31, 2009

Required Material: An online application which will include a personal statement about why you would be a deserving recipient, and two letters of recommendation. Applicants will be asked questions about their financial need.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

by Suada Kolovic

Are you a poetry ninja? If so, then we’ve got the scholarship for you: Scholarships.com’s Haiku Ninja Facebook Scholarship!

The Haiku Ninja Facebook Scholarship will go to the Scholarships.com fan that creates the best haiku detailing how our site is helping them combat the college admissions process and score some serious financial aid. Love our scholarship search? Tell us why! Is our financial aid section really helping you out? Send us an example! Think our college prep section is the best? Give us a shout out! The trick is you must convey your feelings in only three lines and 17 syllables – five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line – and post it on our Facebook page. We always love hearing from our users so get creatively concise and you could earn $1,000 for college!

Step 1: “Like” Scholarships.com on Facebook.

Step 2: Post a haiku on our wall about how Scholarships.com is helping you prepare for and afford college. Once you do this, you are automatically entered to win a $1,000 scholarship.

Step 3: You may enter as many times as you want but please limit your haiku entries to a reasonable amount per day. From there, the Scholarships.com Team will determine which haiku best exemplifies what our site is all about and which applicant is using our resources most effectively. You must also adjust your privacy preferences to allow Scholarships.com to message you should you win.

This scholarship competition is offered by Scholarships.com and is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

Starts: June 1st

Ends: June 30th

Amount: $1,000 for one first-prize winner; Scholarships.com hats and t-shirts for second- and third-prize winners