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1. Applicant must be a registered Scholarships.com user. Creating an account is simple and free of charge.  After you have created an account, conduct a free scholarship search to view and apply for this award.
 
2. Applicant must be a US citizen.
 
3. Applicant must be a current undergraduate student or a high school senior who plans to enroll in a college or university by fall 2009.
 
4. Applicant must have indicated an interest in one of the following majors:  
    
   • Allopathic
    
   • Ambulatory Health Care
    
   • Audiology
    
   • Biology
    
   • Biomedicine
    
   • Chemistry
    
   • Chiropractic
    
   • Dental Assistant
    
   • Dentistry
    
   • Family Practice
    
   • Forensics(Medical)
    
   • Genetics
    
   • Health Care Administration
    
   • Health Education
    
   • Internal Medicine
    
   • Maxillofacial Radiology
    
   • Medical Assistant
    
   • Medical Lab Technician
    
   • Medical Office Specialist
    
   • Medical Technologist
    
   • Medicine
    
   • Microbiology
    
   • Neural and Behavioral Science
    
   • Neurosciences
    
   • Nursing/Nurse Practitioner
    
   • Nutrition Studies
    
   • Obstetrics/Gynecology
    
   • Occupational Therapy
    
   • Oncology
    
   • Ophthalmology
    
   • Optics
    
   • Optometry
    
   • Oral Radiology
    
   • Orthopedics
    
   • Orthotics/Prosthetics
    
   • Osteopathic
    
   • Pediatrics
    
   • Pharmacology
    
   • Pharmacy Technician
    
   • Physical Fitness
    
   • Physical Therapy/Rehabilitation
    
   • Physician’s Assistant
    
   • Podiatry
    
   • Psychiatry
    
   • Psychology/Counseling
    
   • Public Health
    
   • Radiology
    
   • Respiratory Care
    
   • Science (Health)
    
   • Speech/Language Pathology
    
   • Sports Medicine
    
   • Therapeutic Health Technician
    
   • Veterinary
    
   • Vision Rehabilitation
    
     
   
   
 

When Michael Jackson died, the world lost not only a talented pop musician, but also a notable philanthropist. Over the course of his career, Michael Jackson donated over $300 million to at least 39 charitable organizations and also made generous financial contributions to numerous individuals, especially children and their families. While many of his charitable acts focused on helping sick or injured children around the globe, he also made substantial contributions to education.

One of the charities Michael Jackson supported most generously and publicly was the United Negro College Fund, which helps support African American students in their college goals. He first began supporting the UNCF in 1984 and participated in several fundraisers for the organization. One of his donations established the Michael Jackson Scholarship, which has existed as an endowed scholarship since 1986, supporting students attending college with the goal of pursuing careers in the performing arts. His generous contributions have allowed the UNCF to extend scholarship opportunities to hundreds of African American students over the last 25 years.

To learn more about the Michael Jackson Scholarship, you can visit the UNCF website. You may also want to do a scholarship search on Scholarships.com to find more scholarship awards for African American students and students interested in the arts. All Michael Jackson, a Michael Jackson fan website, has more information about Jackson's many charitable contributions.

The fall semester is just around the corner, and in addition to the start of classes, students are also beginning to gear up for scholarship application season, the time from late fall to late spring when the majority of scholarship applications are due. If you are just starting your scholarship search, there are a number of things to keep in mind when deciding which awards to apply for. The size of the award, the application deadline, the amount of work required, and your likelihood of winning are all criteria you likely use in evaluating awards. One other thing to think about before putting together an application, though, is whether there will be any costs associated with the scholarship contest.

Every scholarship application will have some degree of cost associated with it, whether it's postage, time, or the costs involved in creating your application materials (for example, printing an essay or filming and editing a video). However, some scholarship applications are going to be more costly than others, and when a scholarship charges an application fee on top of the time, energy, and money you're already putting into it, it should be cause for some careful thought.

Scholarship opportunities are generally seen as altruistic offers made by organizations that want to help students succeed in college. Sure, many scholarships have a promotional nature, as there are few better ways to attract interest in a company than by giving something away for free. However, some companies actually charge students to apply for scholarships. For example, we came across one scholarship essay contest that offered a $500 award and charged a $15 application fee. The scholarship provider boasted of receiving 10,000 applications in a year, meaning they hauled in $15,000 and only gave away $500. Unless they're spending over $14,000 promoting the contest and paying people to judge the essays, it's reasonable to believe they're profiting off the scholarship in more ways than just boosting traffic to their site. Not necessarily the most altruistic endeavor, huh?

This isn't the only example of a scholarship contest charging a seemingly unnecessary application fee. Offers like this aren't necessarily scholarship scams, as legitimate awards are offered to people who apply. However, why would you pay money for something when there are so many other ways to get it for free?

While most scholarship application deadlines occur between January and March, a number of large scholarship awards for high school seniors have deadlines that fall much earlier in the academic year. To make sure you're not missing out on major sources of college funding, be sure to start your scholarship search when you start your college applications, if not sooner. If you haven't gotten around to applying for scholarships yet, check out these awards with approaching deadlines for motivation. You may want to mark them on your calendar and clear some space in your schedule to apply.

Horatio Alger National Scholarship Program

Deadline: October 30

Dollar amount: $20,000

Who qualifies: High school seniors who plan to enter college next fall and to pursue a bachelor's degree. Students must be U.S. citizens with grade point averages of 2.0 or higher and critical financial need (typically, a family adjusted gross income under $50,000).

Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation

Deadline: October 31

Dollar amount: $20,000

Who qualifies: Current high school seniors planning to enter college in the fall. Must have a minimum high school GPA of 3.0.

VFW Voice of Democracy

Deadline: November 1

Dollar amount: $30,000

Who qualifies: Any high school student in grades 9-12 who composes a taped response of 3-5 minutes to the question, "Does America Still Have Heroes?" Entries should be submitted through your high school or the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post.

Intel Science Talent Search

Deadline: November 18

Dollar amount: $100,000

Who qualifies: High school seniors who have individually completed a research project in science, math, medicine, or engineering. More information on qualifying projects is available on the contest website.

AXA Achievement Scholarship

Deadline: December 15

Dollar amount: $25,000

Who qualifies: High school seniors who plan to enroll as undergraduate students at a two-year or four-year university. Winners will be chosen based on outstanding achievements in school, work, or their community.

These are only a few of the scholarships for high school students in our database, and only a few of the awards with upcoming deadlines. For more information about these and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free college scholarship search. If you qualify based on the information you provided, you will see a link to the award in your search results.

The Poetry Out Loud Scholarship is a great way of learning about poetry, trying your hand at it and potentially winning a $20,000 scholarship in the bargain. Even if you don't win the national prize, you can still get $10,000 for finishing second and $5,000 if you take third place. In fact, even if you don't finish in the top three, you can win $1,000 for finishing fourth all the way through twelfth place.

Since 2004, the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) and the Poetry Foundation have been offering this scholarship and are now partnering with state agencies to offer dynamic poetry recitation competitions (I picture the movie "Eight Mile" when I think of these, personally).

Poetry Out Loud uses what's termed a "pyramid" structure that begins at the classroom level. Winners of the classroom competitions advance to the school-wide competition, then to the state competition, and ultimately to the National Finals in Washington D.C. in April.

If you are a high school student who is interested in poetry and think you would like to participate in some competitive "slam" poetry or spoken-word, talk to someone at your school and find out how to get involved in the nationwide competition.

Good luck!

The name of this week’s Scholarship of the Week, the Kor Memorial Scholarship, may suggest that applicants be familiar with Klingon, the language created for use in the “Star Trek” series. The main criteria, however, is that all undergraduates and graduates nominated for the award be interested in the field of language study, whether that’s Klingon or the more traditional Spanish, French, or general linguistics degrees.

The purpose of the Kor Memorial Scholarship is to recognize and encourage scholarship in language study, and to award creative and innovative students. Applicants must be nominated in order to be considered for the award, so if you think this award is a good fit, make sure to talk to your academic department chair or dean. Winners are chosen by the director of the Klingon Language Institute and a panel of qualified language specialists. If you’re interested in checking out more awards with unique criteria, we have a long list of unusual scholarships that reward students their interest in mule deer, duck calling, and everything in between.

Prize: $500

Eligibility: All nominees must be full-time students at the time of the award and in a program leading to a degree in a field of language study.

Deadline: June 1, 2010

Required Material: In addition to a nominating letter from a department chair or dean at the student’s school, applicants must submit a resume highlighting their education, experience, awards, and community service.  Applicants must also submit two additional letters of recommendation from departmental faculty, and a brief statement of goals related to the field of language study.

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.

It can’t be a good feeling to know that you could have been a contender for a generous scholarship but for the one piece of the application you failed to send to the award provider. Or that you were this close to winning an award to help pay for college but missed the deadline on providing supplementary materials. We can’t stress enough how important it is to follow the rules on each scholarship you apply for exactly, because one small misstep will not only send you to the bottom of the pile, it will most certainly take you out of the running for an award.

Thanks to free scholarship searches like ours, it’s easier than ever before to find scholarships. The harder part is obviously applying, but don’t assume you’re eligible for an award after a casual glance over the requirements. Take a close look at what each scholarship requires of you, and, if available, the official rules of each award, to make sure you meet all of the criteria. If you need to request an application through the mail, write a formal letter that you’ve proofread for any errors. Once you’re ready to submit your scholarship application, take a look at everything again, or have a fresh pair of eyes look over your materials. Most scholarships have quite a few applicants vying for that same award you’re applying for, so don’t give the scholarship provider a reason to deny you your chance.

Your work’s not quite over once you’ve submitted your application, even if you’ve followed the guidelines of that award to the letter. Your work may not even be over after you’re told you’ve won a particular scholarship. Take our own Area of Study Scholarships as an example. If you’re chosen as a winner of one of the 13 scholarships, based on the field of study you provide when you fill out a Scholarships.com profile, you’re expected to follow through on a few steps to help us determine whether you’re truly eligible to receive the award. Follow the rules we provide and respond by the deadline we give you, and we’ll send you a check for $1,000 to help cover your college costs. If you fail to reply, we’ll pick another lucky winner in your place. If you reply after we’ve already chosen another winner, you’re out of luck.

It sounds simple, but there have been instances where scholarship winners forfeit their prizes because they fail to follow-up after an award is announced or miss important deadlines. Scholarship providers are in the business of helping you with your college costs, and the best thanks you could give is following directions and being timely with your responses. Good luck out there!

If you have a talent for video and already make short films for fun, you should look into video contest scholarships that could reward you with more than a reel of your movie-making abilities. This week’s Scholarship of the Week is one such award, offering $5,000 to those who come up with the most creative clips on promoting auto safety.

The Safety Scholars Video Contest by Bridgestone asks applicants to come up with short clips to serve as public service announcements on auto safety and what the youth set can do to drive more safely. Winners don’t only get scholarships; their videos run on television stations across the country, which could give you quite a bit of exposure. Don’t limit yourself if this video contest isn’t for you though. There are a number of awards out there for you aspiring filmmakers, and will probably be less competitive than awards that ask for a more traditional but less involved application. If you’re interested in this one though, get that camera out and start filming. (June is National Safety Month, after all.)

Prize:

Eligibility:

Deadline:

Required Material:

Applicants are judged based on the concept/idea, effectiveness, and creativity of their video entries. Entries must be original videos of 25 to 55 seconds in length on one or more issues or topics related to auto safety and improving auto safety for drivers ages 16 through 21. Applicants must also complete an official entry form on Bridgestone’s Safety Scholars website.

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.

Current high school and college students are probably too young to remember when MTV actually played music videos. It was a glorious time for sure but after hearing this next announcement, I think they will like the network’s new direction just fine.

The NYT’s The Choice blog revealed that instead of launching another mind-numbing reality show, the music channel and the College Board have joined forces for the Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge. The contest – which is being underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – is open to current and potential college students interested in creating an innovative digital tool that will help more students obtain funds for school. The prize for the winning individual or team? A cool $10,000, as well as a $100,000 budget to bring their idea to life.

A statement released yesterday stated the contest was created to make it easier for students “to navigate what can be a confusing financial aid maze.” This metaphorical roadmap will definitely be a useful one: Each year, countless students are forced to postpone or abandon their dreams of higher education because they cannot pay for school but the Get Schooled creators hope their program will play a role in raising college completion rates.

The contest will run through December 17th so if you think you have what it takes to win, submit your idea here. Best of luck to all who enter!

Hey, you. The one with the sketchpad full of doodles, memory card filled with images and computer crammed with creations. Yes, YOU. Want to score a college scholarship and help out your school at the same time? Of course you do, because in addition to being wildly talented, you’re also a good person. Here’s what you need to do to make a difference in your life (a $1,000 scholarship) and the lives of others ($5,000 for your school’s music program and 5 HP Pavilion dv6z laptops for your school’s art program) with the Make Art. Save Art. Scholarship from DoSomething.org.

Like the award, the requirements are also in two parts. First, create a PC wallpaper using either your photographic, graphic design or traditional visual art skills and tell DoSomething.org why you think art education is important and why it should continue to be part of the curriculum. Next, upload your original work to Facebook and Twitter and see how many people share your design. Each time someone shares what you created, you’re one step closer to victory so use any and all connections you have to ensure your art is seen. And if a scholarship and funds for the arts aren’t enough, the winning designs will be available for download as PC wallpapers and featured on DoSomething.org.

There are many talented artists out there but only one entrant age 25 or younger will receive this excellent award. For more information, visit www.makeartsaveart.org and for other scholarships like it, conduct a free scholarship search at Scholarships.com.