Getting a college degree can substantially increase your lifetime earnings, but even better is getting someone else to pay for it.
I’m talking about scholarships, of course. Every year, public and private institutions dole out about $8 billion in scholarships. Are you getting any of it? I’ll talk about how you can.
No question about it: college is expensive. The College Board reports that in 2024, in-state students at public four-year schools are spending an average of $11,260 on tuition and fees for just one year, excluding room and board. Students at private, four-year colleges are spending over $41,500 on tuition and fees alone. With these expenses, it’s not surprising that the average student owes close to $30,000 when leaving school. But you don’t have to be the average student.
Many organizations are willing to help you pay for college through scholarships…if you meet their qualifications. Our own Rob West’s wife Julie had her own “application assembly line” going, and she was able to land $170,000 in scholarship money. Of course, that took a lot of work…but look at it this way: you can either put in the time and effort now applying for scholarships, or you can borrow and work very hard later to pay back the money.
We hope that you’d rather do the work now, so let’s dive into some great resources for scholarship money.
Many of these scholarship opportunities are merit-based, meaning the higher your grades, the better your chances of landing one. But if you’re more athletically inclined, Unigo lets you search for athletic scholarships and a wide variety of funding opportunities offered by specific schools and companies.
Peterson’s: Known as a clearinghouse for information about colleges and universities, they also host about $10 billion in scholarship opportunities.
CareerOneStop: Sponsored by the Labor Department, this site allows you to search more than 8,000 scholarships, fellowships, and grants—money you won’t have to pay back.
One final idea: check with the financial aid office at the schools you apply to.
Sometimes, they have scholarship money available too. We’ve covered a lot of scholarship sites, and you probably won’t use all of them, but try at least a couple. Look for ones that are easy to work with or best match your needs. Many of them will have other features you might find handy.
Good luck in your scholarship search!
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