Don't Miss Out on Scholarship Money!

Make sure you've got the facts so you don't leave cash unclaimed.

Why do we act like it's normal for college students to be swimming in debt? That doesn't have to be you. Managing your money is important, but scholarships will really help you stay financially secure in college. However, most of us have an incorrect view of what scholarships are, and how they're given out. There's a good deal of info you need to know, because ignoring it could cost you free money that's just sitting there, waiting to be claimed.

Scholarships are not always about grades or money

The biggest misconception about scholarships is that they're only given out for good grades or a strong need for the money; two factors that a lot of students feel like they don't really have. But a scholarship can be more than that, and even if you don't think you have some sort of special need or ability, that doesn't mean there isn't one for you. You might be surprised about which scholarships you qualify for. There's plenty of awards out there, based on a lot of different criteria.

Don't ignore your own school's scholarships and bursaries

While there's plenty of scholarships out there, there's also lots of good scholarships available from the college you attend. Centennial College, for example, has a big, growing list of scholarships for every program, based on both academic and financial criteria, just waiting to be claimed.

$15 million dollars in scholarships go unclaimed yearly

That's a lot of money. Why is so much unclaimed? The reason is that plenty of scholarships just don't get handed out. If no one applies for a particular award, or no one offers any strong entries, then scholarships may not be given out. You probably know about the scholarships your school offers, but there's plenty of others offered by private companies. These are the awards most likely to go unclaimed, because no one looks for them! To help you stay informed on what you can get, try using sites like StudentAwards.com and ScholarshipsCanada.com, which have good, long lists of available scholarships.

You have to do more than just apply

You can't just sit down one afternoon and send 10 applications out. Every scholarship's criteria is different, and while there are some you can just apply to, a lot of them ask you for essays, reference letters, or other additional documents. Remember, you're competing with other people, so you need to put time and effort into whatever you have to do, otherwise you won't get that free cash.

Don't stop when you start college

While a lot of school-based scholarships are given when you first start your college program, there are plenty that are available throughout your program. The important thing is that you don't stop applying, even if you didn't get any scholarships on your first try. Just think of the money you could be saving, and the money you'd be leaving behind by not applying.