Types of Scholarships

Scholarships are awards offered to people for financial aid to farther someones education.  There are many different things that make it possible that someone gets awarded a scholarship.  It all depends on what type of scholarship it is and what is needed to meet the requirements to be eligible to receive the scholarship.  There are four main classifications of scholarships that you are able to receive.  We will go over the different groups, and inform you on how to become eligible to receive one of these scholarships.  Here are the different classifications of scholarships that are given out.

• Need-based:  Need based scholarships are based on your families financial records.  To become eligible for this scholarship you have to fill out a FAFSA to see if you are eligible for it.  Need based scholarships is normally federal, but there are also private need based scholarships that can be handed out.  If it is a private scholarship you still need to fill out a FAFSA to see if you are able to get it.  This compares the needs of the student to be able to attend college, and the financial support that the family will be able to contribute to the education as well.
• Career-specific:  These types of scholarships are given out by the colleges and universities.  These scholarships are awarded to would be students that decide to go to college for a field of study that is in high demand.  The largest of these scholarships will go to people that are planning on going into the education, or nursing field.  These are the careers that are most in demand, and there are many places that will give scholarships to go into these fields.
• Merit-based:  Merit based scholarships are awarded to people for their academic, athletic, artistic, and other abilities of the student.  Other things that determine whether they will get a merit based scholarship is community service that they have participated in, and other extracurricular activities.  The most popular types of scholarships that are offer are given to students with high academic achievement and/or high SAT, and ACT tests.
• Student-specific:  These types of scholarships are given to people that qualify initially by gender, race, family history, religion, medical history, or other history specific things.  One of the most common forms of these scholarships are minority scholarships, and some of these are not based in the United States.  This means that people from different countries can get scholarships for colleges and universities in a different country.
  

Even though scholarships are awarded to people there are some that have a bond that is placed on them.  This means that if a company offers you a scholarship they may add a stipulation that you have to stay with that company after you graduate from college for a certain amount of time.  This ensures that you are not using the company to farther your education, and then leave them for another job.  Other examples of these types of scholarships are the military scholarships that they offer you for joining the military.  You have to stay in the military for a certain amount of time before you are able to use the scholarship for schooling.

There are many local scholarships that you can try and get.  These types of scholarships may be easier to get because the competition to get them is smaller then other types.  This is specially the case if you live in a smaller town.  One good place to check if there are any local scholarships is by going to the guidance counsellor in your school.  They will normally know if there are any local companies that are offering scholarships for local students. 

There are many local scholarships that may be out there in your area, these scholarships are a great way to get started with your education.  Here are some examples of local scholarships that you may find in your area.  Community foundations are one of the places that offer scholarships to local students.  Labor Unions often offer scholarships to their members, as well as their family members.  Private foundations often award scholarships to students because they normally can be used as tax exemptions, and it also makes them look go in their community.  Churches and other similar places will award scholarships to students in their congregation, as well as their communities.