How to get your share of the $25 million scholarship bonanza - includes partial list of scholarships

Ebony, May, 1990 by Narine Dalton

How To Get Your Share Of The $25 Billion Scholarship Bonanza

EACH year, millions of dollars of the $25 billion available in scholarship money go begging despite the fact that many young people who want to go to college can't afford it. The reason is simple. "Some students who could benefit from scholarship monies don't apply,c says TaRessa Stone, director of public relations at Spelman College in Atlanta. "They just aren't aware of the programs."

According to the College Board in New York, tuition and fees for 1989-90 are up 8 percent over the 1988-89 academic year. With the right planning, though, anybody can afford college. Ironically, the name of the scholarship game is education, as in educating yourself about the scholarship funds that abound--not only in financial aid offices, but also in your state's treasury, federal government coffers (which supply about three-fourths of all student aid), corporate boardrooms, churches, fraternities, sororities, and even the armed forces, which offer scholarships to qualified dependents.

Some 5 million students, the College Board says, will reap the benefits of financial aid in the current school year. Such aid includes federal grants, loans and other popular government-sponsored programs. Many more can strike the scholarship vein by checking free financial aid pamphlets and scholarship listings in the reference section of their local libraries or with their high school counselors. Most financial aid handbooks provide comprehensive information and procedures for applying for low-interest loans and for grants and scholarships that don't have to be repaid.

Among the material on scholarship aid that can be found in the library or in your neighborhood bookstore are: The College Cost Book 1989-90 (The College Scholarship Service Board), $13.95; The Student Aid Guide (U.S. Dept. of Education; available in most college financial aid offices), free; Getting Started (National Education Lending Center, 824 Market Street Mall, Wilmington, Dela., 19801), free; Going Right On and Meeting College Costs (College Board, 45 Columbus Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10023), free; Directory of Financial Aids For Minorities, 1989-90 (by Gail Ann Schlachter), $45, plus $3.00 for shipping (Reference Service Press, 1100 Industrial Road, Suite 9, San Carlos, Calif., 94070); The Black Student Guide To Colleges (edited by Barry Beckham), $18.95; The College Blue Book: Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants and Loans (MacMillan Publishing Co.), $46: The Federal Educational And Scholarship Funding Guide, $29.95 (Grayco Publishing, P.O. Box 1291, West Warwick, R.I. 02893); and financial Aid For Students--California Student Financial Aid Workbook 1990-91 (P.O. Box 942845, Sacramento, Calif., 94245), free.

Other sources of information are computer scholarship databanks. At a cost of $65, the service can match your particular needs with scholarship programs in your educational discipline. Clients receive a 50-page printout culled from some 200,000 listings of fellowships, grants and scholarships, as well as expert counseling. Needy students may contact the NAtional Schollarship Research Service, 122 Alto Street, San Rafael, Calif., 94901. "The search services are an excellent source of information for those seeking scohlarships and other financial aid," says Adrienne Price, director of the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment at Howard University in Washington, D.C. "But students should be careful and consult their counselors who can verify if it's a good databank."

In some cases, you don't need to look beyond your own community for scholarship assistance. There are many local organizations such as the Elks, Kiwanis, labor unions, American Legion Posts and other groups that award scholarships to qualified students. Some large corporations, banks and private organizations, too, are willing to lend a hand to deserving students who can't afford college. [In 1989, for example, the United Negro College Fund granted 1,035 scholarships for a total disbursement of $1.8 million.] And many colleges and universities have their own funding sources.

Here's how to get the ball rolling: Start the process early. Contact each school or scholarship program for eligibility requirements, financial aid forms and application deadlines. Know what applications to file and when to file them. Read the school's guidelines and instructions carefully, for mistakes on the application can delay the process. Make copies of financial material such as federal and state income tax returns to prove financial need. Mail applications before the earliest deadline.

In addition, there are a number of different types of financial aid a student may consider. These include educational loans, student employment and work aid and government grants. To qualify, the applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States and enrolled in an eligible program at a participating school.

The Pell Grant is the largest federal student grant program. For the 1989-90 school year, about 2.9 million undergraduates received Pell Grants ranging from $100 to $2,200. Another "gift-aid" program is the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG), where the college distributes up to $4,000 per student from federal monies. Under the Perkins Loan Program, which carries a low interest rate of 5 percent, undergraduate and graduate students can borrow up to $4,500 a year for the first two years of undergraduate study, to a total of $9,000 for an undergraduate degree and $18,00 for graduate and professional study.