As College Financing Tightens, Students Can Find Unique Scholarship Opportunities

Market Wire, July, 2008

News of a slumping economy is everywhere: from home foreclosures and credit woes to high gas and food prices. One result: many students are finding it more challenging than ever to find the means to pay for college . But with a little creativity and keen Internet search skills, students can find and apply for their share of nearly $20 billion free college scholarships . Innovative companies are making it more fun and easier to get scholarships .

ScholarshipPoints ( www.ScholarshipPoints.com ) is a site dedicated to helping students earn scholarships. By logging in, taking surveys, and reading valuable content, students can earn points which can be used for monthly scholarship drawings. "With the economy tightening, students are seeking out alternatives for financing their college beyond just student loans . We've attracted over 70,000 new members this year alone," says Mark Marquis, Director of Student Services for Edvisors ( www.Edvisors.com ), the parent company of ScholarshipPoints. "That's a testament to the fact that students are seeking products and services to help them pay for college during these challenging times -- and are especially attracted to fun and engaging sites like ScholarshipPoints.com."

Scholarship Points has just announced a new scholarship opportunity: Scholarship Idol Video Contest ( www.ScholarshipPoints/ScholarshipIdol ) where members create YouTube videos to compete for a $1,000 scholarship and one of 9 video cameras. The contest runs from July 4th through September 5th and finalists will be determined by the most viewed entries on YouTube. The winner will be decided by a ScholarshipPoints member vote in September.

In October, ScholarshipPoints, in collaboration with Student Loan Network, will be giving away a $10,000 scholarship . This easy scholarship contest requires no essay and no minimum GPA -- and the application takes about thirty seconds. Enter today at www.StudentLoanNetwork.com/10K .

And for those that don't want to wait until October, StudentScholarshipSearch.com ( www.StudentScholarshipSearch.com ) has published a scholarship eBook , available free to the public, on how to maximize scholarship searching efforts. You can also search thousands of scholarship opportunities directly on the site.

Students are encouraged to do their legwork, and start by finding free scholarships to pay for college. Once they have maximized those efforts, students should consider Federal Student Loans like the Stafford Loan . Students can visit www.StudentLoanNetwork.com to learn about these scholarship opportunities, Federal Student Loans and other financing options .

Contact: Christopher Penn Press@edvisors.com