2 Places to Find Scholarships You May Not Have Considered

Flickr user Yelp Inc.

You know that scholarships are one of the best ways to get some free money towards your higher education, and you’ve explored all of the usual scholarship avenues but have you exhausted all of your resources? With an incomplete search, you could be leaving an easily available college scholarship or two on the table. After you’ve finished looking into the usual scholarship sources, here are a few unusual sources that are worth checking out.

Local Businesses

Many local businesses also offer scholarships to students from their community. As a member of the community, you automatically qualify for these scholarships. Also, these scholarships usually have fewer applicants, which increases your odds of winning the award.

There are three ways you can find these local scholarships—scouring the local newspapers, checking out community and church notice boards, and calling local organizations and asking them if they award scholarships.

Your Parents’ Work Place

Many employers offer scholarships to their employees’ dependents who are applying to college. The terms and criteria may differ from one company to another but it is worth a shot. Some may offer scholarships simply as a dependent while others may have some other qualifying criteria. Ask your parents to check with the HR department of their company so you can win the scholarship if you qualify.

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