The term ’scholarship grants’ can be a confusing one, since scholarships & grants are two distinctly different types of financial aid but are often confused with one another because of their similarities. The main similarity is that both provide free money for college.
In the U.S. today, the average cost of attending a private, four-year institution of higher learning is in excess of $20,000 per school year. This works out to well over two thousand dollars per month, which is an amount very few students are able to cover on their own. Without scholarships and grants for college, only the relatively few students coming from wealthy families would be able to pursue higher education.
Those who opt to attend public university can expect to pay about half of that charged by private schools. Even community colleges may cost $500 or more per month to attend. Financial aid grants and scholarships have never been more needed. And, interestingly, because of the No Child Left Behind Act, more grant money for college is now available than ever before.
Grants are primarily need-based while scholarships are usually merit-based. This ‘merit’, however, may fall into any of many, many categories. The most common basis for scholarships may be academic performance or athletic performance but there is a wide range of other criteria for merit awards. Being black, Hispanic, a single mom or even left-handed can qualify you for some scholarship money. Financial need is not usually part of the qualification requirements.
Grants, on the other hand, are most typically awarded on a financial needs basis, although some are given for merit, this merit is almost always strictly of the academic achievement type. Some grants will consider a combination of merit and need both together. A grant for college is free, with nothing required in return for the recipient accepting the award. Scholarship money, on the other hand, may require the fulfillment of certain commitments, as in the case of military scholarships or athletic scholarship programs.
Scholarship grants are made every academic year and it’s not uncommon for funds to go unclaimed. The main providers of grants are the federal and state governments, colleges and universities. The Pell Grant, which has been given out since 1972, is the main source of federal funding given to low income or financially disadvantaged students. To find out if you qualify, simply apply. Nearly everyone qualifies for some type of financial aid.