Everyone wants a free ride for college. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Even athletic scholarships rarely provide students with a full ride for athletes.

Scholarships that pay all college expenses are available, however, if you know where to look. Here are four ways your student can win enough scholarship money to pay for all their college expenses.

Colleges with merit-aid

Good grades, good test scores, a stellar volunteer record and essay, can mean thousands of dollars in merit aid from the college. If your student is applying to one of the colleges on this list, he or she could score enough money to pay for all their college expenses.

Merit Aid Scholarship Directory

Colleges with great scholarships for National Merit finalists

The PSAT is one way to win a full-ride scholarships. If your student is a National Merit finalist (which isn’t that difficult with a little preparation), he or she would be offered a full-ride scholarship and more. Here’s a list of colleges that offer scholarships to National Merit finalists.

Colleges With Scholarships for National Merit Finalists

Colleges with full-ride scholarships

Full-ride scholarships are offered to the students who are at the top of the applicant pool. The bar is set pretty high, but if your student is one of them, they could score a scholarship that pays all their college expenses. How does your student get to the top of the applicant pool? Apply to colleges where their SAT scores and GPA are higher than other students. This list will help you find those schools.

Comprehensive List of Full-Ride Scholarships

Winning multiple outside  scholarships

If your student works hard at applying for scholarships, it’s entirely possible to win enough scholarship money to pay for all their college expenses. Monica Matthew’s son, with her help, won $100,000 in scholarships. If you want to know how she did it, read her story and while you are there, purchase her simple how-to guide.

Finding and winning full-ride scholarships can be done. But it takes some effort: searching for the right colleges, doing the work in school, and applying for scholarships.