Tag Archives: scholarships

Working To Pay For College

pay for college

Summer jobs are great for teenagers who want to save money for college. That money is great for textbooks, entertainment and other expenses. But what if your student could earn scholarship dollars while working at a part-time job during high school?

They can! Many companies award scholarships to their student employees. If your student wants to work during high school, why not cash in on some of this FREE money?

Here are just a few companies awarding scholarships and educational funds to deserving student employees:

Chick-fil-A

To kick off the 2019 scholarship announcements, Chick-fil-A surprised 12 Team Members on stage at the company’s annual conference Tuesday with the news that they were this year’s $25,000 True Inspiration Scholarship recipients. The celebration will continue throughout March as local Chick-fil-A franchise Operators present $2,500 Leadership Scholarships to 6,016 Team Members across 47 states.

Starbucks College Achievement Plan

Starbucks is committed to the success of our partners (employees). Every benefits-eligible U.S. partner working part- or full-time receives 100% tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program. Choose from over 80 diverse undergraduate degree programs, and have our support every step of the way.

Burger King Scholars Program

Employees and their families can qualify for one of the following scholarships:

  • Up to 3 James W. McLamore WHOPPER® scholarships of $50,000 granted to the most highly qualified students demonstrating leadership, substantial work experience and financial need
  • Up to 12 Regional awards of $5,000 granted to the two most qualified employees in each of six regions from the pool of eligible and complete applicants
  • One (1) Steven M. Lewis Foundation award of $5,000 granted to the most qualified U.S. Restaurants employee from the pool of eligible and submitted applicants aligned to U.S. Restaurants
  • Up to four (4) Bravokilo, Inc./Bravotampa, LLC awards of $5,000 granted to the most qualified Bravokilo, Inc./Bravotampa, LLC employees from the pool of eligible and submitted applicants aligned to Bravokilo, Inc. or Bravotampa, LLC
  • One (1) Ghai Management award of $5,000 granted to the most qualified Ghai Management employee from the pool of eligible and submitted applicants aligned to Ghai Management
  • One (1) Carrols LLC award of $5,000 granted to the most qualified Carrols LLC employee from the pool of eligible and submitted applicants aligned to Carrols LLC
  • Additional award designations as determined by Burger King Corporation, participating franchisees of the BURGER KING® system or BURGER KING℠ McLamore Foundation

Publix Tuition Reimbursement Program

The Publix tuition reimbursement program can help cover the cost of college classes. This program is available to part-time and full-time associates who are seeking graduate or undergraduate degrees. In addition, some individual courses, online programs, and technical training in appropriate areas of study can also be covered.  As long as an associate has six months of continuous service and works an average of 10 hours per week (which leaves plenty of time for studies!), they can be covered in this program. 

For a list of 36 companies who offer either scholarships or tuition reimbursement, EStudentLoan has compiled a list–click here.

The Krazy Coupon Lady has also compiled a list of companies that offer money for college is you’re an employee–click here.


Freedom Alliance Scholarship

Fireworks. Picnics. Family celebrations. It’s that time of year when we think about our freedom and the people who are responsible for protecting those freedoms–servicemen and their families.

This scholarship honors their sacrifice:

The Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund was the vision of Freedom Alliance founders LtCol Oliver North, USMC (Ret.) and the late LtGen Edward Bronars, USMC. The Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund honors Americans in our Armed Forces who have sacrificed life or limb defending our country by providing educational scholarships for their children.

The mission of the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund is two-fold. First, it helps offset the high cost of a college education for the sons and daughters of American heroes. Second, it is a reminder to the recipient that their parents’ sacrifice will never be forgotten by a grateful nation.

The dependent children of U.S. military personnel who have been killed or permanently disabled in an operational mission or training accident are eligible to apply. Also eligible are students who have a parent classified as a Prisoner of War or Missing in Action.
The generosity of patriotic Americans has made it possible for the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund to award more than $7 million in college scholarships to the sons and daughters of American heroes.

Students wishing to apply for a Freedom Alliance Scholarship should first review the qualification and eligibility requirements to verify that they do indeed qualify for the Freedom Alliance scholarship. The first step for those who believe they qualify for a scholarship is to complete the online scholarship application by clicking here to apply.

THE APPLICATION MUST CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

  • Copy of your government issued photo identification (Drivers License, Military ID Card)
  • Proof of dependency: birth certificate, tax form which lists dependents, or military child ID card
  • Certificate of death (DD 1300) or rating letter from the Veterans Administration disability stating that the eligible Servicemember parent has been rated as 100% Totally and Permanently disabled
  • DD Form 214 if applicable – for disabled veterans’ dependent children
  • Applicant must upload a 500 Word Essay or Personal Statement: What does your parent’s service mean to you?
  • Official high school or college transcripts
  • Please submit a high resolution (at least 500KB) portrait-style JPEG photo of yourself which is appropriate for publication of scholarship award announcements. Make sure that it is taken in an appropriate setting and there are no other people, distractions, or watermarks visible.
  • Photo of qualifying parent

If you are found to be eligible by the reviewing committee, there will be a few additional steps that will be included in your notification letter/email which will include a form to be completed by your school’s financial aid office. Once these steps are completed, the reviewing committee will do a final review of applications and, if the student has a need, a scholarship check will be mailed directly to his/her school.

Please note that checks will only be endorsed to your school and will be mailed directly to your school’s Financial Aid or Bursar’s Office.

Making the Best Admissions impression

admissions

Your student will spend the best part of the college application process trying to impress. Impress teachers. Impress college admissions. Impress scholarship judges. It’s part of the process and it’s something they will do as they enter the job market after graduation.

There is a lesson that we as parents must teach them about self-confidence and being able to present themselves well. There is a point where their approach to their wild streak has to mean something as they must understand not everyone is like them. There is sometimes a convention that we must follow because it gives us a solid and meaningful foundation from which to stand on. So why don’t we teach our kids how to impress others in certain situations in life? They will need to at some point and yet we don’t often take the time to sit them down and show them when and how they could possibly do this. Here are some scenarios and techniques you can show them to getting people on their side and get their admiration.

https://youtu.be/kTNHTc6YZWM

The starting point

Your children will first need to impress someone for real in their lives when they go for a job interview. Hopefully this will be when they are young and in their mid teens. Working as a newspaper boy or in a grocery store is good life experience for them. But they must get the job first and this is when we need to give them life advice on what the employer is going to be looking out for. First off the simple things, they need to stand and sit up straight and not hunch their shoulders. They need to work on maintaining eye contact and speaking in a steady and clear tone. They should also dress the part, take the extra mile. Even if they are applying for a job in their local cafe, dress as if they are applying for an office role with formal clothes. Ask them to put themselves in the employer’s shoes and hopefully these things will begin to make sense to them.

A stand out essay

When they go off to college they will want to be noticed by their lecturers and other teachers. The common things they will get asked to produce are essays and reports. Aside from proper writing form and style they should also make their work stand out. This can be done by making a cover for their work. This is also helpful when compiling the scholarship application essay. They can use embossing folders which can imprint their own name, title of their work and even logo or slogan. This will create a 3D design on their work, which will also be unique to the touch as the gel used will remain semi-hard. This will no doubt make their work stand out from the piles and piles of other students’ work. It will impress the lecturer and make a good first impression. It’s not just words either, you can imprint shapes and sequins as well to give the cover a little more flare and character.

There are times in our lives when we need to impress someone. But the college application process is a perfect time to help your student put their best foot forward.

Getting In to Your First Choice College

first choiceWhile many students are busy packing their bags and getting ready to leave for their first year at college, still others are working on their applications for the next round of admissions. Of course, if your child fits the latter category, it’s likely that they already have a college in mind that they wish to attend. Happily, by reading the post below you can find out about the tactics that will help them get into their first choice. Keep reading to discover more.

Address any study or subject issues

Number one of the list tactics is dealing with grades, as this is the base level that a college application will address. Happily, this is something that you can definitely help your child with, without micromanaging them as well. Firstly, it’s vital that you take a keen interest in their progress with their studies, without being overbearing and demanding.

Then, if they or their teachers flag up an issue on a particular topic, it will be much easier to address this constructively. It may be that your child is struggling with a specific subject, or that something is going on in their life that creating a distraction for them. However, as long as you are able to have an honest two-way conversation, you will ultimately be able to get them the support or help they need to ensure that their grades remain on target to get into the college of their choice.

Help your child to present a rounded application

Please do remember though that while grades are essential for college, they are not the only thing that the application board with be looking at. In fact, lately, there has been a definite move towards reviewing the whole person and looking at their extracurricular activities as well as their academic ones.

What this means is that you can quickly help your child by encouraging them to engage in activities outside of the home. These may include sports such as basketball, football, and athletics, as well as getting them involved in community projects like food banks, reading programs, and soup kitchens. Even having a part-time job, or getting some work experience in a firm that is related to their studies can go a long way to helping them stand out amounts all the other candidates. Something that can help them secure that much-needed place in their first choice school.

Seek additional help

It’s also wise to remember as a parent that there is plenty of help out there both for you and your child when it comes to making a successful college application. First off there is lots of advice online that can take you through the process step by step, and also help you hone your child’s particular application documents.

Although, if your child is aiming at one of the top schools in the country it can be helpful to approach specialists like Ivy Select admission consulting for some additional help. After all, as they have been through the process of being accepted to an ivy league college, they are the best people to know all the little tips and tweaks to make to your child’s application for the best chance of them getting into their first choice.

Explore financial aid and scholarship options

Lastly, it is important to remember that it may be finance and scholarship issues that are standing in the way of your child getting into their first choice college. In fact, as university fees have risen so sharply in recent times, it is widespread for students to pick the more economically viable options, rather than where they genuinely want to go.

Luckily you can assist your child in dealing with this, by going through the costs of their course with them, and showing them what sort of budget they will be working on. You can even help them by demonstrating how this will affect their income when they are qualified and have to pay any loans back.

It’s obviously also important to openly discuss how much, if any financial help you will be providing to them, and not leave them guessing. After all, this may have a significant impact on whether they end up applying for the genuine first choice or not.

Lastly, it’s crucial that you also go over the options for scholarships with your child as well, and make sure that they understand these entirely before they make their applications. After all, the can be complicated and confusing and they may even need to start working on things like their grades or other requirements before it gets to application time. Something that you can support them with and that can ultimately help them get into their first choice college.

Get $2500 for College from College Raptor

 

College Raptor

The $2,500 College Raptor Scholarship is open only to those legal residents of the fifty (50) United States, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory who are 16 years of age or older at the time of application and who are currently enrolled (or enroll no later than the fall of 2019) in an accredited post-secondary institution of higher learning (college, university or trade school).

HOW TO ENTER:

To enter, submit a complete scholarship Application online at the Sponsor’s Website (www.collegeraptor.com/2500scholarship). To be considered an applicant, a person must register with www.CollegeRaptor.com, use the College Search tool and submit a short original, previously unpublished response to one of the scholarship topics. Your written response must be written in English, with correct spelling and grammar. No substitutions of new drafts or corrected pages will be accepted once you have submitted your original Application. Written responses that are obscene, pornographic, libelous or otherwise objectionable will be disqualified. All Applications become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for lost, late, misdirected, or unintelligible Applications. By submitting an Application, you fully and unconditionally accept and agree to these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding.

APPLICATION DEADLIINE:

June 1, 2018 at 11:59 pm Central Time

SELECTION OF POTENTIAL WINNERS:

Sponsor is looking for eligible Applicants who follow directions and submit Applications that are well-written and clearly and creatively address the topic described above. By no later than August 1, 2018, a qualified panel of judges will select one (1) potential winner based on the criteria of GPA (25%), college entrance exam score (either ACT or SAT) (25%) and essay (50%). Sponsor will select at least one (1) of the submitted Applications as the potential Prize Winning Application. In the event of a tie, the potential winner will be the Applicant with the higher score for overall excellence.

AWARD AMOUNT:

One (1) winner will receive a Scholarship Prize in the amount of two thousand five hundred dollars and zero cents ($2,500.00). The Scholarship Prize will be in the form of a check made payable directly to the accredited post-secondary institution of higher education attended by the Scholarship Prize Recipient (once the Scholarship Prize Recipient has enrolled in an accredited post-secondary institution of higher education and submitted proof of enrollment to Sponsor). Scholarship Prize Recipient must submit proof of enrollment on or before 12/31/2019. Scholarship Prize may not be assigned, transferred, or changed, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor.

Did You Know the SAT Can Help Your Student Find and Win Scholarships?

This post is sponsored and written in partnership with the College Board.

SAT

With college tuition high, families are searching for ways to pay for their teenager’s college education. The SAT can connect your teen to scholarships and merit aid that can make his or her dream university more affordable. Many colleges use a student’s SAT score to award merit aid, with many automatic scholarships based on a student’s score.

SAT Suite of Assessments

The SAT Suite of Assessments connects your son or daughter to colleges and scholarship programs that recognize academic achievement and award scholarships based on that achievement. Students who take the SAT can opt in to what the College Board calls the “Student Search Service” to make their names and information available to colleges and scholarship programs.

In addition to providing information to colleges, the College Board has increased access to millions in combined awards through the PSAT/NMSQT for low-income and minority students through partnerships with scholarship providers like the American Indian Graduate Center and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

College merit aid

Colleges provide merit aid to students who excel academically, including those who score well on the SAT. The specific requirements of these scholarships will vary from college to college. Your teen can make the most of his or her SAT score by finding guaranteed SAT scholarships—scholarships awarded based on the SAT score. Colleges often use other criteria like GPA and class rank combined with the SAT score to determine these awards.

For these scholarships, your teen may not be required to submit any extra application information, but in some cases, he or she will have to apply by a certain deadline to be guaranteed the scholarship. Your teen should check each individual college website for the full information.

For example, Colorado State University offers an automatic $4000 scholarship per year to a student who scores 1490 or higher on the SAT with a 4.0 GPA. Students attending Texas Tech University with an SAT score of 1400 or higher, a 3.5 GPA and in the top 10% of their class receive $6000 for up to four years with a one-time award of $4000.

Colleges look for students who will succeed in a rigorous college academic environment. Typically, students who earn high SAT scores demonstrate that ability. Coupled with a strong GPA and other application criteria, SAT scores help colleges ascertain a student’s ability to do well in college. Colleges award these students by providing them with merit aid scholarships.

Note: Don’t forget the regular registration deadline for the March SAT is February 9th. Register now at the Official SAT Registration website. And, there’s still time for your student to study for the upcoming March SAT by using Khan Academy’s FREE SAT prep.

These Mistakes Could Cost You That College Scholarship

scholarship

Applying for scholarships requires a commitment of time and a dedication to persevere. It is a job in the truest sense of the word. You will most likely spend hours upon hours applying for scholarships hoping the time will be rewarded with money to pay for college. But the payoff won’t come unless you take the time to apply for scholarships or if you make these five scholarship application mistakes.

1. Not following directions.

Scholarship judges look for students who know how to follow directions. If the student can’t follow the directions, the application will be immediately placed in the reject pile. If the directions ask for only three recommendations, and no more, don’t send five. If it requires students provide a transcript, don’t forget to include it. If the essay word count is specific, (i.e. no more than 500 words) stick to the word count guidelines.

Along with following the directions, always check spelling and grammar on the application itself and any essay submissions. Since many scholarships have thousands of qualified applicants, this one simple mistake can cause you to lose the scholarship.

2. Applying to the wrong scholarships.

Read the scholarship qualifications carefully. If you don’t qualify, don’t apply. Guidelines such as GPAs, specific areas of interest, specific heritage and gender require applicants who meet the criteria. Applying for these scholarships when you don’t match the qualifications is a waste of time.

3. Not personalizing your application.

Just about every scholarship asks for details related to academics, activities and future plans. But personalizing the application will make you stand out. Also, find some time to learn about the organization presenting the scholarship and find a way to include this knowledge in the application or the essay and why it might relate to you.

Research previous winners and find out what the scholarship judges found valuable in these winners. Make sure the application explains why you are the perfect applicant for this award. Be careful when copying and pasting information from previous applications. Make sure the information you provide is unique to each scholarship.

Read the original article at TeenLife Magazine: 5 Mistakes That Could Cost You That Scholarship

9-11 Scholarships

 

9-11 scholarshipsToday marks the 22nd anniversary of  September 11th. Twenty two years ago today our country was attacked by terrorists. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,977 victims. The victims included 246 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors), 2,606 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. All of these victims left behind families. In these families, there were children who would eventually be pursuing higher education.

Seeing the need to help these families of the victims, scholarships rose up across the country to help their dependents fund higher education. The Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund was established. According to the fund’s declaration, their purpose is:

“… to provide education assistance for postsecondary study to financially needy dependents of those people killed or permanently disabled as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and during the rescue activities relating to those attacks.”

Scholarship America played a major role in the creation of the September 11 Scholarship Alliance, formed by leading scholarship providers and associated organizations to coordinate the various scholarship funds for postsecondary education created in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy. Although the Scholarship Alliance officially concluded its activities, there are still a number of scholarship funds in addition to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund that provide assistance for postsecondary education for 9/11 families. Start your search here, in any of the following categories:

Memorial Funds and Other Funds
Scholarship America manages and administers Memorial and Other Funds. These Funds are managed and administered separately from the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund and have separate eligibility criteria. Generally speaking, Memorial Funds are provided for a group of families associated with a specific funder, while Other Funds are open to all 9/11 families.

College Funds
There are scholarship funds managed by individual colleges and universities, for use on their campuses only. Many of the colleges and universities provide matching scholarships to students who receive Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund education assistance.

Outside Organization Funds
Citizens throughout America stepped forward and donated funds to many relief efforts in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America. The establishment of scholarship funds was one means of providing such relief and assistance.

The fund this year will recognize an exciting milestone – this summer they awarded over $100 million to financially needy families since the inception of the Fund in 2001. The great news is that the Fund has been invested well and there remains over $96.5 million for the thousands of students who are yet to apply for awards.

Huntley Wealth Care Scholarship

This scholarship is for students who have lost one or both parents who either had no life insurance or were underinsured. Students can either submit an essay or a video essay

Need Help With Your Scholarship Search? Jump on Twitter!

 

scholarship search

Need help with your scholarship search?

I’m a Twitter fanatic. I hopped on the bandwagon early and I’ve been using it ever since. If you aren’t on there, you should be. If you want your student to find and apply for scholarships, you most definitely should be. Scholarship sites tweet daily about current and upcoming scholarships. If you (and your student) follow them, you can easily find scholarships daily to apply to.

@Scholarships360

@Scholarshipscom

@PayingforCollege

@AidScholarship

@ScholarshipOwl

@Chegg

@CheapScholar

@SallieMae

@Unigo

@PrepforCollege

and don’t forget to follow me @SuzanneShaffer because I follow these and RT any additional scholarships I become aware of.

In addition to following these accounts, use the Twitter search engine by typing in “scholarship” and “scholarships”. Then check under each category: Top, Latest, People and Broadcasts to add an additional level to your search.

Create a list in your Twitter account and add these accounts and others you find to it. Then, each morning you can check their feeds for the latest scholarships posted. Dig a little deeper and visit their websites to find additional postings.

There’s no lack of scholarship information on Twitter. All you have to do is know where to look.

Once you find the scholarships you want to win them.  For the best chance to win, check out Monica’s ebook: How to WIN College Scholarships. She will help you package the scholarship to stand out among all the other applicants. It’s a small investment with a “HUGE” payoff!

4 Excuses to Not Apply for Scholarships

 

scholarshipsIf you haven’t heard them, you have made them. These four excuses will keep you from getting a piece of the free money that’s out there and ripe for the picking. Make these excuses and you will be throwing away money that could be used to pay for scholarships.

It’s a waste of time.

If you think winning thousands of dollars of scholarship money isn’t worth your time you’re wrong. It’s worth every cent of your time and more. A few hours can net you thousands of dollars.

I hate writing essays.

There are plenty of “no essay” scholarships available. If essays scare you, look for the scholarships that don’t require them.

I never win anything.

You can’t win if you don’t apply. It’s a guarantee you won’t win if you don’t make the effort and apply.

Only smart kids win them.

Not all scholarships are academic scholarships. Many do not have a GPA requirement. This excuse doesn’t hold water. Many average students win scholarships.

If you want to know why scholarships are worth the effort, read this article I wrote for TeenLife.com: Are Scholarship Applications Worth the Hassle? You Bet!