USA College Scholarships

amother

Babypink

Tue, Jul 18 2017, 7:13 pm

My daughter who is a US citizen just graduated high school and will attend San Antonio College a.k.a. Alamo Colleges/SAC.
As she recently moved to Texas she is not a resident of Texas yet, that kicks in after 12 months, her "out -of state" tuition is $483 per credit; compared to in-state at around $80.
We have already applied to FAFSA and will apply for any other scholarships recommended by the school.
The fall term begins in late August.
My daughter is interested in studying web digital multimedia. Her GPA 3.0.
Do you know of any other scholarships that we should apply for that I'm not finding online?

MagentaYenta

Tue, Jul 18 2017, 7:37 pm

There are literally thousands upon thousands of scholarships available. Some are career oriented, unions offer scholarships so do professional organizations, community groups etc. There are some good sites that aggregate scholarships, have your DD talk to her guidance counselor or career counselor at her school. They should be able to give you some good up to date sites that aggregate scholarships.

amother

Babypink

Tue, Jul 18 2017, 7:53 pm

The school will not provide a guidance counselor until she is enrolled, read:"paid in full for first semester", and yes we have spoken to the financial aid office.

The school has provided us with a list of approximately 500 possible scholarships. I guess my real question is: is there a Top 10 or Top 50 list of tried and true scholarships?

Magenta, please recommend some unions and professional organizations.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Jul 18 2017, 8:09 pm

amother wrote:

There are plumbers and pipefitters unions, electricians unions, teachers unions, musicians, laborers, hod carriers etc.

There are professional organizations for teachers, accountants, organizers, anesthesiologists, gemologists, early childhood educators etc.

Use your imagination when you google. My lists are in no way recommendations. They are merely jump off places for your DD to start searching. As to the top 50 tried and true scholarships? I have no idea. I've been out of the higher education industry for well over a decade.

SixOfWands

Tue, Jul 18 2017, 8:25 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Aren't union scholarships generally available to union members and their children? If you're not in the union, you're not likely to get a scholarship.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Jul 18 2017, 8:27 pm

amother wrote:

Magenta, please describe how to contact and as well as name of department to contact to get to unions and organizations?
Any essay advice would be appreciated.

I'll be honest with you, it's a bit late to be looking for scholarships if she is attending fall term this year. Deadllnes for most are in Feb.

You will need to google, find some emails and make phone or email inquiries to get the information you want. I certainly don't know the names of the departments that would handle scholarships for different organizations. But to be a realist, if you or your spouse haven't been a union member or your DD hasn't done any volunteering for a union, it's likely she would be wasting her time. If your DD isn't interested in being a CPA it's likely an accounting organization can be of help. Do you understand the logic here? FWIW, my college bound children started researching scholarships their Jr. years in HS, and this was before everyone was using the internet. They were dependant on the raw material received from their guidance counselors in HS. They wrote letters asking for the qualifications, deadlines and applications. It was a part time job for them.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Jul 18 2017, 8:37 pm

SixOfWands wrote:

Aren't union scholarships generally available to union members and their children? If you're not in the union, you're not likely to get a scholarship.

Yes, I just let the OP know that.

Although in my experience I do know of some scholarships funded by unions, the AFL and Labor and Education Research Centers that went to students whose parents weren't members of a union. In these cases union membership of parents or relatives wasn't a criteria for a particular scholarship. These young people found their way into volunteering for political campaigns or human rights campaigns either locally or nationally. They may have had career goals of working for a human rights organization in particular capacity or perhaps in a social justice career which qualified them as candidates. The Mennonite Central Committee is known for giving scholarships to non church members. You have to have verifiable volunteer work with particular populations or in specific areas but you need not be a Mennonite.

PAMOM

Wed, Jul 19 2017, 3:11 am

OP, just to clarify, FAFSA is simply a form that is used to determine financial need. It is NOT a source of any financial aid. Colleges and other institutions use it to see how much money they think you need, but there's no guarantee that you'll get money based on info in the FAFSA.

Yes, it's very late to start looking now, but it's worth checking. See what her home state offers its residents. Some cities have small scholarships available for students who live in public housing (mine does). There are some ethnic-based organizations or women's groups that give scholarships. Google everything you can think of that could be relevant, e.g. "Financial aid for Ukrainian American students."
What conversations did you have with the College's financial aid office? Did you ask about work-study jobs (if she qualifies financially)?

MagentaYenta

Wed, Jul 19 2017, 1:56 pm

amother wrote:

The school will not provide a guidance counselor until she is enrolled, read:"paid in full for first semester", and yes we have spoken to the financial aid office...

I want to come back to this since there seems to be a misunderstanding. Her HS should have a guidance counselor that she can see for this.

Frankly it's a lot cheaper if she went to a CC in a state where she is a resident. Is there a specific reason why she wants to go OOS for an associate's degree? That's a lot of money to pay for an AA.

amother

Babypink

Wed, Jul 19 2017, 4:18 pm

PA, thanks for explaining FAFSA, I appreciate it.
Magenta, her high school isn't helpful with college advice but as of today the college has assigned her an academic advisor, and yes there are specific reasons for her going to school out of state.