Scholarships: How to Save Money When Going Back to School

How to save money when going back to school - grants and scholarships

The wedding was wonderful, but you and your spouse are wise enough to know that people really cannot live on love alone. Because of this, you have probably began to discuss whether one or both of you should go back to school to get training in a career field that is currently in demand and pays a respectable salary.

You both agree that this is a great idea, but when you begin to look at the investment that must be made in order to get a college degree, you both begin to doubt that your current budget can support such major expenses. Do not despair! People who are willing to work at it can usually finance most of their college education through grants and scholarships. The following scholarships and grants are usually offered annually and could save the recipients thousands of dollars:

ARRA Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students: Students can get from $1,000 to $650,000 each year to help with college expenses, but application must be made annually. These funds are dispersed through nursing schools and practitioners to full-time, disadvantaged students who are going into a career related to medicine.
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program: Students wanting to get a degree in mathematics, engineering or one of the natural sciences should apply for funding from this trust fund. These scholarships are intended to fund the last two years of undergraduate study and can be as much as $7,500 for each academic year.
GEAR-UP Scholarships: Approximately $323,212 is available for distribution to low-income students or those who have a disability that would make college more difficult under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs umbrella. This money is funneled to students through state agencies, parent groups, businesses, charities, and professional organizations in conjunction with the institutions of higher education.
Academic Competitive Grants: The United States Federal Government provides these funds to help deserving students afford to continue their education. Freshmen grants are $750, and sophomores can receive up to $1,300. Applicants for the second year grant must have maintained at least a GPA of 3.0 during their freshman year.
AES Engineering Solutions Scholarships: These are $500 competitive scholarships offered to students of good character who have leadership abilities. Essays are required as a part of the selection process.
Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Scholarships: Coca-Cola provides more than three million dollars each year to fund scholarships for both high school seniors and junior college transfers. The selection process is partially merit based, but semi-finalists are required to write an essay for judging.

Many other scholarships can be found online; some are designated for particular majors or limit recipients to a specific college. Others are set aside for minorities, writers, artists, or handicapped individuals. Most newlyweds can find scholarships offered in categories that fit their profiles. Taking the time to fill out the applications for these can result in substantial savings and can make a degree possible for anyone willing to work for it.

Jennifer Lewis writes for a site that has advice on financial aid for female students, including women’s engineering scholarships and mathematics scholarships for women.