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The month of November is devoted to raising awareness of the need for scholarship support for postsecondary education. Scholarships help students realize their dreams. (National Scholarship Month was previously celebrated in the month of May from 1998 to 2007. It was switched from May to November in 2008 to coincide with the start of the main scholarship application season.)

Scholarships are a form of student financial aid that does not need to be repaid. Scholarships are awarded by foundations, philanthropists, non-profit organizations, businesses and colleges to help students pay for college. Some scholarships are awarded for academic merit, while others may focus on artistic or athletic talent or other personal characteristics. There are even a variety of unusual scholarships based on more esoteric talent such as duck calling or knitting with wool.

Students can discover the scholarships for which they are eligible by searching one of several large scholarship matching sites, such as the FastWeb scholarship database.

There are several free scholarship databases available online. With more than 1.5 million scholarships worth more than $3.4 billion! Check out: FastWeb scholarship search 

Don’t waste your money on fee-based scholarship matching services. You won’t get any better information than you can get from the free services available on the Web. 

Another great resource for students is “Scholarships 101: The Real World Guide to Getting Cash For College” by the Scholarship Lady, Kim Stezala. Visit the site and learn all about how to apply for and win scholarships.

Average students often ask whether there are any scholarships available to students who don’t have a 4.0 GPA. There are many scholarships for average students that focus on qualities besides academic merit. There are also many community service scholarships and scholarships for hispanic and latino students.

Most scholarship search sites do not allow children under age 13 to register because of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Unfortunately, this prevents parents from finding out about scholarships for students under age 13. FinAid has compiled a comprehensive list of college scholarships for students under age 13 and in grades K-8.

The fact that most scholarship sites don’t allow chilldren under 18 to register is very good in many ways. However, children need proactive parents, in order to apply for and get scholarships.

The fact is, most middle-school and intermediate school students are not thinking about how to finance college or how their grades, choices and decisions will affect them… for the rest of their lives. Having  their parents help, can make a big difference.