How to Search for Scholarships

Finding scholarships for college or a major university is a lot like picking an actual college. It is not an easy process or something that just happens overnight, but rather, it takes hard work, dedication, and a lot of research to find the scholarship opportunities that are best for you. On the one hand, you are putting a lot of time, work, and effort into finding a scholarship. But just think about the thousands of dollars that you can save by obtaining a scholarship for college.

Using the Internet To Search

One of the most valuable resources for searching for a scholarship is the Internet. Web sites like NextStudent offer you the chance to sit in front of your computer screen and find hundreds and thousands of college scholarships being offered around the country. When searching for a scholarship, think about your qualities, skills, and high school activities that may place you into a scholarship opportunity. Scholarships come in many shapes and forms, and it is quite likely that you can receive a scholarship for everything from playing a sport to being a member of the computer club at your school. People want to give money for high school students to eventually attend college, so take advantage of these situations.

Seek Guidance

While the Internet and NextStudent offers you the chance to search for scholarships for yourself, not everyone can be a pro at picking out their best qualities and finding matching scholarships. If this is the case with you, do not be afraid to visit your high school's guidance office and ask a counselor for help. Here, he/she can match your specific qualifications up with the right scholarship opportunities. And, when it comes to scholarships, half the battle is just applying and throwing your name into the hat to receive a scholarship. Many others do not take advantage of this opportunity, and they miss out. But that is where you come in to take advantage of the situation. Get out there and search for the right scholarship. College isn't cheap, but scholarships sure do make a difference!

This article is distributed by NextStudent. At NextStudent, we believe that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and we're dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. We invite you to learn more on How to Search for Scholarships at http://www.NextStudent.com .

Who Wins, Who Loses?

Who Wins, Who Loses?

Hauptman, a public policy consultant who specializes in higher education finance issues, reported:

“More importantly, the Democrats’ plan helps the wrong borrowers. The interest rate cuts are limited to new borrowers in the subsidized student loan program, who, by definition, already qualify for federal interest payments while they are in school. As a result, they are precisely the students who least need the assistance in the near term, because the federal government is already paying the interest on their loans (which also means there is no net cost to the government while these borrowers remain in college, since it is already responsible during that time for making all interest payments to lenders). In this scenario, the students’ benefit from lower interest rates and the new cost to the government will occur only when repayment begins at least several years from now.

“By contrast, the House-passed legislation provides no help for the millions of borrowers who are currently having trouble repaying their loans because of high debt levels and/or low incomes. It would have been much better if the House had sought to help these borrowers, for example, by allowing them to consolidate all their federal student loans into a single loan repayment schedule when they leave school and begin repayment. This expansion of existing consolidation provisions would greatly simplify the student loan system by allowing borrowers to refinance their student loans once they leave school.

“Or the House could have sought to expand the largely underutilized income contingent provisions that give borrowers the option to repay their loans on the basis of their income once they complete their educational program. Rather than provide postponed help for new borrowers, these two changes would provide immediate relief for millions of borrowers who need the help now. And these two changes could actually save the government money rather than add to costs if they were financed directly by the federal government rather than having the loans continue to be held by the private sector which demands federal payments over the life of the loan.

“Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the newly restored chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, seems to understand this problem. He has emphasized the need to expand income contingency for borrowers who need help with their repayments and in moving toward greater reliance on direct loans as a way to cut government costs. Hopefully, he can persuade his colleagues in the Senate to provide some real repayment relief to borrowers rather than the cosmetics offered by the House. Otherwise borrowers with repayment problems will be out of luck for another several years until the politicians turn their attention back to this issue.”