Surprising Facts About Scholarships

Who doesn't want free money for college? According to the College Board, in 2014-15 students paid an average of $42,419 to attend one year at a private university and live on campus. Most families will have a difficult time coming up with this amount out-of-pocket, so they end up borrowing to help cover the costs. But before you apply for a student loan, why not explore the idea of scholarships? According to Sallie Mae's How America Pays for College 2014 report, undergraduate students paid for 31 percent of their total college costs with grants and scholarships. Yet families sometimes hesitate to apply because they assume they won't qualify, either because of their income level, the student isn't a starter on the football team or other reason. But the fact is ï ¿ ½ ALL prospective and current college students should apply for scholarships throughout their college career. Trust us, there's something for everyone. Not convinced? Check out the Scholarships Demystified infographic below from our friends at Fluid Review! 5 key facts: 1. Private scholarships make up a very small amount of the total awards. According to Fluid Review, in 2010-11 a total of $49 billion was awarded to eligible students, and 94% of these funds came from federal, state and local government sources. However, private scholarships gave the biggest average award amount per student ($8,366 compared to $4,755 for federal and $2,844 for state). 2. Over half of athletic scholarhips awarded are designated to one of four sports. 53% of sports scholarship money is going students who excel at football, basketball, soccer and track and field. 3. American students are leaving money on the table. Each year there is around $100 million in unclaimed scholarships in the U.S., often because there aren't enough qualified applicants. 4. Students need to be more careful. Scholarship scammers are out there! Each year, 350,000 applicants are cheated out of $5 million. 5. Your caffeine habit may win you money for college. That's right. There are so many unusual scholarship opportunities out there, and one of our favorites is the "Hit the Books Scholarship" sponsored by CoffeeForLess.com, where you could win up to $500 toward books and supplies for writing an essay that mentions your passion for coffee. Who doesn't want free money for college? According to the College Board, in 2014-15 students paid an average of $42,419 to attend one year at a private university and live on campus. Most families will have a difficult time coming up with this amount out-of-pocket, so they end up borrowing to help cover the costs. But before you apply for a student loan, why not explore the idea of scholarships? According to Sallie Mae's How America Pays for College 2014 report, undergraduate students paid for 31 percent of their total college costs with grants and scholarships. Yet families sometimes hesitate to apply because they assume they won't qualify, either because of their income level, the student isn't a starter on the football team or other reason. But the fact is ï ¿ ½ ALL prospective and current college students should apply for scholarships throughout their college career. Trust us, there's something for everyone. Not convinced? Check out the Scholarships Demystified infographic below from our friends at Fluid Review! 5 key facts: 1. Private scholarships make up a very small amount of the total awards. According to Fluid Review, in 2010-11 a total of $49 billion was awarded to eligible students, and 94% of these funds came from federal, state and local government sources. However, private scholarships gave the biggest average award amount per student ($8,366 compared to $4,755 for federal and $2,844 for state). 2. Over half of athletic scholarhips awarded are designated to one of four sports. 53% of sports scholarship money is going students who excel at football, basketball, soccer and track and field. 3. American students are leaving money on the table. Each year there is around $100 million in unclaimed scholarships in the U.S., often because there aren't enough qualified applicants. 4. Students need to be more careful. Scholarship scammers are out there! Each year, 350,000 applicants are cheated out of $5 million. 5. Your caffeine habit may win you money for college. That's right. There are so many unusual scholarship opportunities out there, and one of our favorites is the "Hit the Books Scholarship" sponsored by CoffeeForLess.com, where you could win up to $500 toward books and supplies for writing an essay that mentions your passion for coffee.