Free Scholarships Blog

Hi all! Just stopping by to let you know that the next #ScholarshipChat will be next Monday, December 5th at 9:00pm ET. The chat will once again be moderated by @winscholarships. We will have some questions prepared, but hope you have all been saving up your questions!

The topic of this chat will be “Scholarships for Non-traditional Students”. If you are a parent going back to school, a student attending college part-time, or enrolled in an online degree program, this is definitely the chat for you! However, we want everyone to participate!

As always you can follow along using TweetChat to make participating in the chat even easier. If you login to TweetChat with your Twitter account and follow the hashtag #ScholarshipChat you will be automatically see updates and be included in the chat every time you tweet.

Chat with you soon!

Ok, we know that as we approach December few of you are thinking about college orientation. It is probably either a distant memory or months in your future. However, U.S. News recently published this article about the rising popularity of “outdoor” orientation programs. Many colleges and universities are taking freshmen on outdoor camping adventures during their first few days away from home to help them acclimate to college. According to the article, 200 schools held outdoor orientation programs in 2011. Students who attended this trips spend anywhere from one night to three weeks sleeping under the stars, living among snakes and bugs and even hiking in the Appalachian Mountains.

This kind of orientation program definitely has pros and cons. On the one hand they help students break away from their comfort zone, get in touch with nature, and build bonds with their classmates. On the other hand, wilderness adventures are not for everyone. A program like this might be a bad start to college for students who do not enjoy hiking, canoeing, and rock climbing.

Did you have an outdoor orientation? Do the schools you are applying to have outdoor orientations? Do you think you would enjoy an orientation like this? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Read the entire article here.

One of the perks of being a ScholarshipPoints scholarship winner is getting an awesome t-shirt to wear around campus. We need your help! It is time for us to order our 2012 winner t-shirts, but we don’t know what the back should say!

This year, the back of the winner t-shirt said:

I won a scholarship! Ask me how…

What do YOU think the back of the 2012 t-shirt should say? Leave a comment on this blog post to submit your entry. Once all of the suggestions are in, the ScholarshipPoints team will chose the top eight to compete against each other on Facebook during the first two weeks of December. The one that YOU choose will be on the back of our 2012 winner t-shirt!

Don’t forget… you could be wearing this t-shirt next year!

Did you miss #ScholarshipChat last night? If so, you missed our most successful chat yet! We had a ton of students and professionals stop by to talk about Searching for Scholarships: Making the Most of Your Winter Break.

Here is what you missed:

The next #ScholarshipChat will be on Monday, December 5th at 9:00pm ET. Stay tuned to find out what the topic will be!

Happy Thursday everyone! Before you all take off for Thanksgiving next week we have a few great scholarship awards to share with you. If you are Latino, from the state of Colorado, or a Science major, keep reading!

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Scholarships

CHCI scholarships are awarded to Latino students in the United States who have a history of performing public-service oriented activities in their communities and who demonstrate a desire to continue their civic engagement in the future. Students do not need to have fulfill any academic requirements to qualify for these scholarships.

The Denver Foundation Scholarships

The Denver Foundation provides a number of scholarships and grants to Colorado high school students. If you are currently a student attending high school in Colorado find out which of these awards you qualify for.

American Water Works Association Scholarship

The AWWA offers multiple scholarship opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students who plan to go into the field of drinking water science. If this is an area of study that interests you definitely check out these scholarship awards.

That is all we have for today! If you didn’t qualify for any of these scholarships make sure you checkout all of the new scholarships posted periodically on Student Scholarship Search.

After taking a few weeks off #ScholarshipChat will be back next Monday, November 21st at 9:00pm ET. The chat will once again be moderated by @winscholarships. We will have some questions prepared, but hope you have all been saving up your questions!

The topic will be Searching for scholarships: Making the most of your winter break. We will talk about what you can do to take full advantage of your time off over the holidays to find and apply for scholarships. We will also talk about what you can do now to get ahead before second semester starts.

As always you can follow along using TweetChat to make participating in the chat even easier. If you login to TweetChat with your Twitter account and follow the hashtag #ScholarshipChat you will be automatically see updates and be included in the chat every time you tweet.

Looking forward to chatting!

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal suggests that students are switching to easier majors despite the fact that their earning potential will be less after graduating.

The article focused on one student from Carnegie Melon University who after almost two year of working towards a degree in engineering, switched to a double major in psychology and policy management. She made this decision after withdrawing from a class in which she was asked to program a soda machine and simply could not complete the assignment. She felt as though her high school coursework did not prepare he for the academic challenges she would face in college.

This student is not alone. In general, students seem to be steering away from majors in science, technology, engineering and math. The article stated that although the number of college graduates increased by about 29% between 2011 and 2009, the number graduating with engineering degree only increased by 19%. This is troubling at a time when graduates with these majors are in high demand in the job market. This shift also highlights fears that U.S. science and technology training may be trailing other countries.

Why did you choose your major? Because you thought it would be easy? Because you thought you would be able to get a great job after graduation? Leave a comment to share your experience.

Read the entire article here.

Students from New Mexico State University and University of Maryland among recent ScholarshipPoints scholarship winners.

QUINCY, MA (November 14, 2011) – ScholarshipPoints  (www.scholarshippoints.com), an Edvisors online education company, awarded $7,500 on November 1st to students from Mount Union College, Northern Arizona University, Emory University Oxford Campus, New Mexico State University, University of Maryland, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.  Through their free scholarships program, ScholarshipPoints will help students of all ages achieve their dreams of a college education by giving away over $120,000 in 2011. To ensure funds are used for educational purposes, awards are sent directly to the student’s financial aid office.

Winner Andie Portillo of New Mexico State University is a Spanish major who plans to pursue a master’s degree when she finishers her undergraduate studies in 2014. “This scholarship is a wonderful blessing and a step to help me in pursuing my education,” said Andie. “I am very grateful to everyone at ScholarshipPoints! Thank you so much!”

ScholarshipPoints is committed to helping students alleviate some of the financial burden associated with higher education. Students who join the program have the opportunity to complete activities in order to earn points. Each point equals one entry into a scholarship drawing. The more points a member enters into a drawing, the greater their chances are of winning. In addition to giving away scholarship money, ScholarshipPoints also educates students on a variety of higher education topics and connects them to third party scholarship offers and alternative financial aid options.

ScholarshipPoints awards multiple monthly scholarships worth up to $10,000. To learn more or to enter the December 15th $10,000 scholarship drawing, visit www.ScholarshipPoints.com.

Happy Veterans Day and 11/11/11 everyone! Hope most of you are enjoying a day off today. If you are planning on searching for scholarships this weekend we have a few good ones to share with you today. Take a look to see what you might qualify for…

Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start Scholarship Program

As part of their Smart Start Scholarship Program, each year JP Morgan Chase awards scholarships to 10-20 students from New York City. Since the program was created in 1992 it has impacted over 450 students from the five boroughs of New York by providing education, work-related and financial benefits. If you are a student from New York City, definitely check it out.

Bank of America Joe Martin Scholarship

The Bank of America Joe Martin Scholarship is available to dependents of employees who have been employed by Bank of America for at least one year. These scholarships can be used at colleges or vocational schools in the United States. If you or your parent works for Bank of America learn more to see if you qualify.

Talbots Scholarship Program

Talbots provides a number of scholarship awards to women who are returning to school and looking to enrich their lives through higher education. Applicants for this scholarship award must be women who have earned their high school diploma or their GED on or before September 2011,  be attending the full 2012-13 academic year, and receiving a degree no earlier than May 2013. If you fall into this category, check out all of the details here.

That is all we have for today! Make sure you check out all of the new scholarships posted weekly over on Student Scholarship Search.

Earlier this week Michelle Obama spoke to a group of high school students during “college immersion day” at Georgetown University. An article posted Wednesday on the WashingtonPost.com talked about Mrs. Obama’s visit with the students. According to the article, she spoke with them for an hour about the college application process, life on campus, and her own college experience.

Here are the tips she had for the group about applying to college:

1. Make sure that you apply.
2. Think about how many student loans you can realistically handle.
3. Take ownership of your college search.
4. Push yourself and venture away from home.
5. “Don’t let fear guide you.”
6. All along the way, “work your butts off.”

What do you think of Mrs. Obama’s tips? Do you think she gave good advice to these prospective college students? What would you add to this list?

For more about Mrs. Obama’s tips, read the full here.