I never knew how hard it would be to get scholarship money for college until I actually started looking for it. After days of searching for what I thought would be free scholarship money, I discovered that over half of the scholarship sites I visited required personal information. If they didn’t ask right away, they sent me through a dozen pages of sponsor advertisements until finally getting me to a form that asked me for a four page description on how I wanted to change the world.

Although the internet made it easy for me to search for undergraduate college scholarships, it also made it easy for millions of other students hunting for a shot at free cash. So even after finding sites that didn’t ask me for my background information, I still competed with thousands other people. One week after I submitted online applications I checked my e-mail account, for what I thought would be updates regarding the status of my completed applications, only to find massive amounts of SPAM from companies I hadn’t even heard of before.

It’s hard enough writing a paper for one scholarship on top of trying to complete course work for five classes, let alone working two part time jobs where I can not futz around on a computer all day begging Google for tips on how to get scholarships from sites that don’t invade my privacy. I turned to my college advisor for advice. I visited the department for scholarship information and found two scholarships available for the current semester. So they expected me to compete with over twelve hundred students for a scholarship that required two recommendation letters, an unofficial transcript, a two page paper and the three page application itself? I was desperate.

After spending days gathering and completing all of the required materials I went to the office to apply. It was there I found out that I needed five copies of each paper I had with me so that every member of the board could review my application. So after spending money on a new ink cartridge, ream of paper and stressing out about deadlines, I got to rest. Two months later I received an electronic notification telling me that some girl named Britney something was receiving over three thousand dollars and that I should try again next semester.

Get Your FREE College Scholarship & Grant Guide NOW!

If you are looking for free college scholarships or free college grants than first you need to find the different types that are available.

Popular Student-Specific Grants

• Non-traditional student college grants
• Low-income grants and disadvantaged grants
• Graduate grants and doctoral grants
• High school grants and undergraduate grants
• Military grants

Non-traditional Student College Grants

• Anyone outside of traditional college age or traditional college
• Older Americans looking for alternative careers, higher degrees, or a first degree
• Community college students and online college students
• Native American tribal colleges and universities
• For more see The Scholarship & Grant Guide

Low Income and Disadvantaged Student College Grants

• Need-based aid awards are available for the most financially disadvantaged students
• The federal Pell Grant
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also offers the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students
  grants for disabled students
• For more see The Scholarship & Grant Guide

Graduate and Doctoral Students

Undergraduate Grants

• general grant programs that provide monetary incentive to low-income and disadvantaged students
• specialized grants in science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET subjects)
• undergraduate women college grants
• minority college grants
• For more see The Scholarship & Grant Guide

Grants for Military Students and Families

• Army Grants
• Air Force Grants
• Naval ROTC grants
• Army’s Spouse Education Assistance Program
• Spouse Tuition Aid Program (Navy)
• For more see The Scholarship & Grant Guide

Subject-Specific Grants

• professional organizations
• corporations
• For more see The Scholarship & Grant Guide

High Need Fields Fuel Grant Giving

The fields with the most significant shortages drive the biggest supply of grants:

• Healthcare, especially nursing
• Teaching 
• For more see The Scholarship & Grant Guide

Are you looking for a student-specific grant?

There are grants available for just about everyone. The problem is finding the right one for you. Try the  free online Scholarship & Grant Guide with 20 million scholarships & grants. Simply request information from a Top-Colleges school. There is no cost or obligation!