Sources of Money 9: The Search Engine College Board

Tuesdays we review a source of financial aid available to help you pay for college

James knew he wanted to go to college after he graduated. He attended a workshop during his sophomore year of high school. The scholarship search engines listed more than 220.  James procrastinated applying for scholarships. He did not apply for any scholarships during his sophomore year. Nor did he apply for any during his junior year. He finally started to apply for scholarships during the last semester of his senior year in high school. By that time his list of 220+ had dwindled to less than 70. He earned a total of $2,300 when he could have earned $120,000 if he had started in his sophomore year.

Advantages of College Board

A handful of colleges created the College Board in 1900 to expand access to higher education. They wanted to simplify the application process for students and college admission offices. The board created the standard College Entrance Examination Boards or College Boards.

College Board explains “The College Board is driven by a single goal—to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college.” College Board established The College Board’s College Scholarship Service in 1954.

College Board administers the SAT tests, the CLEP programs, and more. College Board provides a program with videos and stories called YouCanGo to inspire students to attend college. Check out the section “how others pay for college.”

They describe a three step program to pay for college:

• Submit the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
• Find out if other financial aid forms are required
• Search and apply for private scholarships

They offer a nice search engine based on your interests, skills, activities, and grades. About 60% of their scholarships may also appear on other search engines you use.

Disadvantages of College Board

College Board’s strong reputation and experience overshadow concerns for using this site. Though you still use caution on contests, surveys, and always click “No Thanks” when you see it.

Thursday we discuss how to translate jargon in your reusable master application