Source of Money 28: CollegeXpress or Careers & Colleges Search Engine

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

Ginny applied for, and was admitted to, a for-profit and proprietary college. She signed a contract that specified she would pay per hour, and did not outline the full amount to be paid. When carefully totaled, she would have to pay $48,000 for an associates degree. The college offered to help Ginny get financial aid. She discovered that very few committees offered scholarships to attend her for-profit, proprietary college. Instead, their financial aid office helped her get a few federal grants and a lot of student loans.

Characteristics of CollegeXpress

CollegeXpress used to be called Colleges & Careers. The About Us section of the web site states

“CareersAndColleges.com is the companion website for Careers & Colleges magazine and is part of the CollegeXpress network of sites. The magazine, published by Carnegie Communications, is distributed and read by millions of students every year. Each magazine is full of need-to-know admission advice and tons of great college choices, and all those articles and school profiles can be found on CollegeXpress too!”

The home page lists that members can “find scholarships in our database worth $7 billion, ..read lots of helpful articles, expert advice and blogs, join and you’ll automatically be entered to win our $10,000 scholarship.”

• You can create your free profile
• The articles were pretty good
• They share a blog & “Ask the experts” sections

Disadvantages of CollegeXpress

• You cannot see anything without creating a profile
• The site displays the following disclaimer when you begin to create your profile: 
  • “We are able to provide this free service due to the willingness of our users to be contacted by colleges and our other marketing partners. We will keep you informed of the latest scholarship opportunities; plus, you could receive FREE information about colleges and promotions from top companies. If you choose not to receive information at this time, you can opt-out. ”
• The profile only asks for contact information, so they probably sell it per the above disclaimer

Thursday we answer questions from clients about your reusable FAFSA

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Caveat Emptor or Buyer Beware 18: Grades Matter with Scholarships

Saturdays we share a tip or cautions to facilitate getting scholarships or avoiding problems

Sam attended one of our scholarship workshops when he was in 9th grade. He decided he wanted to attend a very good state university to study mechanical engineering—and he did not want to live at home. Sam only had a 3.1 GPA, but didn’t let that stop him. He went home that night and made a chart tracking how much money he would need for tuition, books, and housing for each semester of five years of school. He worked with a friend of his mother’s to coach him for twelve months. Four years later, when he graduated from high school, he still had a 3.1 GPA. He also had enough scholarship money to pay for all but the last 3 months of college.

Students Fail to Apply Because of Doubt

Grades matter a great deal to many scholarships. They recognize achievement and merit. We get a lot of students who do not apply for scholarships because they doubt their grades will qualify. As a result, they fail to get the money they deserve. We’ve met many students who had great grades, but never applied for anything.

Sometimes, they cannot discern between grants that are awarded based on need and scholarships based on merit and achievement. So, they apply for grants which they cannot win because of income. The rejection of the grant confirms their worry that they do not deserve to win.

Some Waste Time Applying for Money They Cannot Win

We also coach a lot of students who have very low grade point averages who apply for a lot of scholarships. Unfortunately, they waste a lot of time applying for things they will never earn. A few scholarships try to reward and motivate students who try hard, but cannot bring grades up. Students should continue to try for those.

Most scholarship committees, however, require at least a GPA of 2.9 or more to merit the award. Students should carefully check the requirements before applying.

Tuesday we spotlight the funding source CollegeXpress, aka Careers and Colleges

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Reusable Materials 29: Questions About Letters of Recommendation

Thursdays we discuss how reusable materials help you WOW committees and save time

Kinsey’s mother belonged to the largest women’s service organization in the world. More than a decade ago the worldwide president of the organization asked the women to make and donate quilts to refugees from the war in Kosovo. Kinsey made 25 baby quilts. She took a picture of herself surrounded by all of the quilts before she donated them. Five years later she sent a copy of the picture with a letter to the worldwide president of the organization requesting a letter of recommendation to use with scholarships. Think of the clout her applications carried with a letter thanking her for her donation to Kosovo refugees.

Q: Can you really draft letters of recommendation for others?

A: This questioner continued by sharing how she felt uncomfortable and a little dishonest writing the letter for somebody else to sign. Most of the people you will ask to give you a letter of recommendation stay very busy. Drafting the letter for them saves them time and energy from writing it themselves. Most appreciate your efforts on their behalf. Remember, however, that you must

• Allow them to edit the letter and put it in their own words
• Recognize that they may choose to entirely rewrite the letter
• Include value statements highlighting what you did related to the letter writer
• Ask the writer’s permission to change to whom the letter is addressed

Q: What format is best for letters of recommendation?

A: Scanning a hardcopy letter on the letter writer’s stationery remains the best format for reusable letters of recommendation. These tips will help:

• Save the scanned image using Adobe’s PDF format
• Title the file something like “Red Cross Letter of Recommendation for Kinsey Wright”

You should also ask for several hardcopy copies of the letter in sealed envelopes with their signature across the seal. A few scholarship committees still ask for confidential letters, but not many.

The least helpful version is a word processed, electronic copy.

Saturday we share a caution about when to not waste time applying for scholarships

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Source of Money 27: Leonard M. Rieser Fellowship for Science

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

Sonia, a native of Latin America, studied at a university in the U.S. She needed additional funding to help pay for school. She met with several of our coaches to help her find scholarships and complete her master application. She struggled with a number of concepts: finding scholarships, sifting out the bad ones, copying and pasting from her master application into scholarship applications. Her confusion nearly paralyzed her ability to apply. After working with our staff several times, she started getting money for college.

Characteristics of the Leonard M. Rieser Fellowship

The family established the Leonard M. Rieser Fellowship to honor his zeal. Carleton College describes the purpose of the fellowship “Leonard M. Rieser was passionately committed to supporting the ideas and potential of young people to build a more peaceful world.
The Rieser Fellowships support undergraduate students who want to pursue projects that explore issues at the intersection of science, global security, and public policy.”

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists facilitates the fellowship:

• Any undergraduate student studying at a U.S. college or university is eligible to apply
• Students must propose projects aligned with the purpose of the fellowship

Columbia University states:

“The Rieser Fellowships provide up to two successful applicants with a one-time award of up to $4,000 to pursue projects that explore issues at the intersection of science, global security, and public policy, focusing on a significant aspect of nuclear security, climate stabilization or biotechnology.

In addition to the monetary award, each Rieser Fellow will be eligible to submit his or her fellowship project results to be considered for publication on the Bulletin's website or for use in a Bulletin program. Rieser Fellows will also be eligible to participate in the Bulletin's Annual Clock Symposium in January of their fellowship year.”

Disadvantages of the Rieser Fellowship

• Many colleges list the fellowship on their web sites
• There are only two fellowships offered each year
• There is high competition for the fellowship

Thursday we answer some of your questions about reusable letters of recommendation

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Tips to Get Money for College 12: Use Internet Search Engines to Find Funds

Saturdays we share tips or cautions to facilitate getting scholarships or avoid problems

Paulo grew up in Brazil. He traveled to the United States to study at a prestigious private university. He obtained scholarships using search engines and consulting with his college financial aid counselor. He still needed more money though. So, he used Google to identify several scholarships that paid for Brazilians studying in the United States. They gave him him an additional $15,000 each year for four years.

Tips for Using Internet Search Engines for Scholarships

Scholarship search engines specialize in finding scholarships. You may also use general Internet search engines to find scholarships and sources of financial aid. We will not enter into the war of search engines by recommending one over another. We will merely discuss how to use standard Internet search engines to find scholarships. A very few of the things we discuss will change depending on which search engine you use, but most apply to all.

A few tips will help you improve the number of results your search will generate. Rather than describe the tips in words, I will use actual examples. You may change the phrases to meet your own needs:

• “Scholarships for Brazilians studying in the USA” using quote marks generates one set of results leaving the quotes off will modify your results slightly
• Scholarships for Business Majors
• Financial aid for business majors
• Scholarships for business majors at University of Southern California
• Research grants for business majors
• Fellowships for counseling PhDs
• Financial aid for Californians studying at Boston College

These examples should give you ideas for using Internet search engines. Test you own ideas.

Be Aware

You should recognize that information found through these general search engines will include

• Millions of results that have not been screened or vetted
• Priorities based on search engine algorithms, not most applicable results
• Scams or false sources of financial aid
• Results with one or more of the words, but still unrelated to what you want
• Junk unrelated to you

Monday we share the Rieser Fellowship as a source of student financial aid for scientists

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Reusable Materials 28: Additional Questions From Our Readers

Thursdays we discuss how reusable materials help you WOW committees and save time

Andrew needed money to pay for graduate school at a very reputable private university. The school gave him a teaching assistantship with a stipend. He still needed additional money to cover the rest of his costs including housing, food, and transportation. He applied for additional financial aid and received $20,000 more money. for the two year period.

Q: Why are almost all sites selling information to 3rd parties?

A: Most scholarship sites offer their services free of charge to students and parents. In fact, the younger generation do not pay for information these days. They find it free on the Internet. They expect information to be free.

However, it costs money to gather, maintain, and provide a web site with search and profiling capabilities. In addition, the lure to monetize a web site draws to publishers. WordPress teaches sponsors how to monetize their site with ease. Further, big corporations sponsor most of the really good scholarship search engines. They intend to make a profit, so they sell information to 3rd parties to cover the costs—and more—of the site.

Fortunately, other methods of sponsoring simple sites is emerging. More colleges provide access to scholarship lists without requiring usernames or passwords. We’re particularly excited by the emergence of scholarship wikis like www.SchoolLibrary.com. Finally, some enterprising companies are going to charge an annual fee for counselors, parents, and students to access commercial free information with no gimmicks to gather your information.

Q: Why would some sites limit offerings to just 4-6 years?

A: The Great Recession reduced the amount of money available to students. At the same time, large corporations bought a few of the more respected scholarship search engines. Many decided to reduce their market niche to the more lucrative 16-20 year-old market. Credit card and other companies pay a lot of money to get the information about young college students. This, short-sighted approach, costs these sites hundreds of thousands in subscribers.

Saturdays we will share a tip about how you can use Internet search engines to find funding

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.

Source of Money 26: Federally Funded TEACH Grants

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

Becky studied English in college. She moved to California shortly after graduation and found a job as a high school English teacher. Her college education did not provide her with a teaching credential. The school district, however, paid for her to study and work on receiving her credential while she taught school.

Attributes of the TEACH Grant

The Office of the U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid page states

“A Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant is different from other federal student grants because it requires you to take certain kinds of classes in order to get the grant, and then do a certain kind of job to keep the grant from turning into a loan.”

The site lists that to receive a TEACH Grant, you must:

• “Meet basic eligibility for the federal student aid programs
• Complete a Free Application for Federal student Aid (FAFSA)
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate, post baccalaureate, or graduate student at a school that participates in the TEACH Grant Program
• Be enrolled in a TEACH-Grant-eligible program
• Meet certain academic requirements
• Receive TEACH Grant Counseling to understand the conditions of the grant
• Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve”

Obligations Incurred with the Grant

“The TEACH Grant program provides grants to students who are completing, or plan to complete, coursework needed to begin a career in teaching and agree to teach, for at least four complete academic years, in a high-need field at an elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency that serves students from low-income families.”

The grant, like other federal programs, received cuts due to the congressional sequester. The site continues

“Awards for a TEACH Grant that is first disbursed after March 1, 2013 must be reduced by 6.0 percent from the award amount for which a recipient would otherwise have been eligible. For example, the maximum award of $4,000 is reduced by $240, resulting in a maximum award amount of $3,760.”

Thursdays we will answer more questions you have submitted about reusable materials

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.