There are a number of legitimate scholarship service providers in the U.S. To help better protect yourself from various scholarship scams, it is highly recommended that you use trusted sources when searching for available scholarships. The list below features a number of legitimate scholarship service providers who can direct you to reputable scholarship programs for which you may quality.
- Scholarship America – Scholarship America has been developed to mobilize America, through scholarships and educational support, to make postsecondary education possible for all students. Since its founding, Scholarship America has distributed more than $2 billion to nearly 2 million students across the country through various programs including Dollars for Scholars® and Scholarship Management Services®.
- FastWeb.com - FastWeb has been a leading scholarship search provider for 15 years. One in eight high school seniors use FastWeb, and the site comes recommended by over 16,000 high schools and 3,600 colleges. FastWeb has attracted more than 34 million users and these numbers continue to grow daily. As a scholarship matching service, FastWeb matches users to scholarships based on their qualifications; therefore, students have a better chance of winning. Their scholarship database contains 1.3 million scholarships worth over $3 billion. FastWeb serves a national community of students, parents, scholarship providers, and educators by committing to provide every student with the tools necessary to fund their higher education goals.
- ScholarshipExperts.com - ScholarshipExperts.com has been helping parents and students find scholarships and free college money since 2001. They keep their database updated with undergraduate and graduate school scholarships to provide accurate and timely scholarship information.
- Federal Student Aid – Federal Student Aid is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. This site provides free guidance and tools for federal student assistance. Their goal is to make financial aid information easy to find in order to support the success of U.S. college students.
- Students.gov – Students.gov is an official U.S. government web site designed for college students and their families. Their mission is to provide you with easy access to information and resources from the all parts of the U.S. government in one place. Students.gov makes it faster and easier to find the answers to your questions by eliminating the need to search the entire web. The site is a cooperative effort between federal agencies, students, and other parts of the education community, under the leadership of the U.S. Department of Education.
- State Higher Education Agencies – This webpage is maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. It provides contact information for state higher education agencies throughout the U.S. and related territories.
In addition to the college scholarship resources listed above, here are some other safe and free sources to find scholarships for which you may be eligible:
- Your local public libraries
- Your high school guidance counselor or career center
- Your college financial aid office or TRIO counselor
- Your employer or your parents’ employers
- Foundations, community, and religious organizations
- Local businesses and civic groups
The resources above should be more than sufficient to help get you started down the path to finding scholarship dollars without significant risks. While most of the resources don’t actually provide the scholarships themselves, they are familiar with the scholarship programs and can help you throughout the process. Keep in mind that these resources will help guide you to available scholarships you may qualify for; however, you must apply for the scholarship yourself and complete each of the necessary requirements involved in doing so.
Be skeptical about using any scholarship assistance resource that promises to do all the work for you—especially if there is a fee to do so. This is likely a scam that you should avoid!