Myths about Scholarships

Top 10 Myths About Scholarships

September 23, 2011

By Beckie Supiano

New Orleans–For all of the good information available to help students figure out how to pay for college, there are also more than a few urban legends  about who gets money and why. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the web sites FinAid and FastWeb, tried to clear up some of these misunderstandings at a session of the NACAC meeting here on Friday, where he shared ten myths about college scholarships.

1. Only straight- “A” students win scholarships: Students with better grades and test scores are more likely to win scholarships, Mr. Kantrowitz said, but some of the money does go to “B” and “C” students. Not every scholarship considers academic qualifications, Mr. Kantrowitz said,  including one of his favorites, a contest to make the best prom outfits out of duct tape.
2. Only minority students win scholarships: White students are actually disproportionately likely to win awards, as Mr. Kantrowitz shows in a recent paper.
3. My child will get a full-ride scholarship: There are some full-ride scholarships out there, but Mr. Kantrowitz has calculated that only 0.3 percent of students win enough money to cover their cost of attendance. Two-thirds of the students who win scholarships receive less than $2,500.
4. Only athletes win scholarships: Only a small fraction of institutional aid is awarded based on athletics, Mr. Kantrowitz said, and the average athletic scholarship only covers about a third of the cost of college.
5. Only the poor win scholarships: Mr. Kantrowitz has found that middle-income students are more likely to win private scholarships than their low-income peers. Private scholarships are not usually based on financial need.
6. Scholarships are just for high-school seniors: Students can apply for some scholarships as early as kindergarten, Mr. Kantrowiz said, and can continue to apply for some after beginning college.
7. The cost of private high school is earned back in scholarships: Students who attend private high schools do win a bit more in scholarships–about $1,000 of institutional and private money combined. But that pales in comparison to the cost of sending a child to a private high school, Mr. Kantrowitz said.
8. $6.6-billion in scholarships went unclaimed last year: Claims like this one are based on an outdated–and unrelated–study about employer tuition assistance, Mr. Kantrowitz said. “There are a handful of scholarships that go unclaimed, but that’s because they can’t be claimed,” he said. Sometimes no one meets the criteria.
9. Colleges will just reduce other aid if a student has a scholarship: It’s important to know a college’s outside-scholarship policy, Mr. Kantrowitz said, but most try to ensure that students keep some financial benefit for winning a scholarship.
10. Applying for scholarships is more work than it’s worth: Searching for scholarships is easy with the help of sites like his, Mr. Kantrowitz said, and it’s no harder to apply for them than for admission. Small scholarships and those requiring essays tend to be easier to win, as fewer students apply. “The bottom line,” Mr. Kantrowitz said,  ”is if you don’t apply for a scholarship, you’re not going to win it.”

Reprinted from The Chronicle of Higher Education blog "Head Count"  (http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/top-ten-myths-about-scholarships/28862

 NACAC: National Assoc of College Admission Counseling

Beckie Supiano is a staff reporter who covers financial aid, admissions, and the role of religion in the college experience.

Food for thought...

Picking a College 101

By Jen Miller Marketplace Money, Friday, April 15, 2011

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Students are deciding what college to attend. So here's some advice: Choose the one that's cheaper.

Tess Vigeland: Many families across the country had to make a tough decision this college acceptance season. They had to tell their kids that they just couldn't afford their first-choice school. Maybe not even their second-choice.

Commentator Jen Miller has some advice for dealing with that dilemma.

Jen Miller: Pick the cheap school.

I had my heart set on Boston University. I was going to study marine biology, then move to Australia to study the coral of the Great Barrier Reef. I saw this as my only path to success and happiness.

That same year, my parents were divorcing. There was no money for BU unless the school offered scholarships or grants. And they didn't. The University of Tampa, however, did. My parents told me I had no choice: I was Florida-bound. I was incensed with all the rage a 17-year-old can muster. My parents hated me. The world hated me. I was doomed. I'd never be a successful, coral-studying, Australia-living marine biologist because my parents decided to get divorced instead of letting me go to my dream school.

Did I mention I was 17?

Well, guess what? The world didn't collapse. The sky did not fall. My life, of course, was not ruined. I picked another major, and graduated with a budding writing career. Plus, I had no guillotine of massive student loans hovering over my neck.

So I could take a risk. I pursued a career as a freelance journalist and author. Yes, it was my passion, but it's so much easier to follow your passion when you don't have the equivalent of a mortgage payment for a monthly student loan. My parents forcing me to go to the cheaper school was the best thing they could have done. Today, I still see so many of my peers in their 30s struggle to get out from under the financial obligations of expensive, old degrees.

If there's no way you can afford $50,000 a year in tuition and fees without jeopardizing your retirement or setting your child up for a life of repayment, there is only one thing you need to know: Pick the cheaper school, even if that means your 17-year-old rants and screams that his or her life is over.
I promise you, they'll thank you for it.

Eventually.

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Vigeland: Jen Miller is a freelance journalist in Philadelphia.