Posted by Fernando Ramirez, Career Assistant, OSU Career Services

Do you need money for tuition, books, and supplies? Probably. Being a college student comes with an extensive list of expenses. Because of this, many organizations who sympathize with students offer scholarships to help pay for student related expenses. There are many excellent sources of financial aid that students can benefit from. Below are just a few of them:

Sources of Financial Aid:

• FAFSA:  U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens can apply for financial aid from the government by filling out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Schools and other scholarship programs may also require that you file a FAFSA to obtain financial aid. FAFSA should be completed as early as possible beginning January 1.
• Fastweb: Fastweb is an online scholarship search engine with an extensive database of scholarships. After filling out a profile, it will search for and display the scholarships that you qualify for. Fastweb can save you the time it takes to manually search for scholarships, as well as find some that you might have missed otherwise.
• OSAC: Oregon residents can fill out an application with the Oregon Student Assistance Commission (OSAC ) that contains hundreds of scholarships for Oregonians based on year in school, major, area of residence, income, high school, etc. With a single application, you can apply to as many scholarships as you are eligible for. The application is available online and is due on March 1. FAFSA required.
• Department-Based Scholarships: Most departments in school offer scholarships especially for their students. Check your department’s website or ask your counselor about these scholarships.
• Minority and Career-Based Scholarships: Many organizations offer scholarships for certain minority groups or certain career paths. A good way to search for these scholarships is to use a search engine and type in “scholarships for” followed by a career or ethnicity. For example, a Hispanic student may type “scholarships for Hispanics.” Go to the links and review the scholarships.
• Financial Aid Office: Your financial aid office has information on scholarships, grants, educational loans, and can answer all of your financial aid questions.

Stay tuned for Fernando’s next post on how to submit a winning application!