Families looking for college admissions guidance often come to me under the assumption that their student will naturally win scholarships to help pay for college above what the family can afford. It’s a fair assumption—these are bright, accomplished teens, and stories appear every year in the news about teens who earn millions in funds. As you might guess, those can be misleading to say the least.
Here’s the truth: Outside scholarships may not be the solution you hope they are.
The vast majority of a student’s merit aid (the technical term for what most people call “scholarships”) will almost always come directly from the college they plan to attend, not from outside entities. This is why I always advocate for applying strategically as your first and best college funding strategy. Colleges are not created equal when it comes to how they award aid and, more importantly, how they will award aid to your student.
Even very smart, high-achieving students are sometimes accepted to college without receiving a dime in scholarship money. That can be especially true here in North Carolina, where the public university system focuses on keeping costs low (at least in relation to the national average) for all in-state students, not on giving large merit aid awards to some. The good news is that those efforts do keep UNC universities affordable for a lot of families.
But what do you do if you still have a funding gap to fill? Most families have caught on to the dangers of overextending themselves in student loans. Aren’t outside scholarships the obvious way to make ends meet? Maybe, or maybe not.
If you do hope to use outside scholarships to offset some of your family’s college costs, here are a few things to consider in order to determine if they are a good fit for you:
Outside scholarships are typically small, non-renewable awards. While big private scholarships do exist, they are extremely competitive. Most students will have better luck focusing on small, local awards. If you have a large funding gap, you may need dozens of small outside scholarships to fill it for freshman year—and if most of those are one-time awards, you may have to repeat that feat in future years, too. For the average family, outside scholarships will be most useful for covering incidental expenses, such as books or transportation costs, or very small gaps in tuition funding.
Winning outside scholarships is a numbers game. Realistically, your student is probably going to lose more scholarships than they win. The more they apply, the better their chances of winning at least a few. Of course, this means lots of applications and often lots of writing—on top of the student’s schoolwork and other activities. Especially for seniors coming off of the college application rush, it may not be realistic to expect your student to put out the number of applications necessary to see a good return on their effort.
The timeline can be tricky. Scholarships for younger students do exist, and if your ninth-grader or even middle schooler is game to write a few essays, go for it! But most outside scholarships are for high school seniors or current college students, which, again, compounds the amount of work your teen may have to cram into a few months at the end of high school. If the awards they do earn are non-renewable, they may have to continue applying for scholarships throughout college in order to stay ahead of a tuition shortfall.
The process takes an emotional toll. Rejection is never easy for anyone, and the reality is that if your teen is applying for dozens of scholarships, they will experience rejection as part of this process, perhaps a lot of it. You hope there will be some wins, too! But your student may have to go through some tough times to get there. And living from year to year, constantly applying because you’re worried about not having enough money to finish, is nobody’s ideal college experience. Make sure your student has the fortitude for an uphill climb before you commit to outside scholarships as a major part of your funding plan. Some teens love a challenge, but for many, this process can be demoralizing. This is not to say that outside scholarships are never worth it. Most families find that their teens are willing and able to apply to a handful, and they’re happy to take what they get and use that money for incidentals or spending cash. This is a perfectly fine approach—as long as you aren’t relying on it to make up a large difference between the cost of college and what your family is able to pay.
For some students, a part-time job will be a more reliable source of funding than scholarships and provide a much more satisfying return for their labor. You get bonus points if that job is with a company that offers its part-time employees tuition assistance!
Your absolute best financial strategy is to know the college funding landscape before going in. Make a realistic budget and compare that budget to the net price of colleges before your student applies. Don’t assume that scholarships will make up the difference, even if you have a bright teen.
Your college funding strategy should reduce stress, not add to it. When you understand the realities of outside scholarships, you can make an informed, values-based decision about effort vs. payoff. Being informed is always better than crossing your fingers and hoping for the best!
