Did You Know…

…that students should plan, in advance, to apply for scholarships each and every year of their post-secondary studies? Failing to plan for scholarships for each academic year can predictably leave students and their parents in a very unfortunate financial predicament.

While to many, this advice may seem rather common sense, you would be amazed at how many students (and parents!) will find themselves precisely in this position of not having sufficiently planned for future scholarships opportunities. In addition to the obvious practical benefits of advance planning for scholarships, a change in a student’s academic status or class standing, for example, may qualify the student for a scholarship(s) for which they were previously ineligible (and/or unqualified). So, for example, a particular scholarship may be limited to a specific “year-group,” such as a scholarship available exclusively to undergraduate juniors or seniors. While initially an incoming undergraduate freshman would not qualify for the particular scholarship, their subsequent change in status a few years later may make them qualified and hopefully competitive. Also, a change in a student (and/or parent(s)) financial status may open new scholarship opportunities previously not available. Accordingly, students would do well to plan, in advance, for each year of college by creating and maintaining a running log of potentially available and applicable scholarships, categorized by academic year and/or requisite achievement(s), for which they may subsequently qualify (particularly if there is an accompanying favorable increase in their GPA and/or community service activities)!