Financial Aid for College Tips from GH

Here's how your teen can get extra financial help:

1. Go local. Competition for big national scholarships can be fierce. But local chapters of service organizations like Rotary International or Lions Clubs International may get fewer applicants, especially for smaller awards (ranging from $500 to $1,000). You should also pay attention to announcements of local scholarships in the community pages of your town paper.

2. Make volunteer work pay. Kids who are big on community service have a good chance of getting a scholarship — more and more of these grants are available every year at both private and public schools. For a list, visit FinAid.org.

3. Sign up for contests. While most of these competitions reward standouts in writing and the arts, some involve more luck than talent. The American Fire Sprinkler Association (firesprinkler.org) holds a drawing for ten $2,000 scholarships for students who ace a 10-question, open-book, multiple-choice test. Several companies and banks — such as Tylenol, Calgon, and Wells Fargo — give from $1,000 to $5,000 to lucky winners. So do a number of college-related companies: Next Step magazine (up to $20,000) and ECampusTours.com ($1,000).

4. Try co-op programs. Many universities team up with local employers to create programs where students earn money in an off-campus job that’s related to their major. Your child can work part-time while in school or alternate between semesters of full-time work and full-time study. The Directory of College Cooperative Education Programs (it’s $69, so look for a copy at your library) lists 460 schools with co-op programs, which are especially popular at engineering schools. Finishing this kind of program can take five years, but students graduate with little or no debt and a lot of résumé-enhancing experiences. They’re also frequently hired by their co-op employers at significantly higher starting salaries. The National Commission for Cooperative Education (co-op.edu) has a “best of” guide about these programs on its site.

5. Check out professional associations. They offer scholarships to students planning to major in their field, or even to kids who are just looking into that kind of job. Visit FastWeb.com for a huge database of scholarships from various associations. Students can apply for these at any point in their college career, but their application will be more convincing after they’ve declared a major.

source GoodHousekeeping.com