Thursday 30 August 2012

Tips For Efficient Grant Search

Getting scholarship for high school seniors or post-graduate studies is surely a big help in paying the education expenses. But for you the biggest hurdle is to find the right information on free scholarship applications. Nowadays, online research is one of the most efficient, updated and convenient ways to search for free scholarship grants. Thanks to the Internet you no longer have to spend long hours in the library searching in newspaper archives to find relevant information. All you need is the right search engine and a few effective keywords to get what you want . A few tips for efficient grant search are given below:

• Free resources and grant search services on the Internet. It has been observed that hundreds or even thousands of college scholarships and grants go unclaimed until deadlines arrive and the funds have to be remitted back to funding agencies. It is so because there are no applications for a particular program. Most of the applications are available in free sources and grant search services. Though you cannot be sure about the authenticity of all scholarships posted on the internet, it is worth a try.

• Websites of universities and funding firms. If you visit the websites of universities and funding agencies directly you will get first-hand and authentic information on a particular program. On almost all the universitys’ websites you will find information regarding scholarships and grants on the admissions page. Read the details of the scholarship in depth to understand clearly whether you are eligible for the scholarship or not.

• Appropriate Use of Grant Search Engine: If you are unfamiliar with institutions and funding agencies, the search engine can assist you. The most popularly used search engines are MSN, Yahoo and Google. You can type in the relevant keyword for your search. For example: scholarships+ high school+ US can be typed in the search engine to retrieve as much information available on the web server. The websites that appear at the top are more in demand which means they get the highest number of hits per day as they are great sources of information.

• Telephone Directory: You can look up several colleges’ Financial Aids office and call them to gather the information you require directly.

• Initiate an early search: It is better to start an early search and make a deadline for passing several parameters of eligibility of grants. Searching scholarships ahead of time will help you find a number of programs that suits your qualifications. Also, you can take advantage of the scholarships that follow a first-come-first-served rule whereby first comers are given preference. An early start will also give you a proper mental frame, enough time, composure as you will not have to rush through for catching up details at the last moment.

• Community Resources: You can take advantage of school and community resources. Your school's guidance officer and the Financial Aid office have access to large grant databases , thus at any time they are the best sources of information, even though they might provide you information only on well-known programs. They can give you the right direction as to how to obtain finance for your education; they might also encourage you to file for educational loans.

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