SCHOLARSHIPS
A scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a financial aid award for an individual student scholar, for the purpose of furthering their education.
Scholarships are awarded based on a range of criteria which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.

Types of Scholarships

General
Other scholarships which are awarded for a variety of reasons which do not fall into one of the above categories.
These may be for reasons of the student's association with the objectives of the sponsoring organization.
For example, some corporations give scholarships to their employees' children.

Athletic Based
In the U.S. and other countries athletes who perform well in various athletic endeavors are offered athletic scholarships.

Institutional Based
Scholarships awarded by a specific college or university (institution) to a student planning to attend that institution.

Ethnicity Based
Financial aid where applicants must initially qualify by race, religion, or national origin.
After filtering the applicants based on their ethnicity, additional factors are taken into consideration to determine the final recipients.

Merit Based
Financial aid for which financial need is not used to determine the recipient. The recipient may be determined by students’ athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities. The actual monetary value of the scholarship may be negligible, the scholarship being meant to motivate the student and promote the study of the subject. However, .this is not always the case and the largest scholarships are almost always merit-based.

Need Based
Financial aid for which the student and family’s financial situation is a primary factor in determining the recipient. Usually such scholarship will cover all or part of the tuition and may even cover living-costs. Very often even need-based private scholarships require the awardees to be distinguished students, as the deed founding the award may include a phrase like: “for the studies of founder's favourite subject in founder's favourite institution of higher education for a talented youths of limited means from founder's home town/county/state etc.“

Bond Based
Some scholarships have a "bond" requirement. Recipients may be required to work for a particular employer for a specified period of time, or to work in rural or remote areas; otherwise they may be required to repay the value of the support they received from the scholarship. This is particularly the case with teacher training scholarships and currently with health and medical education scholarships for people from or prepared to work in rural and remote areas in Australia. The programs offered by the uniformed services of the United States (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National oceanic and atmospheric administration commissioned corps, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps) sometimes resemble such scholarships.

How To Obtain Scholarships

Local Scholarships
It is typical for persons to find scholarships in their home region. Information on these can be found by asking local persons and organizations.
Typically, these are more easy to gain as the eligible population is smaller.

Guidance Counselors
When starting to explore scholarship opportunities, high school students should definitely check in with their guidance counselors.
They can be a great resource for local scholarships.

Non-profit Organizations
Most non-profit organizations have at some point of their history founded scholarships for prospective students

Community Foundations
Many counties / cities / regions have a local foundation dedicated to giving money in the form of grants and scholarships to people and organizations.in the area.

Labor Unions
All the major labor unions offer scholarships for members and their dependent children.

Church
The local parish may or may not have any scholarships for their members, but the Diocese or headquarters may have some available.
Of course, the best-supported ..area is the study of theology.

Chamber of Commerce
Many chambers of commerce offer (usually small) grants to students in the community, especially those planning on careers in Business and Public Service.
Even if they do not offer any themselves, you can usually get a listing of members, and many of them may offer small scholarships to local students.

Other Volunteer Organizations
Many organizations offer scholarships or award grants to students whose background or chosen field overlaps the field of the organization. For ..example, local chapters of professional societies may help the studies of exceptionally distinguished students of the region. Similarly, charity organizations may offer help, .especially if the late parent of the student was a member of the organization. (E.g. masonic lodge might help the orphan of a lodge brother.) However, this kind of scholarship is ..mostly random.

School
Old, well-known schools have often been endowed with scholarship funds.* University - Old, well-established universities may have funds, used to finance the studies of extremely talented students of little means. However, to be eligible for them, the student must usually belong to some special category or be among the nation's best. However, .universities have information available on scholarships and grants, possibly even internship opportunities.

PSAT/NMSQT
In the United States, students are offered the opportunity to take the PSAT/NMSQT test, usually in their Junior year in high school. Not only does it help them.to prepare for the SAT later on, but National Merit Scholarship programs are determined, in the first step, by the scores received on the PSAT/NMSQT test. Some private ..scholarship programs require the applicants to take the PSAT. Source : Wikipedia

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