Scholarship Finder Help

Use Scholarship Finder to find scholarships that match the eligibility criteria you enter for grade point average (GPA), gender, residency, ethnicity/heritage, religion, college location, and area of study — some of the most common scholarship eligibility criteria. Add keywords to find scholarships with eligibility requirements in other areas.

Your results will include those scholarships that match from one to all of the specific criteria you enter as well as any of the keywords you enter.

Scholarship results are displayed in order of relevance. Scholarships that match more of the criteria you enter will appear higher up in the results list.

For best results, conduct multiple searches. Search with keywords as well as without, and search using keywords alone. You can also use the keyword fields, rather than the pull-down menus, to search on your ethnicity/heritage, religion, and area of study.

Grade Point Average

Your GPA is the average of the grades you earned in academic courses in high school. It is based on a system in which each A=4 points, B=3, C=2, D=1 and F=0. Your GPA may be above 4.00 if your high school awards "extra" grade points for honors and advanced placement courses; however, the maximum GPA you may enter in the Scholarship Finder is 4.00.

If you don't know your GPA, you can calculate it: Determine the number of grade points for each course in which you received a grade, total the grade points, then divide by the number of courses.

Your results will include scholarships that require a GPA less than or equal to the GPA you entered AS WELL AS scholarships that do not have a GPA requirement but which match at least one of the other criteria you enter. If you do not enter a GPA, your results will include all scholarships that match the other criteria you enter, regardless of any GPA requirement.

For best results, provide your GPA.

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Gender

Find scholarships that are available only to women or men.

Your results will include scholarships that require students to be the gender you selected AS WELL AS scholarships that are available to both men and women. If you do not enter your gender, your results will include all scholarships that match the other criteria you enter, regardless of any gender requirement.

For best results, provide your gender.

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Residency

Find scholarships that require residency in a particular state/province. Residency is where you live, the state/province of which you are a legal resident. Don't select the state/province in which you expect to live after you enroll in college.

Your results will include scholarships that require students to live in the particular state/province you selected AS WELL AS scholarships that do not have a residency requirement but which match at least one of the other criteria you enter. If you do not enter your residency, your results will include all scholarships that match the other criteria you enter, regardless of any residency requirement.

For best results, provide your residency.

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Ethnicity/Heritage

Find scholarships that require a particular ethnic background or heritage. The ethnicity/heritage select list includes those ethnicities and heritages specified by one or more scholarships in the Scholarship Finder database; it is not a comprehensive list of all ethnicities and heritages. Select all that are applicable to you.

Your results will include scholarships that require students to belong to one of the ethnicities/heritages you selected AS WELL AS scholarships that do not have a requirement related to ethnicity/heritage but which match at least one of the other criteria you enter. If you do not enter your ethnicity/heritage, your results will include all scholarships that match the other criteria you enter, regardless of any ethnicity/heritage requirement.

For best results, select all applicable ethnicities/heritages. Include broad and specific ethnicities/heritages that are relevant; for example, if you are Chinese, select Asian/Pacific Islander as well as Chinese.

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Religion

Find scholarships that require affiliation with a particular religion. The religion select list includes the religions specified by one or more scholarships in the Scholarship Finder database; it is not a comprehensive list of all religions. Select all that are applicable to you.

Your results will include scholarships that require students to be affiliated with one of the religions you selected AS WELL AS scholarships that do not have a requirement related to religion but which match at least one of the other criteria you enter. If you do not enter your religion, your results will include all scholarships that match the other criteria you enter, regardless of any religion requirement.

For best results, select all applicable religions. Include broad and specific religions that are relevant; for example, if you are Presbyterian, select Christian as well as Presbyterian.

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Location of College

Find scholarships that are available to students attending college in a particular state/province. You may select up to three states/provinces each time you search.

Your results will include scholarships that require students to attend college in at least one of the states/provinces you selected AS WELL AS scholarships that do not specify a college location but which match at least one of the other criteria you enter. If you do not enter a state/province, your results will include all scholarships that match the other criteria you enter, regardless of any requirement related to college location.

For best results, select the states/provinces in which the colleges you hope to attend are located. If you are applying to colleges in more than three states/provinces, you will need to perform additional searches to include them. If you currently attend college, enter the state/province in which your college is located.

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Area of Study

Find scholarships that require interest or study in a particular area. The area of study select list includes areas of study specified by one or more scholarships in the Scholarship Finder database; it is not a comprehensive list of all areas of study. The areas of study are ordered alphabetically by subject area; broader academic disciplines, such as arts or physical sciences, appear in all caps. You may select up to three areas of study.

Your results will include scholarships that require students to pursue study in one or more of the areas selected AS WELL AS scholarships that do not have a requirement related to area of study but which match at least one of the other criteria you enter. If you do not enter an area of study, your results will include all scholarships that match the other criteria you enter, regardless of any area of study requirement.

For best results, search using both broad and specific areas of study that are applicable to you. For example, if you plan to study marine biology, select natural sciences, biology and marine biology; if you are interested in accounting, select business/consumer services and accounting.

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Keyword

Use the keyword fields to search for scholarships with eligibility criteria in areas other than GPA, gender, residency, ethnicity/heritage, religion, location of college and area of study.

Enter the name of sports you play, activities you are involved in, any honors or awards you have earned, your county, any disability or medical condition you or other family members have, the career you plan to pursue or the occupation of other family members, companies at which you or other family members work, organizations you or other family members belong to, etc. Enter any personal attribute or characteristic that applies to you — there are many scholarships with very unique and surprising eligibility requirements.

For best results, search using the keyword fields alone AS WELL AS in combination with other eligibility criteria.

Any word

When you enter a word in the "Any word" field, your results will include scholarships that contain the word you entered in their descriptions or titles AND ALSO match any other criteria you provided in the other areas (GPA, gender, residency, ethnicity/heritage, religion, location of college and area of study). If you enter more than one word in the "Any word" field, your results will include scholarships that contain AT LEAST ONE of the words you entered in the scholarship description or title AND ALSO match the other criteria you provided.

Enter only distinctive words; don't enter generic words such as scholarship, academics, association, company, etc. For example, if you enter "National Forensics Scholarship," your results will include scholarships containing any of the three words. Your results will include scholarships that mention "National Forensics Scholarship" or just "forensics"; however, your results will ALSO include scholarships that mention the words "national" and "scholarship." Your results will be more targeted if you enter only the more distinctive word, "forensics." To search for scholarships offered by an organization with more than one word in its name, such as the "National Education Association" or "General Motors," use the "Exact phrase" keyword field.

Exact phrase

When you use the "Exact phrase" field, your results will include scholarships that contain the exact phrase you entered in their descriptions or titles AND ALSO match any other criteria you provided in the other areas (GPA, gender, residency, ethnicity/heritage, religion, location of college and area of study).

If you complete both the "Any word" and "Exact phrase" fields, your results will include scholarships that contain AT LEAST ONE of the "Any word" keywords OR the complete "Exact phrase" text in the scholarship description or title AND ALSO match the other criteria you provided.

If you select criteria in the other areas and use either keyword field, your results may include ONLY scholarships that match the keyword(s) if there are no scholarships that match on the other criteria as well as the keyword(s).

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Scholarship Finder Results Help

Your Scholarship Finder results are a list of the scholarships that match the eligibility criteria you entered. The criteria you used are listed above the results for reference.

Your results will include scholarships that match from one to all of the specific criteria you enter as well as any of the keywords you enter.

Scholarship results are displayed in order of relevance. Scholarships that match more of the criteria you enter will appear higher up in the results list.

Pagination
View Scholarship Profiles
Save Scholarships to Your Data Locker
If Your Results Are Not What You Expected

Pagination

If your Scholarship Finder results include more than 10 scholarships, your results will be paginated. To go to a particular page of results, click on the page number. If your results include more than 8 pages, "next" and "previous" links will be provided. Click "next" to go to the next set of pages. Click "previous" to go to the previous set of 8 pages.

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View Scholarship Profiles

Click a scholarship name to view its Scholarship Profile, which contains detailed information about scholarship availability, award amounts, eligibility requirements, application deadlines and procedures, and how to contact scholarship sponsors.

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Save Scholarships to Your Data Locker

If you are logged in: To add a scholarship to your Data Locker, check the box in the Save column and then click the "Save Checked" button. To save all scholarships on the page, check the "Select All" box and then click the "Save Checked" button. Scholarships already saved to your locker have a "Saved" label instead of the link.

If you are not logged in: Click the "Save" link.

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If Your Results Are Not What You Expected

Each scholarship in your results will match at least one of the criteria you entered. If your Scholarship Finder results are not what you were expecting, adjust your criteria and try again. For best results, conduct multiple searches. Search with keywords as well as without, and search using keywords alone.

Refer to Scholarship Finder Help for additional information and recommendations. Select the "Help" link at the top of the Scholarship Finder form or click the  next to each eligibility requirement on the form to access this information.

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