Scholarships

Scholarships are a gift of money that does not need to be repaid provided the enrollment period is completed. Scholarship donors determine the individual criteria of the awards, which may include financial need, merits, and talents.

Receiving scholarships counts towards student’s overall financial resources. Federal regulations require us to consider scholarships when calculating student’s financial aid package and eligibility. Therefore, scholarships may potentially reduce federal loans and/or work-study amounts .

In addition to scholarships available at your college or university, students are encouraged to look at the external scholarship websites. Here are a few

Scholarship Search Engines

• Scholarships.com
• CollegeBoard
• BrokeScholar
• FastWeb

However, be careful: You never have to pay to receive scholarships. For more information on avoiding scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Scholarship Scams page.

Scholarship Scams

Students and parents should be careful when searching for scholarships on the web. Please note that you should never have to pay to search for or to receive scholarships! The following are some common fraud warning signs and ways to report them to autorities:

Warning Signs:

• Must pay application, registration, or other up front fees to receive scholarship information
• Redemption fee for scholarship that you allegedly “won”
• Have to pay a fee or invest in insurance, annuitiy, or other in order to receive low-interest student loans or grants
• Asking for confidential personal information, such as credit card number, checking account, calling card number, or social security numbers
• Unsolicited offers
• Guaranteed scholarships
• Scholarship seminars as poorly concealed sales pitches
• Incomplete contact information (missing phone numbers or P.O. box)

Reporting Scams and Scholarships Fraud:

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has online complaint form at www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm
• National Fraud Information Center (NFIC) has online complaint form at www.fraud.org
• Better Business Bureau (BBB) deals with business fraud, includes online complaint form at www.bbb.org
• State Attorney General’s Office of your state. Wisconsin residents may visit www.doj.state.wi.us