MLK Library Makes Scholarship Search Easier for College-Bound Students, Parents
Rafiah Davis
Issue date: 2/22/01 Section: City
Reggie Sanders, spokesman for the program’s office, said many more students in the District will go on to college, thanks to the grant program.
“A lot of the kids felt that they couldn’t afford college,” he said. “I think that affected their decision as a family and as an individual.”
The program gave more than $3.5 million in grant money last year, which was its first year.
Many people believe that federal aid and scholarship money are only for traditional students, but that is a myth, Collins said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 35, 18 or 50,” Collins said. “A lot of scholarships don’t always indicate that you have to be a certain age. It depends on the individual sponsor.”
Many private donors don’t discriminate, either. For example, Howard dropped out of high school, but got his high school diploma through a GED program. Howard qualified for the AmeriCorps VISTA scholarship program, which gives an educational award in after for one year of service at an AmeriCorp-specified site.
Almost anyone will be able to find a scholarship that pertains to them, Collins said. “There’s hundreds of scholarships that exist. Some of them have really specific criteria,” she said. “It really is a search process that is somewhat personal.”
It is also a process that may take a while, she said. Collins suggests that people start researching scholarships as early as a year and a half before they intend to apply for college. She also stresses that people pay close attention to deadlines. Most of them tend to fall between November and April.
Collins strongly cautions people against paying money to scholarship-search companies.
“There are lots of free ways to research,” she said.
E-mail Rafiah Davis at RafiahD@yahoo.com.
Additional Info:
The D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program Office can be reached by calling (202)727-2824. There is also a link to its Web site at www.dc.gov.
The College Information Center is available on the Web at www.collegeinfo.org. There are links to scholarship search engines on the site.
“A lot of the kids felt that they couldn’t afford college,” he said. “I think that affected their decision as a family and as an individual.”
The program gave more than $3.5 million in grant money last year, which was its first year.
Many people believe that federal aid and scholarship money are only for traditional students, but that is a myth, Collins said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 35, 18 or 50,” Collins said. “A lot of scholarships don’t always indicate that you have to be a certain age. It depends on the individual sponsor.”
Many private donors don’t discriminate, either. For example, Howard dropped out of high school, but got his high school diploma through a GED program. Howard qualified for the AmeriCorps VISTA scholarship program, which gives an educational award in after for one year of service at an AmeriCorp-specified site.
Almost anyone will be able to find a scholarship that pertains to them, Collins said. “There’s hundreds of scholarships that exist. Some of them have really specific criteria,” she said. “It really is a search process that is somewhat personal.”
It is also a process that may take a while, she said. Collins suggests that people start researching scholarships as early as a year and a half before they intend to apply for college. She also stresses that people pay close attention to deadlines. Most of them tend to fall between November and April.
Collins strongly cautions people against paying money to scholarship-search companies.
“There are lots of free ways to research,” she said.
E-mail Rafiah Davis at RafiahD@yahoo.com.
Additional Info:
The D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program Office can be reached by calling (202)727-2824. There is also a link to its Web site at www.dc.gov.
The College Information Center is available on the Web at www.collegeinfo.org. There are links to scholarship search engines on the site.
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