RESOURCES FOR FINDING SCHOLARSHIPS & FINANCIAL AID

 

 

Many colleges use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as the starting point for financial aid packages. The FAFSA should be available for the class of 2026 in the fall of 2025. Students and at least one parent/guardian need to each create FSA IDs in advance to complete the FAFSA, which we suggest doing as soon as possible. Here are directions for creating an FSA ID: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch. 

 

The majority of scholarship money that students receive tends to come directly from the colleges they apply to, some of which will require that students complete the FAFSA, the CSS Profile, and/or a college-specific financial aid/scholarship application. Finding and applying for outside private scholarships can take a lot of time. Private scholarships are offered by organizations and individuals. They are also called “outside scholarships" because they are not offered through the school. These scholarships vary quite a bit, with a range of eligibility, funding, and application criteria. Because of the wide range of available options, researching scholarships that meet your needs is important. For example, some private scholarships are available for students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Start early by researching opportunities to find scholarships that are right for you. Statistics show that students have the best chance of receiving scholarships that require an essay as part of the application or those that are local and have more locally targeted qualifications. 

 

The OSAC Scholarship application opens for Oregon high school students on November 1st, and by completing it, students can be eligible for over 500 scholarships through one application. Several scholarships on OSAC are specifically for Grant students. There is a priority deadline of February 15th, and students have until March 1st to complete their applications. The My Plan essay that students complete in senior English has the same prompts as the scholarship application. 

 

Below are several additional resources for finding private/outside scholarships: 

• Oregon Goes to College
• Oregon CIS - Students do not need a password to log in. From the main page, you can select High School -> Explore Resources -> Education & Training -> Scholarship List. You can create a personalized profile to save your search.
• GetSchooled Scholarship Finder
• JLV College Counseling Database
• Fastweb
• Big Future
• Scholarships360
• Access Scholarships
• Scholarships.com
• Unigo
• Bold

Going Merry is shutting down at the end of March, 2026. 

 

The Coalition for College has a resource that describes different types of scholarships.

GetSchooled.com has a post about The Best Scholarship Websites For Finding Money, which features the pros and cons of various national scholarship search sites.

We will post about select scholarships on the College & Career Center Instagram account. 

It is important to note whether the scholarship is for one year or renewable. If it is renewable, understand what students need to do to renew it each year (i.e., minimum GPAs or full-time student status). If you have received federal or school-based financial aid, consider that students must report these “outside scholarships” to the college’s financial aid department. Schools sometimes elect to reduce their financial award package, although many schools will work with the students to minimize this. Some “outside scholarships” come with non-monetary perks, such as mentoring, leadership development, summer employment, and networking opportunities. Beware of scholarship scams. As a general rule, you should not have to pay money to get a scholarship or for a scholarship search.

Don't hesitate to get in touch with the College & Career Center if you have any questions.