Scholarship

This article is about scholarship as a form of financial aid. For the practice and method of scholars, see Scholarly method. For the international education program, see The Scholar Ship.
Not to be confused with Scholarism or Scholasticism.

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further their education. Scholarships are awarded based upon various criteria, which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Scholarship money is not required to be repaid.[1] Scholarships are a major component of college financial aid in the countries such as the United States.

Scholarships vs. grants

The term '"scholarship"' is sometimes used to describe any financial aid given to a student that does not have to be repaid. However, more precisely, and universally among college financial aid offices in the United States, scholarships and grants are quite different.

A scholarship is given to a student because of a reason: the student has qualified for or won it by academic, artistic or athletic ability, or by agreeing to follow a particular career, or has some special ethnic or other characteristic. Scholarships are not given for financial need alone. In contrast, a grant is an entitlement: approval is automatic if the students meet qualifications, based on financial need.

Types

The most common scholarships may be classified as:

Of increasing interest in the United States are "last dollar" scholarships. These can be provided by private and government-based institutions, and are intended to cover the remaining fees charged to a student after the various grants are taken into account.[9] To prohibit institutions from taking last dollar scholarships into account, and thereby removing other sources of funding, these scholarships are not offered until after financial aid has been offered in the form of a letter. Furthermore, last dollar scholarships may require families to have filed taxes for the most recent year; received their other sources of financial aid; and not yet received loans.

Local

It is typical for people to find scholarships in their home regions. Information on these can be found by asking local institutions and organizations. Typically, these are less competitive as the eligible population is smaller.

Controversy

It has become more prevalent today that scholarships are misconceived to have a discriminatory quality to them. For example, as demonstrated by student-specific scholarships, minorities are thought to have a priority over Caucasian students when it comes to receiving these scholarships.

These beliefs are known to come from college students themselves who have been affected by their failures at obtaining adequate financial aid. Mark Kantrowitz, author of "Secrets to Winning a Scholarship", explains that the average family tends to overestimate its student's eligibility for merit-based awards and underestimate its eligibility for need-based awards. In turn, the most persistent target of this disapproval tends to be high-profile, minority-based scholarships.

Most scholarships are based on merit or talent, without considering economic need or ethnicity. Since the economically privileged usually have better schools and more access to other educational resources, merit-based awards favor the economically privileged. While Caucasians account for 62% of full-time college students in America,[12] they receive 76% of all scholarships.[13]

See also

References

  1. Peterson, Kay (4 September 2008). "Financial Aid Glossary". fastweb. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  2. "College Scholarship". School Grants Guide. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  3. "The Gates Millennium Scholars". Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  4. Teng, Amelia. "Many slam A*Star scientist's protest against her scholarship bond". ST. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  5. "Dancing out of A*Star". Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  6. Talented Athlete Scholarship, UK Government. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  7. "The scholarship", Winning Students. Government of Scotland. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  8. Bruenig, Matt. (March 31, 2014). "Ralph Nader’s brilliant plan for college sports: No more concussions or exploited labor", Salon. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  9. Kelchen, Robert. (April 17, 2014). "The Political Attractiveness of "Last-Dollar" Scholarships", Washington Monthly. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  10. Janice Heng (Sep 9, 2008). "Bond Free". THE STRAITS TIMES. Retrieved Sep 9, 2008.
  11. "Bipolar Lives Scholarship". Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  12. "Table 2-1. Undergraduate enrollment at all institutions, by race/ethnicity, citizenship, sex, and enrollment status: 2001–08" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2011.
  13. Kantrowitz, Mark. "The Distribution of Grants and Scholarships by Race" (PDF). Student Aid Policy Analysis. Retrieved 20 September 2012.

Further reading

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