Hunt for scholarships in your own backyard

Here’s something that many families still looking for every penny of financial aid don’t know: Scholarships offered by local businesses, nonprofits, community organizations and other groups can be a late source to tap.

Indeed, these scholarships are often overlooked, which explains why so many awards receive few applicants — if any.

Translated, that means your odds of getting scholarship money are pretty high, especially this late in the game. You need only apply and perhaps write an essay.

“It’s not too late,” said Sid Dugas, a retired financial aid administrator at what’s now Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. He emailed me recently in response to my column on searching for scholarships from state programs. His message: Don’t overlook scholarships from sources in your own backyard.

While the deadlines have long ago come and gone for the really big, highly competitive scholarships offered by businesses and foundations, private scholarships offering $500 here or $1,000 there can be found with a little bit of digging.

These smaller awards may not cover tuition, but they will offset the cost of textbooks, lab fees and other expenses. Better yet, put two or three awards together and make a more serious dent in tuition.

I’ve always preached that every dollar in scholarship money means one less dollar that needs to be borrowed.

Dugas said high school guidance counselors used to “consistently complain” to him that they had trouble getting students to apply for scholarships from non-federal and state sources, such as local civic organizations, religious groups and foundations. In some years, he added, the funds went unused.

Dugas said he belongs to a nonprofit organization that provides two scholarships to a local high school with a senior class size of about 400. One scholarship is for a student planning on attending a four-year college or university; the other is for a student planning on a vocational education.

“We usually receive about 12 applications for the college,” he said, “and usually no applications for the vocational/trade school scholarship.”

Even with college acceptance letters going out in the mail, Dugas recommends that students trying to fill funding gaps check first at their own high school to see what’s still available. For example, there might be untapped scholarships designated for a specific academic interest, or based on gender, race or exemplary community service work.

Dugas encourages students to apply for scholarships that have essay requirements. “The competition is so much less because students are very busy their senior year, don’t like to write and therefore don’t apply,” he said.

Private organizations have also been known to extend application deadlines if it means a deeper pool of applicants and money still available to hand out.

Finally, there are many free websites with extensive databases that match students with private scholarships, such as Scholarships.com, Fastweb and the College Board. Steer clear of websites that charge fees for matching services.

All it takes is time and effort, whether your high school senior is in the Class of 2022 or looking ahead to the Class of 2023.