In recent years, the ballooning cost of college leaves some students to wonder how they will pay the mountain of debt after graduating. Fortunately, students who excel in certain fields or qualify per certain guidelines may find a significant portion of the cost covered by scholarships.

A scholarship is a payment from a higher institution that covers expenses for education. Unlike student loans, which are paid back over a period of time, scholarships do not require repayment. However, they also differ from grants, another form of non-repayable financial aid, in that scholarships are typically merit-based while grants are based on financial need. There are a wide variety of scholarships one can receive, but they all require a certain level of achievement by the applicant. 

“There can be private scholarships from [groups like] A&M Mom’s Association or the PTSA,” College and Career Transition Coordinator Chriss Hexter said. “It can come in a lot of different forms.”

While the majority of financial assistance comes from personal finances and loans or grants students qualify for by filling out the Free Application for Student Aid, such as Pell Grants from the federal government, scholarships can help fill the gap. At the local level, there are scholarships offered by school organizations, open to students who are members and qualify for certain criteria. For example, a PTSA scholarship that awards $1,000 each to two seniors who are members of the PTSA requires a minimum GPA of 3.5 out of five. Separately, they require a GPA of 4.2 out of five for five graduating female seniors in the PTSA seeking a $1,000 scholarship for a STEM degree. County organizations like the Williamson County Retired Teachers Association also hand out scholarships, with this organization giving two seniors who plan to major in education $1,000 each. 

“I got a Pell Grant, and I was a cheerleader, so they helped out with textbooks,” Hexter said. “I also had student loans, which isn’t fun because you had to pay those back.”

Next, there are regional and statewide scholarships available to students who live in the respective area. For example, the Texas Interscholastic League Foundation gives scholarships to students attending a University of Texas System school who, at minimum, advance to the state level of a UIL competition, whether that be in band, theater or UIL Academics. And comparable to regional and statewide competition, students who qualify for scholarships from external college organizations like the A&M Mom’s Association for Texas A&M or Texas Exes for UT Austin may also receive thousands of dollars after they submit their application. 

“The next best way [to get financial assistance] is to just start Google searching for scholarships,” Hexter said. “I post [scholarships] on my website, [and] I vet the ones I post on my website.”

Finally, there are national-level scholarships. Since they are higher-profile and feature competing students from across the country, they tend to be quite prestigious and narrow down from a large list of country-wide applicants to a select few that manage to qualify. Scholarships like these often take a holistic approach, meaning that it will consider everything from your academic performance to your involvement in the community, such as community service. One example is the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, who gives scholarships to students they recognize as “extraordinary leaders” and narrowed down from 91,000 applicants to 250 Regional Finalists in 2023. Students who receive high PSAT/NMSQT scores in 11th grade can become National Merit Semifinalists, at which point they must go through an application process to first become a Finalist and then win a scholarship afterwards. There are many national-level scholarships, but a student can use search engines, the 2023 CPHS Google Classroom and the Wolfcast to keep up with the latest scholarship opportunities. One should be careful to verify any scholarship they find and be aware of scholarship scams.

“[A student] can use something like BigFuture [to search], which is through College Board,” Hexter said. “I’m a big fan of Fastweb, Fastweb is like a clearinghouse of all the scholarships, and it notifies you if there’s a scholarship for which you might be eligible.”