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How do I find scholarships as an adult student?



QUESTION: I'm planning to attend a two-year school for a degree in fashion. The program is about $17,000 per year. I have not attended college in the past 10 years. I've heard of scholarships offered for all sorts of things, such as people with different illnesses or diseases, or people who are left-handed and other unique qualities. Where exactly can I locate all these different types of scholarships, and how do I go about applying for them? Signed, Fashion Forward

Dear Fashion Forward: There certainly are scholarships for students who have unique qualities. However, there are many, many more scholarships available for motivated students who simply need help paying for their education. So while you can certainly look for scholarships that focus on a narrow quality such as students with a specific disability, if you focus only on these you will miss out on many more opportunities.

Your first step in finding scholarships is to identify the qualities that you have that may make you eligible for scholarships. In your case, this will include your field of study and the fact that you are returning to school. You should also look at where you live as well as where you will be going to school since many service organizations give awards to help local students pay for college. Don't ignore your interests and hobbies. There are clubs and associations that support members (and even non-members) if what they are studying has something to do with the organization.

Now the hunt begins. Pore through scholarship books. Search scholarship databases on the Internet such as www.supercollege.com. Inquire with businesses and service organizations in your community. Seek out associations of those in fashion. And, inquire with the school's financial aid office as well. Searching for scholarships is not a quick and easy task. It will take time to uncover the awards that you have the best chance of winning.

Think about partnering with other students who are in similar situations as you. If you pull all of your resources together you will uncover many more awards than if you worked alone.


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Gen & Kelly Tanabe

Gen and Kelly Tanabe are the founders of SuperCollege and the award-winning authors of 11 books on college admission, financial aid and scholarships. Together they were accepted to all of the Ivy League colleges and won more than $100,000 in merit-based scholarships to graduate from Harvard debt-free.