Obtaining scholarships

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

* Guidance Counselors
When starting to explore scholarship opportunities, high school students should definitely check in with their guidance counselors. They can be a great resource for local scholarships.

* Non-profit Organizations
Most non-profit organizations have at some point of their history founded scholarships for prospective students:

* Community Foundations
Many counties / cities / regions have a local foundation dedicated to giving money in the form of grants and scholarships to people and organizations in the area.

* Labor Unions
All the major labor unions offer scholarships for members and their dependent children.

* Church
The local parish may or may not have any scholarships for their members, but the Diocese or headquarters may have some available. Of course, the best-supported area is the study of theology.

* Chamber of Commerce
Many chambers of commerce offer (usually small) grants to students in the community, especially those planning on careers in Business and Public Service. Even if they do not offer any themselves, you can usually get a listing of members, and many of them may offer small scholarships to local students.

* Other volunteer organizations
Many organizations offer scholarships or award grants to students whose background or chosen field overlaps the field of the organization. For example, local chapters of professional societies may help the studies of exceptionally distinguished students of the region. Similarly, charity organizations may offer help, especially if the late parent of the student was a member of the organization. (E.g. masonic lodge might help the orphan of a lodge brother.) However, this kind of scholarship is mostly random.

* School
Old, well-known schools have often been endowed with scholarship funds.

* University
Old, well-established universities may have funds, used to finance the studies of extremely talented students of little means. However, to be eligible for them, the student must usually belong to some special category or be among the nation's best. However, universities have information available on scholarships and grants, possibly even internship opportunities.

* PSAT/NMSQT
In the United States, students are offered the opportunity to take the PSAT/NMSQT test, usually in their Junior year in high school. Not only does it help them to prepare for the SAT later on, but National Merit Scholarship programs are determined, in the first step, by the scores received on the PSAT/NMSQT test. Some private scholarship programs require the applicants to take the PSAT.

Other sources of information on scholarships are libraries, newspapers, the yellow pages, and Internet search engines such as

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