From the “Flavor of the Month” scholarship to state aid scholarships, there are many that Universities offer
Sydney Boone, Contributing Writer
There are many little known and unique scholarships out there that students are not aware of. Some of these unique scholarships include having a certain hair color, and even for your race or ethnicity.
There are all kinds of unique and unusual scholarships that are available for students. According to unigo.com, “Scholarships don’t necessarily have to be uninteresting and linked only to your excellent grades.” There are several scholarships that include scholarships for being left-handed, for having blue eyes, for being short and more.
What even is an unusual scholarship? An unusual scholarship has requirements that students need to meet outside of a regular academic or athletic scholarship. For example, the “stuck at prom” scholarship is a scholarship available to students who can create fashion outfits for prom
Many students apply for these scholarships each year. Students can apply for this scholarship by being 14 years old and by being a resident of the United States or Canada.
According to scholarships.com, “Students interested in unusual scholarships should start searching for them early on in their high school careers.” Students become interested in unique and unusual scholarships because scholarships provide financial support to students who are in need.
It can be challenging to find unusual scholarships, due to the limited number of them. However, there are still simple ways for students to find them.
A few ways are to use the recommendations of your local library, reach out to the specific field of study to see if they offer any unique scholarships and do a scholarship search. By doing a scholarship search, students will find all kinds of unusual scholarships like the “Collegiate Beef Advocacy Program scholarship” and the “Getting Real About Distracted Driving” scholarship.
Sometimes money can be an issue when it comes to scholarships. However, many of the unusual scholarships available offer a lot of money. For example, the “Amish Descendant Scholarship Fund” offers $20,000 worth of scholarships.
According to goingmerry.com, “To qualify for the Amish Descendant Scholarship Fund, students must have grown up Amish and have a family who is continuing to live an Amish lifestyle. Students must also have earned their GED or high school diploma.”
Kathy Cribb is one of North Greenville University’s financial aid counselor’s. A few of the categories that NGU offers are federal aid, state aid and institutional aid. “Federal aid is based on your FASFA information that you submit each year,” Cribb said.
There are many ways that students can get federal aid including grants and student loans. Students can receive federal aid through being awarded grants or loans. A grant is “free money” that the government funds students in need.
Students can also receive federal aid through being a work-study. A work-study provides part-time jobs for students. It allows students to pay off any expenses.
State aid is given to students based on their socioeconomic status. “South Carolina is very generous when it comes to awarding aid to our residents of South Carolina,” Cribb said. South Carolina offers many state aid scholarships including the LIFE scholarship, HOPE scholarship and Palmetto Fellows scholarship.
Institutional aid is a scholarship offered by North Greenville University. “Some of the institutional scholarships are funded scholarships, which means there is money that has been raised that people give that is to be used for this purpose,” Cribb said.
There are many scholarships that the school offers that can be found on NGU’s website. For example, on North Greenville’s website there is a scholarship called the Jessica Sachs scholarship. Jessica Sachs was on the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center and was killed during 9/11.
Sach’s family had a connection to North Greenville, and while the family was grieving her, they decided to set up a scholarship in memory of her. If there is a student who is from the area of New England or is a member of a Baptist church in New England, they could qualify for this scholarship.
In addition, there is a limit to how many scholarships students can qualify for at one time. However, some students come into school with more than they need. “Students might have federal and state grants, and then they receive some good academic, fine arts or athletic scholarships,” Cribb said.
Many scholarships are good for out-of-state students. Students who live out of state do not have the benefits of the students who live in state.
There are a few benefits that an out-of-state student has that an in-state student does not have. One benefit is that an out-of-state scholarship gives students more money to cover the increased cost of tuition. One of the personal benefits of an out-of-state student is that they have the benefit of traveling and experiencing being in another state and becoming more independent.
