How to Find Scholarship Sources

If you are looking for sources to help you finance your education, knowing how and where to search can be crucially important. Many scholarships and grants aren’t well advertised, so it will be up to you to do the work and find the opportunities. If you are already enrolled at a college or university, start with the professional services available, such as financial aid or career services. If you are not yet enrolled, contact college or university admissions offices directly and ask them about the opportunities and support they provide for international students - a number of them offer discounted tuition.

When searching on your own, there are a number of free scholarship search sites on the Web (some are listed below). Profile-based scholarship searches allow you to register an account, have you fill out a student profile that includes your education history, intended major, group memberships, awards, test scores, and so on. Based on the answers in your profile, the website software will direct you toward scholarships and contests that you’re eligible for. Be sure to fill out the profiles with as much information as possible, for more search matches.

Also consider contacting organizations, associations, foundations, or government agencies. For example, contact the local Rotary International Organization to ask about their Ambassadorial Scholarships; or if you are a student member of ASME, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, they have scholarship opportunities for international students. P.E.O. International provides a number of scholarships for international women students to study in the US or Canada. Ask your professors what professional organizations they belong to, and contact the national headquarters, or look them up on the Web.

Many of the sites listed below also have links to other important and useful information, including blogs, forums, discussion boards, etc. You can follow many of them on Facebook, Twitter or RRS feeds to keep up with current information.

Scholarship and Financial Aid Sites:
International Education Financial Aid: http://www.iefa.org/
International Scholarships: http://bit.ly/1ixyG9j
FinAid: http://www.finaid.org/
Scholarship Experts.com: http://bit.ly/1OXYOTw

UNIGO: https://www.unigo.com/
Hispanic Scholarship Fund: http://www.hispanicfund.org/
CHCI - Developing Latino Leaders: http://www.chci.org/
The Gates Millennium Scholars: http://www.gmsp.org/
ScholarshipsCanada: http://bit.ly/1puHlgX
FastWeb: http://www.fastweb.com/
InternationalStudent.com: http://bit.ly/1puHktl
eduPass: http://www.edupass.org/
eduPass, Financial Aid: http://www.edupass.org/finaid/
eduPass, Scholarships: http://bit.ly/1GpcLKL

USA Study Guide: http://www.usastudyguide.com/
P.E.O. International: http://www.peointernational.org/

Scholarships for International Students would greatly appreciate your recommendations of websites with useful information regarding scholarships or internships. SIS would also appreciate guest blog postings from students, or university professionals who would like to share ideas, information, or suggestions! Contact Denise Beebe if you have questions, or would like more information – I welcome your involvement! beebed@bvu.edu