College Dollars for Good Grades
By Kristi Vaughan
Working hard in high school can do more than earn parental praise. It also can bring the potential to win academic scholarships – no matter what the family income.
What are academic scholarships?
Academic, or merit, scholarships are monetary grants made in recognition of a student’s high academic performance. These grants can come from many sources including colleges themselves, alumni organizations, corporations and philanthropic foundations. Quite often these scholarships can go to students who do not qualify for need-based aid.
Who gets merit aid?
As you might imagine, merit aid is given to the best and brightest of college applicants. Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, for example, awards merit aid to about 5 percent of its freshman applicants. Typically, these are students who were in the top 1 percent of their class and had SAT scores exceeding 1500.
State universities sometimes use merit aid as an enticement to keep high achieving students from leaving their home state to attend college. Connecticut high school students who rank first or second in their class, for example, automatically qualify for a one-half tuition scholarship at the University of Connecticut.
Large corporations, too, offer merit aid. Applications can be limited to children of employees or open to the general public. The Coca Cola Scholars Foundation, for example, makes annual financial awards to 250 students nationally who have shown exceptional merit in leadership, academic achievement and motivation to succeed.
Nationally, some of the better known merit scholarships are those given by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program.
Entrants in the National Merit® Scholarship Program are determined by results on the PSAT/NMSQT® test. Robert Byrd awards are made through individual state education agencies.
How do you find merit awards?
One of the best places to look for merit scholarships is at the colleges to which you, or your child, are applying. Check with the financial aid offices to see if merit aid is available and, if so, how you can apply. Many, but not all, colleges that offer merit aid, automatically consider all applicants but some require special applications.
Internet search engines such as fastweb.com or the Princeton Review can help you locate possible merit aid at your college as well as civic groups, foundations and corporations. And don’t forget to check with your high school’s college guidance office. Local benefactors often provide grants to high achieving students.
