Finding college scholarships for young kids can be frustrating. You have to have the research skills of a detective, the persistence of a gold medalist, and the curiosity of a scientist.
I’ve found that if I make a game of it, I can maintain my sanity and find free college money for my kids—even if those awards have to wait a few years.
How to play the game
Today’s game is called, “Tuition on My Desk.” To play, simply divert your eyes from the screen and look around your desk for product labels, company names, and the like. Make a list of prospects from the items on your desk.
My list looks something like this:
- Vitamins from the Vitamin Shoppe
- Pilot PreciseGrip ink pen
- Hallmark thank you notes (darn, I need to mail those)
- Coca cola bottle
- Google email printout
- Water bill
How to search for prizes
Take your list and head back to the computer. Visit your favorite search engine, and get to work. Type an item from your list into the search. Add the keywords “scholarship” or “scholarship for young kids.”
For example, I took the “Hallmark” in “Hallmark thank you notes” from my list. I did a Google search for “Hallmark cards scholarship.”
I got millions of hits, including The Gallery Collections 6th Annual Create-A-Greeting Card $10,000 Scholarship Contest.
This scholarship is open to high school and college students, 14 years and older. Obviously, my kids are too young. But this is one more opportunity that I would not have known about, if I hadn’t looked.
We now have a decade to design an awesome greeting card. I think we can handle that.
Keep your head in the game
Here is where some of you will stop playing the game. You did a search, found that your child was not eligible for the contest, and you gave up.
For that, I could thank you. With you out of the race, that just means less competition for my kids. But I’m actually saddened. Don’t give up the good fight. There really is college money out there.
Do you know what happened when I tried again?
Looking back at my list, I took the “Google” from “Google email printout.” I did a search for “Google scholarship for young kids.”
Eureka!
Doodle 4 Google is an annual art contest for U.S. students in kindergarten through the 12th grade. The top winner will see their artwork appear on the Google homepage and receive a $30,000 college scholarship.
This 10-minute exercise uncovered $40,000 in potential scholarships. I imagine there are opportunities on your desk, in your pantry, and on your television, right now!
You just have to stay in the game.
To my readers: Do you worry about the rising cost of tuition? How are you planning for college?
My honest plan is to work to pay for their college education. That’s what my mom did. My dad paid the bills, my mom paid for college. But just yesterday I was asking my husband about any scholarships for kids to go to private school. I am going to try your tip!
Thanks Erin. That’s an interesting question about scholarships for private school. Good luck with your search. I’ll keep any eye out too.
This is a really great tip that I would have never thought of! I’t sad but our kids are pretty much on their own if they want to go to college. My son is graduating this year and will have to apply for financial aid or student loans if he decides to go on to college. My daughter still has a few years and if she keeps at it, may be able to get a sport or other scholarship through school to help with tuition.
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Hi Henrietta. Even with a later start, there may still be free college money available. Scholarship websites like Fastweb and CollegeNet are not exhaustive, but they are a good start. Good luck!
I have a 17 yr old who always says she is unable to find scholarships online but now that I read your post I can have her play this little game. Thanks for sharing because she is going to love you for this. LOL.
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Thanks Rob. Have your teen try a scholarship database like Fastweb or CollegeNet to get a sense of what is available. Then keep digging for more opportunities. Remember to keep looking even after your child enters college.
These are such great tips. I remember it being so frustrating looking for college scholarships when I was going to college. Thanks for sharing!
Tiff @ Babes and Kids recently posted..Get Happy: Ways to Increase Your Happiness (iphone app)
I feel your pain Tiff. And back then we didn’t have as much access to online scholarship opportunities.
Here’s a two tips that we discovered by accident 1.if you child gets reasonably good grades, have them take their SAT in their Junior year, and check the box that says something about “do you want to be considered for National Merit Scholarships?” My daughter scored high on her Jr year SAT, and got tons of scholarship offers, like 2 milk boxes full of them. She got a scholarship from BellSouth (Now AT&T) that amounted to $1,000 per semester for 4 years, because I worked there. If she had not checked that box on the application form for the SAT, she would have never received that scholarship.
2. We didn’t have enough money to pay for her books in her first semester. I called the school to ask if I could sign a promisary note for the cost of the books so she could go to school. They told me they offer books scholarships but not one ever applied for them. She got her books paid for in full for the first year.
3. If your student has a high GPA, they will receive lots of scholarship offers. My daughter got so many offers of scholarships that she could have gone to school in any state of the US. She accepted an offer for one school, and called them and told them what a different school was offering her, and they matched their offer. She got to go to the school of her choice with a full four year academic scholarship plus her dorm room and meals for the first year. She wouldn’t have gotten the dorm room and meals if she hadn’t called and asked them for it. Of course, this all depends on the kid studying and making good grades, but it can be done.
This is awesome advice Karen. Thank you. I never would have thought to negotiate the scholarship amount between the two schools. That’s going in my arsenal.
We have a college fund set up for our boys, I know it won’t be near enough by the time they go to college, but it’s a start. They also have some GI funding left over from my husband.
Thanks Jill. It’s rough finding scholarships for younger kids, but it can be done. I’m a believer! Please keep checking my scholarships for young kids page for opportunities.
Wow, some really great tips in this post and thanks Karen for sharing even more. I honestly have been sticking my head in the ground about dealing with this topic – my son is 18 months old.
Kelly @ A Girl Worth Saving recently posted..A Moment of Sweetness: Paleo Dessert to Tempt Your Sweet Tooth
Thanks Kelly. When I hear all the news about the rising cost of tuition, I want to slam dunk my head in the ground too. Keep your spirits up and your eyes out for those free college dollars.
So creative Nicole! That’s a wonderful idea, and definitely not one I would’ve thought of – where were you when I was looking for my own scholarships?! LOL
Joanna @way2gomom recently posted..Reyes Magos with Net10 Wireless
Hey Joanna. Girlfriend, I’m a scholarship detective, following the clues and interrogating the suspects.
I need to go back and get some “pay back student loans” scholarships!
trisha
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LOL, Trish. A “pay back student loans” scholarship would be sweeet!
I wonder what scholarships you could get from vitamins? One of the girls I tutor is a sophomore– I’ll have to tell her about this 1
(Oh, came over from SITS, btw.)
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