Marquis Grant – Staff Writer
Finances in college and university are often important and can be a challenge for students to manage. Scholarships often provide access for many students to attend a higher education institution. Many students may not know that they are still able to apply for and receive scholarships after acceptance and while attending a college or university.
According to Tara Jones, Associate VP of Student Financial Services at Broward College, Broward College students can also apply for Broward College institutional scholarships each year by completing the FAFSA at www.studentaid.gov and then the BC scholarship application.
The FAFSA application opens each Oct. 1 for the upcoming award year. The Broward College scholarship application opens each July 1 at the website https://www.broward.edu/admissions/financial-aid/scholarships/.
Students will be considered for all available scholarships offered through BC once they have completed the FAFSA and scholarship application each year and there is state aid and external scholarships listed on this site as well.
There are also many external scholarship sites such as fastweb.com. Jones said that the key to applying for external scholarships is organization and students should apply for as many scholarships as possible to increase their award chances. Paying attention to deadlines for scholarships is important and students can make a basic template highlighting their accomplishments and what makes them unique relative to the scholarship for which they are applying.
Writing a concise paragraph about your background and goals to show how you meet the requirements of an organization’s financial assistance program(s) is a great way to prepare to send an organization a letter to apply or inquire about scholarships and financial assistance. If this letter is just to find out if the organization offers aid, writing a short paragraph about how your background and ambitions coincide with the mission of the organization might qualify you for any assistance that may be available.
Jones also recommends never pay a fee to apply for a scholarship and for students to use discretion and diligence with their personally identifiable information while applying for scholarships.
Scholarship use differs some amongst our local students. Taje Butler, a newly transferred college student from the Bahamas, is now at FAU but was aware of and applied for scholarships at a university in the Bahamas. Butler shared since being in America she has not received much information about scholarships or applied for new ones, but she is doing well regardless, taking roles in student organizations including being treasurer for the NAACP club at FAU.
Butler is not actively looking for scholarships but is interested in learning more about them and was glad to hear some of the information and advice coming from Jones and Financial aid sources and said that she would be willing to apply for a scholarship in the future.
Another student, Javoy Oates, a nursing student at Broward College, did know about being able to apply for scholarships in college but has not done so although she shared that she is interested in doing so in the future. Oates said that she had not heard much information about scholarships other than a few that require essays, but she gladly welcomed more information.
Students can always reach out to financial aid services at Broward College directly via the website, on campus, or apply for scholarships directly through any of the sites listed here or external ones.
