Students should take advantage of available scholarships

STEVE MARK

The hunt for college scholarships is a laborious one. And, as much help as there is available, a student has to be prepared to be his or her own primary advocate.

You’ll have company in this pursuit. Sallie Mae computed that in 2021, 25% of college students received some sort of scholarship or grant assistance. Having said that, there is a gold mine out there.

Before one even begins the prospecting, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly called the FAFSA, is the rst part of the process, and essential to securing most forms of nancial aid. You’ll need to parcel information from the previous year’s tax forms from both the student, and parents.

“For the 2023-24 year, submission of the FAFSA started in October 2022 and will remain open until June 30, 2024,” said William McGinley, director of nancial aid at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea. “ e U.S. Department of Education has announced a delay until later into December for the 2024-25 aid year as they continue to work on programing for the new simpli ed

FAFSA.

“Individual colleges and universities are also a great resource as they o er many unique awards speci c to their institutions based on a student’s nancial need, academic merit and/or talent.

“Looking beyond the aid that (the U.S. Department of Education) colleges and universities award are the opportunities provided by many generous donors, foundations and corporations through outside scholarships. ese awards vary in size and scale but there are thousands of opportunities for students to seek additional funding.”

“We encourage students to start with their own institutions,” said Megan O’Bryan, president of the Cuyahoga Community

College Foundation. “Colleges and universities have the best resources and most current information on what nancial aid is available. Take advantage the best resources your college has to o er.” e U.S. Department of Education awards monetary scholarships in the vicinity of $46 billion annually. at’s a big number and di cult to equate in terms of a ceiling for individual applicants. Scholarships, both on the federal and institution level, were una ected by the COVID-19 pandemic. e largest federal scholarship is the Pell Grant, which provided assistance to 7.5 million students in 2020, the most recent year with federal statistics available to date.

“ e Pell Grant allows lower income families to decrease their out-of-pocket costs without needing to pay those funds back at a later date,” McGinley said.

“It seems opportunities for outside scholarships will continue to grow, but putting a number on how much money exists in scholarship opportunities is hard to quantify. Many businesses and donors continue to value and wish to support higher education, so I don’t see scholarship opportunities going away anytime soon.

“Students should be sure to start to apply for these resources as early as they can as many outside scholarships award their funds by May. Every scholarship has a unique deadline to their award. So, start searching early, keep track of deadlines, and apply to as many opportunities as possible.”

“Tri-C has dramatically increased what is available to our students,” O’Bryan said. “Since academic year 2019, Tri-C and the Tri-C Foundation has awarded more than $16 million in scholarships to 14,000 students. We expect to continue to exceed $4 million in annual awards, which is double what we were awarding a decade ago.

“Tri-C Foundation has grown to more than 150 endowed scholarship funds, as well as funded scholarships that support speci c areas of study.” e list of scholarships and grants can seem endless. According to inkImpact, there are an estimated 1.7 million private scholarships available. To nd them, McGinley suggests starting the search with a guidance counselor, at the library or even the local Chamber of Commerce, as they might have a list of scholarship opportunities unique to the area.

“ ere are also many websites that o er free scholarship searches covering a broader geographic area,” he said. “While some legitimate sites do require a fee for their services, be wary of fee-based applications that make you pay for the application prior to submission as they may be scams. Before paying for anything related to scholarships, nd out if they are legitimate. Always check out a site thoroughly before providing any personal information.”

McGinley had some particular recommendations: Ohio Scholars Program through OFIC – one application for over 500 scholar-ships; see OFIC’s website for eligibility requirements; FastWeb; MyScholly.com or e Scholly App (fee required); College Resource Network – a free scholarship search and college planning; Scholarships.com; Scholarships360; and Tuitionfundingsources.com.

O’Bryan also had some suggestions:

“I encourage students to see what is available through scholarships o ered by Cleveland Foundation and College Now,” she said. “ ey are just two of Tri-C’s many great partners. We work closely with these organizations and others to match students to the nancial resources that will support them best. Students can also look in their own communities – libraries and clubs can also be good resources.

“Financial aid counselors can help students apply for emergency funds for immediate help with basic needs. ey connect students to campus food pantries, or where to nd an internship. All of these programs are made possible by our many philanthropic donors.” e community college route may be more robust than you might imagine.

“Tri-C’s tuition is the lowest in Ohio. at a ordability and excellent value means that nancial aid resources go further. Our scholarship recipients often tell us how important it is to them to avoid debt. Tri-C o ers them a winning combination of a ordability, generous student resources, and a quality education.” e hunt for scholarships and nancial aid can be as time-consuming and lengthy as the admissions process. BaldwinWallace’s timetable mirrors the time frame of other institutions.

“For the upcoming 2023-24 academic year, BW has accepted FAFSAs since Oct. 1, 2022, and will through early May 2024 when our nancial aid year ends. We want to make sure that every student who wants an opportunity to le a federal application has the chance to do so.”

Colleges can help freshmen make new friends

MEGHAN WALSH mwalsh@cjn.org | @themeghanwalsh

Starting college is a time of great transition as students face many changes in their social lives, living situations and academic experiences. Being in a new place and not knowing people can be intimidating. is is why many colleges o er support from sta and peers to support new students through the transition and why they host programs that encourage students to get involved and make new friends.

Liz Sinclair, assistant dean of the undergraduate programs and assessment at Kent State University, and Mick Steiner, assistant dean of students at Hiram College, talked about how schools help new students nd their place and build new friendships.

“People fear how they’re coming across to other people,” Sinclair said. “ ey’re imagining what everyone else is thinking.” ey scrutinize themselves with thoughts of, “‘Oh, I’m too this,’ or ‘I’m too that,’ ‘I don’t look like them,’ ‘I don’t act like them,’” she explained. “ e thing is, if everybody’s thinking like that, no one is thinking about you.”

As a leader of the student advisory group for the dean’s o ce, Sinclair said she has asked older students to write down pieces of advice they would give to younger students who are navigating these social changes.

“I think several people wrote, ‘Don’t be self-conscious,’ ‘Don’t think that other people are looking at you and judging or forming opinions,’ and ‘Just try to be yourself and you’ll gure it out,’” she recalled.

Sinclair pointed out that some schools have learning communities to make larger universities seem smaller and less intimidating.

“It’s a group of 30 to 100 students who are part of this community of people who get together before classes start; and they may be exploring downtown and getting to know one another,” she detailed. “Are they going to like all 30 or all 100? Probably not, but they’re going to nd a core of people within that smaller group who they like and who they have things in common with.”

She recommended students look at lists of student organizations o ered by their schools, as there are often many and they will likely nd at least one that appeals to their interests.

“I know my daughter, when she rst started (college), was interested in makeup and so there was a group of people who got together and did makeup and talked about makeup; and so she was participating in that,” Sinclair mentioned.

For students who live on campus, they will have many opportunities to meet other students and build friendships simply by being in the same living quarters, she noted.

For those who commute, she recommended seeking learning communities, as they will help students form their core groups of friends.

“Maybe even just some people are introverted and nd it di cult to start conversations with people in their class,” she mentioned.

If a student is struggling with the changes they are facing when starting college, Sinclair suggested they speak to their college advisers, administrators or resident assistants if they live on campus.

Steiner pointed out that the social dynamic at college has changed signi cantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Many of those experiences, I think, look a little bit di erent now,” he said. “We have to try even harder to ensure that students are connecting and nding their place on campus.” is starts with the school meeting the most basic needs of students within their rst few days on campus; and administrators and sta asking themselves what they are doing to ensure students make at least one new friend who they can go to lunch or dinner with, and feel less socially isolated, he explained.

“I think one of the biggest things is trying to remember that that sense of awkwardness is only temporary and everyone is experiencing that together,” Sinclair said.

Everyone is going through some degree of adjustment, from sleeping on a new mattress to nding new friends, he noted.

“It can be challenging and I think for all of us across the college, we’re really committed – especially in our small school environment here – to making sure that students nd their place here,” Steiner explained.

Colleges often have systems in place to help students who are struggling with making those initial connections, he said.

“Our resident assistants are trained in general topics like homesickness and helping students connect to the resources on campus,” Steiner said. “We want to catch those students as soon as possible to ensure that they are connecting with others.”

CAITLIN LUDWIG Laurel School

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