Scholarship Central

How to maximize your money for college

Step 1: Everyone should complete the FAFSA application. Many scholarships are based on your FAFSA completion! FAFSA opens October 1st!

Step 2: Apply for every available scholarship you can! Check out the school you are planning to attend to see if there are any scholarships you can apply for. Also make sure you ask your parents because some employers and unions offer scholarships to employees children. Be aware of ALL deadlines you don't want to miss out!  Regularly check the grade level Counseling Schoology group for posts from the Counselors on local scholarship you may be eligible for! 

Step 3: Apply for Blandin Foundation Grants. The deadline is May 1st.

Step 4: The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation (GRACF) website is where you find the local and regional scholarship application. The deadline is March 1st.

Step 5: Check out your financial aid award from your college. Every college is different, but generally speaking mid-May is when you will receive notice of your financial aid awards.  

Step 6:Make an appointment with the Counselors to see if there are other scholarships available to apply for. 

PAY ATTENTION TO SPELLING AND GRAMMAR!  Scholarship committees notice when spelling, grammar, capitalization, etc are NOT CORRECT!

Good luck in your Scholarship search!  Getting scholarships is like FISHING!!  It takes time and effort to get them, little ones add up, you need to know where to look for them, it is really fun when you get some!