Additional College & Scholarship Resources
The St. Mary’s County Black History Coalition (SMCBHC) will be awarding its 10th Annual Dinah K. Somerville Scholarship to deserving students who have been accepted to or are currently attending an accredited college, university, trade, or technical school for the 2024-2025 school years. The SMCBHC will award four students $1,000.00 each, directly payable to the institution of their choice. The deadline is January 26, 2024
Delegate Scholarships for St. Marys and Calvert County
Senator Jack Bailey District 29 (due April 1, 2024)Delegate Matt Morgan District 29A (due May 15, 2024)Delegate Brian Crosby District 29B (due March 15, 2024)Delegate Todd Morgan District 29C (due April 30, 2024)
Information on colleges and the cost of a college education
The Online College Database provides future post-secondary students with the information they need (at no cost) to make informed decisions about where to attend college.
For information on affordable colleges in all states, and on general financial aid, see the College Affordability Guide. Note that the site is also promoting online schools.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA )
This is the starting point to provide and summarize family financial information that will be required for many scholarship applications. Go online in January to establish your account and passwords on FAFSA.gov
You should file by February 1 to meet BECA's March 1 deadline. Maryland schools also have a March 1, 2024, absolute filing deadline to be eligible for aid from the state of Maryland. If you miss this deadline you will not get state aid. Be sure to include ".gov" in the address. Other sites will allow you to file the FAFSA but may charge you for it.
Deadline: File by Feb. 15 to be considered for money in Maryland.
If using BECA's St. Mary's Common Scholarship Application, file no later than February 1.
Information for Service Academy Nominations
The nomination process is as follows:
Write to your Senator in your junior year of high school, certainly before July 1 of your senior year.
Know the basic requirements.
Take your SAT before applying for nomination. You will generally need a verbal score of 550 or more and a math score of 600 or better.
Maintain a high academic standing (at least the upper 40% of your class).
Maintain first-rate medical conditions and proper physical aptitude.
Obtain an application from your career center.
Compile and submit a completed application including letters of recommendation, transcript of record, and SAT scores. See your counselor for details.
Watch your deadline. Applications must be postmarked by November 15 and will not be accepted if late.
Contact Information:
USAir Force Academy: Air force Academy
US Naval Academy: Naval Academy
US Army Military Academy: Military Academy
US Merchant Marine Academy: Merchant Marine Academy
Helpful Scholarship Tools
“Fastweb is a free scholarship search platform that connects students to college scholarships, trade school scholarships, and financial aid tools. Our goal is to help you find scholarships to make college or vocational school more affordable.”
“Finaid was established in the fall of 1994 as a public service. This award-winning site has grown into the most comprehensive source of student financial aid information, advice, and tools — on or off the web."
“The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes. NCAA schools award nearly $3.5 billion in athletics scholarships every year and provide vast support to help student-athletes graduate at a rate higher than their general student peers.”
“GoCollege.com offers helpful information for current and soon to be college students. The site was formed in 1997 to guide students on the complexity of the admissions and financial-aid process.”
“You’re on your own path, moving toward what’s ahead. We’re here to support every learning experience—whether it’s in the classroom or out in the world. With products like private student loans, credit cards, and savings accounts—plus our financial tools, resources, and information—we empower people to do great things.”
“CollegeNET, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon-based, privately held company providing Intelligent Connections® web-based on-demand technologies to colleges, universities, and non-profits.”
“Founded in 1998, Scholarships.com has helped students find money for college and learn about the entire financial aid process. We are among the most widely-used and trusted free college scholarship search and financial aid information resources on the Internet and have been recognized by high schools, colleges and universities nationwide, among others.”
GSMPS
“The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program, funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was established in 1999 to provide outstanding African American, American Indian/Alaska Native*, Asian Pacific Islander American**, and Hispanic American students with an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in any discipline area of interest.”
“UNCF was founded in 1944 to help more African American students attend and graduate from college. Since then, we've helped to more than double the number of minorities attending college.”
“We are a team of parents who started this website in 2011 when researching financial aid for college for our high school seniors. We were disappointed with the lack of good, easy-to-find information about paying for college. Our passion and persistence led us to a lot of solid information which we decided to share with you - all for free.”
“Introducing the all-in-one website built to bring confidence to college search! Appily is the best place on the Internet for high school students to plan, decide, and apply to college. We're bringing the power of Appily, YouVisit, College Greenlight, and Concourse together to support students at each step in their admissions journey.”
"Mometrix Test Preparation is a privately owned company based in the southeast Texas metropolitan area, with printing and distribution facilities in Tyler County, Texas. An A+ member of the BBB since 2003, we research, develop, produce and retail our test preparation products to test-takers all over the world. Our products are developed by experts in each test’s field of study to ensure the highest quality, most relevant content possible. "
"MISSION OF COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS WEBSITE IS TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE, ACTIONABLE INFORMATION FOR: High school students headed for traditional two or four-year online college degrees and searching for college scholarships. Adults who wish to improve their career options and earning power by enrolling in online degrees or online certificate programs at the undergraduate level. Students of all ages interested in enrolling in vocational, technical, and career schools and colleges. Undergraduate degree holders seeking a master’s, doctoral, or professional school degree online."
“We strive to improve educational outcomes by putting the student first. We support students on their journey from high school to college and into their career with tools designed to help them learn their course materials, succeed in their classes, save money on required materials, and learn the most in-demand skills. Our services are available online, anytime and anywhere.”