5 Tips to Fund Your Education

Are you or someone you know in need of finding funding for your education? Whether you desire to earn a bachelor's, master's, or a doctorate degree, money is available to help you achieve your educational goals.

Kimberly Sellars-Bates, president/CEO of KSTB Enterprises, LLC, presented a scintillating class yesterday at the Foundation Center-Atlanta on how to search and maximize your chances of receiving funds for your education.

Below are some tips she shared, plus a few of my own, to help you achieve your educational funding goals.

#1: Treat your scholarship search like a job. Although funding is available for your education, it will take consistent, persistent effort to find funding opportunities that fit your needs. Ms. Sellars-Bates recommends applying for a minimum of two scholarships per week, beginning as early as possible. Before you can apply for these scholarships, you first have to find the opportunities.

#2: Research funding opportunities. The research takes time, effort and energy. Here are some tools to expedite the process:

• Our web site for individual grantseekers has worksheets to help you focus and organize your research.
• Foundation Grants for Individuals Online is our searchable online database of more than 6,500 grantmakers that fund individual grantseekers, including those looking for financial aid. You can use it for free at the Foundation Center-Atlanta and its Cooperating Collections. Or, you can subscribe to it for $9.95 per month.
• For recent books and articles on finding support for your education, search for "Scholarships, fellowships and loans" or "Travel and study abroad" in our library catalog, Catalog of Nonprofit Literature.
• Ms. Sellars-Bates also recommends these web sites: Scholarships.com, College-Scholarships.com and Brokescholar.com.

#3: Organize your information. It is important to be highly organized as you search and apply for funding. All funders have their own application processes and submission deadlines. Being organized can help you to avoid rushing to submit applications at the last minute. Ms. Sellars-Bates recommends creating a scholarship binder. Here is a binder checklist to get you started:

• Extended Cover D-Ring View Binder, 3" wide
• Index Dividers (Jan-Dec)
• Extra-wide Insertable Dividers
• Sheet Protectors
• Post-It Notes or Index Cards
• 8½" x 11" White Paper, at least 20 pound weight
• Envelopes, Legal Size
• First Class Postage Stamps
• Large (9" x 12") White Envelopes (Ms. Sellars-Bates prefers white, but manila will do.)
• 3 Good Quality Pens (Black, Red, Green)

#4: Know what makes you stand out. There are grants for students with many different characteristics. Do you have physical or learning disabilities? Are you or a parent in the military? Are you a single parent? Are you involved in a religious community? Are you affiliated with any organizations?

Explore your hidden treasures to learn more about your unique attributes. Scholarships are given for a variety of reasons. Through time and effort you can find scholarships that fit your circumstances and life experiences. Use the worksheets under Tip #2 to guide your exploration.

#5: Select individuals to write letters of recommendation. In order for people to be willing to write glowingly about you, you have to be of service and demonstrate attributes worthy of a letter. How have you demonstrated your organizational skills, tenacity, persistence, determination or other characteristics others could write about?

The person who writes a recommendation for you should be someone how knows you relatively well. That doesn't mean that only long-time associates qualify. It does mean that the recommender has had enough interaction with you to give a genuine assessment of your skills and achievements. -- Kimberly Sellars-Bates

Just as the grantseeking process is competitive, so is earning scholarship awards. If there is ever a time to demonstrate focused, consistent effort, searching for scholarships for your education is that time. Apply for any scholarship that you believe is a good fit, even if you don't believe that you stand a chance. You will never know unless you try, so get started today. 

If you have had experience with a scholarship search, please share your tips and ideas with us by posting a comment to this blog.

Asia M. Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta