Scholarship Tigers–Students Helping Each Other Find Money for College

I went looking for easy scholarships to apply for, and I found the following:

1. https://bold.org/scholarships/creative-inspired-happy-mid-career-writing-scholarship/

$1,000 CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY Mid-Career Writing Scholarship, D: Dec 31, 2024, two winners

Selected criteria from webpage:

“The CREATIVE.INSPIRED.HAPPY Mid-Career Writing Scholarship is a scholarship for an aspiring writer not currently in a professional writing career, for use toward furthering their education in writing, such as continuing education or community college courses on writing.

This scholarship is open to aspiring writers in any field, including fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

To apply, tell us what you love about writing and why you want to further your education in the field.

Essay Topic: What do you love about writing? Why do you want to further your education? (400-600 words)”

Click on the link above for more information (will help you in writing your essay).

2. https://bold.org/scholarships/joe-gilroy-plan-your-work-work-your-plan-scholarship/

$1,100 Joe Giloy “Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan” Scholarship, D: Feb 28, 2025, two winners

Selected criteria from webpage:

“This scholarship aims to support any student who has dreams and a detailed plan on how to pursue and achieve them.

Anybody who is pursuing further education of some kind may apply for this scholarship if they have specific goals and experience in the field they’re pursuing. Eligible candidates includes those pursuing trade school, certifications or graduates who are trying to pay down student loan debt.

To apply, tell us about your goals and your plans for achieving them, including as many details as possible.

Essay Topic: Please describe your goals and the plans you have to reach these goals. Please include details, including the resources necessary, a budget, and thorough thought of all the angles. Resources and timing are important in any plan, as well as consideration of all paths for success. (400–600 words)”

Click on the link above for more information (will help you in writing your essay).

3.  https://bold.org/scholarships/redefining-victory-scholarship/

$2,500 Redefining Victory Scholarship, D: Apr 1, 2025, eight winners

Selected criteria from webpage:

“Success can mean different things for different people; from the pursuit of academic excellence to the realization of personal passions and goals, these diverse interpretations of achievement reflect the perspectives that individuals develop as they navigate their unique journeys.

Regardless of their paths, achievers’ lives are marked by passion, perseverance, and self-education, proving that potential is not limited to the traditional academic route. The common thread is a commitment to improvement and a resilience in the face of challenges and hardships. By embracing diverse avenues for personal growth, anyone can conquer the challenges of life and attain the pinnacle of success.

Any student may apply, whether pursuing a community college or university degree, attending a trade school, or completing a certificate program.

To apply, describe what success looks like to you and how this opportunity will help you achieve it.

Previous winners are encouraged to apply; please include how you have progressed in your program.

Essay topic: Describe what success looks like for you and how this opportunity will help you achieve it. (500–800 words)”

Click on the link above for more information.

Other Scholarships Offered by Bold.Org

https://bold.org/scholarships/

Bold.org administers many more easy scholarships. Click on the link above to discover all the scholarships they administer. You can also choose various categories to limit your search based on education level; major or area of interest; status (is the scholarship open, reviewing entries, or awarded); choose scholarships with no-essay; and sort (by newest, oldest, nearest deadline, farthest deadline, highest amount, or lowest amount)

Choose Highest Amount (in Sort by) and Status (Open) to see what scholarships show up. (That is for a future Scholarship Tigers blog, but you can get a head start on finding those scholarships. We can only feature a few here.)

A Little Experiment

Many times in life we don’t pursue endeavors because we have pre-decided what the outcomes will be. And our imaginations run wild, dreaming up all kinds of negative scenarios about ourselves and the world.

I have discovered that if you conduct little experiments, making a small action toward breaking down your resistance, that you can often persevere and continue. Here is a little experiment: if you are reading this, and it is between Dec 19, 2024-Jan 1, 2025– email Mike Turner at mjturner@tnstate.edu, and we can set up a Zoom session for 10 minutes or so to talk about any of the scholarships above or any part of the process of paying for school without amassing large amounts of debt.

A Little More Difficult But Not Too Difficult Scholarship

https://bold.org/scholarships/mindscape/

$10,000 Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Big Picture Scholarship, D: Dec 31, 2024, two winners

Selected criteria from webpage:

“The Mindscape Big Picture Scholarship was created to provide financial support for those who are looking to pursue higher education to understand how the world works.

This scholarship is open to all students who have a deep curiosity in studying the universe for its own sake—whether that be pursuing studies in physics, philosophy, biology, mathematics, literature, or any other field that seeks better understanding of our existence—and will seek to lift up those from underrepresented communities in those fields, and first-generation college students.

Scholarship recipients will receive $10,000, to be put toward the tuition cost of an undergraduate degree.

Essay Topic: Explain why you think it’s important that we work to better understand the nature of our universe, and what ideas and concepts you hope to employ in order to do so. (400–1500 words)”

I found this scholarship by browsing the database of Bold.org using the highest amount and open as my criteria, any education level.

1. The Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship is Now Open!

https://www.tacobellfoundation.org/live-mas-scholarship/

$25,000, $10,000, and $5,000 Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship, D: Jan. 8, 2025

Create a 2 minute or less [more than 30 seconds] no larger than 500 MB video about your passion and you might earn this scholarship.

Selected criteria from website:

Ages 16-26, legal resident of the U.S. or the dependent child of an active duty member of the U.S. miliary, no third-party infringement (no company logos on clothing or music heard on the video that is not your own creation, for example)

“Submit a video that addresses these questions:

• What is your passion and how are you currently pursuing it or planning to pursue it?
• How do you plan to use your passion to make your community, country, and/or world, etc. a better place?
• What is your education plan (education program, college, or certificate/degree program) and how will it help you pursue your passion and create positive impact?

Please visit the website above to get more information about what to include (and not include) in your video.

2. Foreclosure.com Essay Scholarship Awards Three Prizes: $4,000 and two $1,000 prizes

https://www.foreclosure.com/scholarship

$4,000 and $1,000 Foreclosure.com Scholarship, D: Dec 15, 2024

Selected criteria from website:

Essay should Min 800-Max 2,000 words, must have a title, be written in English, “No AI generated essay submission partial or entirely will be accepted,” and in a Word document or PDF document.

“Are foreclosures and preforeclosures the only way to find affordable housing in the current market?

With both interest rates and prices still much higher than pre-covid are financially distressed properties such as foreclosures and preforeclosures the only way of getting affordable housing?

Discuss how to find affordable housing in the 2024 – 2025 market.

“Currently enrolled college students (graduate students, law students and/or high school seniors are NOT eligible) are invited to apply by submitting an essay. Freshman entering Fall 2024 are eligible once they have received a student ID number.”

Other Scholarship Lists or Opportunities to Explore for the Future

The following are some scholarships, scholarship lists, and articles you might explore. I don’t always have time to write up what I find. Explore and see if you can pursue these opportunities.

1. https://goingmerry.com/blog/category/scholarship-lists/

Scholarship Lists brought to you by GoingMerry

2. https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/community/hacer.html

McDonald’s HACER National Scholarship, D: Feb 6, 2025

Other details: high school senior; legal U.S. Resident, U.S. Citizen or a DREAMER/DACA recipient; under 21; min 2.8 GPA; have at least one parent of Hispanic/Latino heritage

3. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/private-scholarships-to-help-you-pay-for-college

15 Private Scholarships to Help You Pay for College article

4. https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/full-tuition-scholarships

25 Full Tuition Scholarships

5. http://www.beyondtheboroughs.org/

Beyond the Boroughs awards scholarships “up to $20,000 over four years to full-time students who have been accepted to an accredited four-year college, university or equivalent (culinary school, for example).

This scholarships opens on January 1, 2025 with a deadline of March 15, 2025.

Deadline is March 15 of every year [March 15, 2025]; notification of award by June 15 of the school year prior to when the scholarship will commence. Applications accepted each year starting in January[January 2025].

“Applicants can be current high school seniors entering college in the fall or students currently attending a college or university.

Scholarship Application Requirements:

• Acceptance to an accredited four-year college, university or equivalent
• G.P.A. of 2.5 or higher
• Involvement in an extra-curricular activity or work
• Completion of full application”

Have you been looking for scholarships and paying attention to deadlines?

Close to the end of the year and the beginning of next year is when many scholarships have their deadlines.

1. https://scholarships360.org/scholarships/search/science-ambassador-scholarship/

$20,000 Cards Against Humanity Science Ambassador Scholarships, D: Dec 16, 2024

Open to high school seniors and college students. “$20,000 each to five women or non-binary high school seniors or undergraduate students who submit a three-minute educational video on a STEM topic they’re passionate about.”

Where I found it: https://scholarships360.org/scholarships/top-december-scholarships/

2. https://www.10xdigitalinc.com/digital-marketing-scholarship/

$4,000 10X Digital Marketing Scholarship, D: Dec 1, 2024

From webpage: “Are you a high school senior or undergraduate who is looking to offset the cost of your business, tech, marketing or communications degree? Apply for the 10X $4,000 scholarship to be awarded Winter 2025.

Who Qualifies:

High school seniors and college undergraduate students

Major (or plans to major) in a field related to digital marketing

Must plan to take at least 10 credit hours during the Spring 2025 semester

How To Apply:

Write an essay of at least 500 words regarding your life story, your intended field of study, career and how you specifically will make an impact on the world.”

Where I found this scholarship: https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarship-directory/deadline/deadline-in-december

3. https://bold.org/scholarships/elevate-women-in-technology-scholarship/

$1,040 Elevate Women in Technology Scholarship, D: Nov 30, 2024

From webpage: “The scholarship is open to students at any educational level and field of study. The only application requirement is that students are women who intend to enter a technical or non-technical career that leverages technology to make the world a better place.

While not required, being involved in entrepreneurial endeavors and STEM fields of study will be a plus on student applications.

Essay topic (250-400 words): “Tell us about one technology (new or old) that inspires you about the way in which technology can make the world a better place.”

Where I found this scholarship: https://bold.org/scholarships/by-year/undergraduate-scholarships/

4.  https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-us/scholarship

$2,000 Fisher Investments “Invest in Your Future” Scholarship, D: Jan 31, 2025

From webpage: “Twice per year, The Fisher Investments “Invest in Your Future” College Scholarship Program will award $2,000 to college students who demonstrate financial literacy skills and a commitment to achieving their financial goals. We encourage all applicants from all educational backgrounds, who can clearly demonstrate strong financial literacy skills, a commitment to achieving their short and long-term financial goals, and outstanding academic performance.”

Other criteria: Must be at least 17 years old at time of application, must be a US citizen or non-US citizen eligible for federal student aid, and must have a minimum 3.0 GPA

High School Seniors only

If you are a high school senior, you are a future Tiger Scholar. Here are opportunities just for you.

1. https://www.rollinsscholarship.org/scholarship-application

$5,000 Ted and Holly Robbins Scholarship, D: Dec 1, 2024

“Scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors based on the most compelling stories — regarding their life story, their intended field of study, career and how they will make an impact on the world. Apply for a $5,000 Scholarship awarded Winter 2025!”

Where I found it: https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarship-directory/deadline/deadline-in-december

Scholarships for the Future

The following are some scholarships or scholarship lists for the future. I often find more information than I can feature. You might want to explore them to see if you would qualify and put them on your radar.

1.  https://www.pimco.com/us/en/about-us/inclusion-diversity/future-leaders-scholarship

The PIMCO Foundation Future Leaders Scholarship

2. https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarship-directory/academic-major/finance

Finance Scholarships

3. https://www.tacobellfoundation.org/live-mas-scholarship/

Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship, sign up to receive a reminder for when this scholarship opens.

4. https://www.scholarships.com/scholarships/smithgroup-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-scholarship-program#

$6,000 SmithGroup Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Scholarship Program, D: Dec 1, 2024

5. https://www.scholarships.com/scholarships/ron-brown-scholar-program#

$40,000 ($10,000 per year) Ron Brown Scholar Program, D: Dec 1, 2024

5. https://techforce.org/FordFund/

2024 Ford Auto Tech Scholarship

6. https://scholaroo.com/scholarships/

Scholarships database for Scholaroo

7. https://www.cfp.net/get-certified/tools-and-resources/apply-for-a-scholarship

Scholarships and Financial Aid for Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification

8. https://bcbstnews.com/scholarship/

Power of We Health Equity Scholarships—for Tennessee residents

9.  https://scholaroo.com/scholarship/stegall-charitable-educational-foundation-scholarship/

Stegall Charitable Educational Foundation Scholarship—for Tennessee residents

10. https://www.jkcf.org/our-scholarships/

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s scholarship programs 

Up to $55,000 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, D: Jan 9, 2025

Up to $55,.000 College Scholarship Program, D: Nov 14, 2024, open to high school seniors

Young Scholars Program, Application period, Feb 6-Apr 30, 2025

11. https://www.cfmt.org/scholars/apply-for-scholarships/

Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee scholarships, opens Dec 1, 2024; Deadline: Feb 1, 2025

12. https://www.cfgm.org/scholarships

Community Foundation of Greater Memphis scholarships, opens Jan 2025

13. https://easttennesseefoundation.org/students/scholarships-we-offer/

East Tennessee Foundation scholarships. Deadlines may be March 1, 2025.

14, https://www.tniai.org/students

Scholarships given by the TN Division of the International Association for Identification and other resources

There are many scholarships that one can find not based on GPA, but on other factors.

Many people avoid scholarships that involve writing, but these are the ones that often don’t require a high GPA or any GPA.

Let’s explore a few.

1. https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/our-scholarships

Unigo Monthly Scholarships

Unigo offer a scholarship each month. Here are a few:

Unigo $10K Scholarship

$5,000 Education Matters Scholarship

$1,500 Top Ten List

and the famous scholarship for October (often found on List of Weird Scholarships) is the

$2,000 Zombie Apocalypse, D: Oct 31, 2024.

https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/our-scholarships/zombie-apocalypse-scholarship

Here is the prompt: “Imagine that your high school or college has been overrun with zombies. Your math professor, the cafeteria ladies, and even your best friend have all joined the walking dead. Flesh out a plan to avoid the zombies, including where you’d hide and the top-five things you’d bring to stay alive.” (250 words or less)

You can apply with Essay or Video (this is a new option).

You can click on See Past Winners and see how some students wrote poems, song parodies, or fiction to show their creativity and won.

If you are a TSU student, you can use the services of the AARC Writing Center to brainstorm ideas, write a draft, and then have a writing consultant look over your draft and give you suggestions.

https://www.unigo.com/scholarships

You can explore the Unigo Scholarship Database separated by such categories as Major, Types of Scholarships (such as Mental Health, For Women, For Adopted Children, etc), Company Offered Awards, Merit Based, For Minority Students, and more.

2. https://www.genkellyscholarship.com/apply

$1,000 Gen and Kelly Tanabe Scholarship, D: Dec 31, 2024

Offered twice a year, this scholarship is open to 9^th-12^th grade high school, college, or graduate students including adult students.

From webpage:

“In 250 words or less, please submit an essay on one of the following:

1. Why do you deserve to win this scholarship? -OR-
2. Describe your academic or career goals. -OR-
3. Any topic of your choice. Feel free to re-use an essay that you wrote in class, for college admission or another scholarship competition.”

Notice, you could try out for different Unigo scholarships, choose which one you think is the best, and submit it for this essay.

This scholarship is not tied to GPA.

3. https://www.collegeispower.com/scholarship.cfm

$1,000 College is Power (CIP) Scholarship, D: Dec 31, 2024

Eligibility: “Students age 17 years or older who plan to start a program of higher education within the next 12 months or who are currently enrolled in a program of higher education.

Applicants may be full- or part-time students and attend a campus-based or online program. Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.”

Question: Short Statement. In 150 words or fewer, please answer: “What is your primary goal for going to school?”

4. https://www.moolahspot.com/scholarship/

$1,000 The MoolahSPOT Scholarship, D: Dec 31, 2024

Eligibility: “Any student at least 16 years or older who plans to attend, or is currently attending, college or graduate school. Students may be of any nationality and reside in any country. Students may study any major or plan to enter any career field at any accredited college or graduate school. Although applicants can be from any country, all applications must be completed in English.”

Prompt: “Short Essay

In 400 words or less, please submit an essay on one of the following:

1. Why do you deserve to win this scholarship? -OR-

2. What is your academic or career goal? -OR-

3. Describe what is most important to you and why. -OR-

4. Any topic of your choice.

In fact, it’s okay to re-use an essay that you wrote in class, for college admission or for another scholarship competition.”

https://www.moolahspot.com/index.cfm

MoolahSPOT has a scholarship database that I briefly tried out, and it comes back with some good results.

If there are “No Essay” scholarships, these are often contests; I would suggest entering these with a Gmail or Yahoo email account strictly used for those purposes.

5. https://www.return2college.com/awardprogram.cfm

$1,000 Return to College (R2C) Scholarship, D: Jan 31, 2025

Eligibility

“Applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal residents who are starting a program of higher education (college or graduate school) within the next 12 months or are currently full- or part-time students. Applicants must be age 17 years or older. There is no maximum age limit.”

Prompt: Three (3) sentence essay. In three sentences or less, please answer: “Why are you getting your degree?”

The page mentions you can enter more than once, but cautions to use “common sense” and don’t apply more than 12 times.

Scholarship Search Engines to Find More and Interesting Finds

1. https://jlvcollegecounseling.com/scholarships/

Jessica maintains this great scholarship database, and I find many of the scholarships I mention on this blog from the link above.

2. https://scholarshipamerica.org/students/browse-scholarships/

Scholarship Search engine brought to you by Scholarship America

3. https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/training/find-scholarships.aspx

U.S. Department of Labor’s Free Scholarship search tool

4. https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/scholarships

“Find and apply for as many scholarships as you can—it’s free money for college or career school,” article found on the official Federal Student Aid website

5. https://www.usnews.com/education/scholarships/search

U.S. News Scholarship Finder

6. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/scholarship-directory

BigFuture Scholarship Directory