Navigation Menu
  • Colleges
    • Get Matched To Colleges
    • Explore All Colleges
    • Colleges By State
    • Online Colleges
    • Review a College
  • Scholarships
    • Explore College Scholarships
    • Scholarship Match
    • Unigo Scholarships
    • $10K Scholarship
    • Unigo Scholarship Winners
  • Easy Scholarships
  • Unigo Scholarships
  • Student Loans
  • Articles
    • All Articles
    • Expert Admissions Advice
    • Get Ready for College
    • How to Pay for College
    • In College Tips
  • Log In
  • My Account
    • My Scholarship Match
    • My Saved Scholarships
    • My College Match
    • My Account
    • Log out
  • Sign Up!
  • Home
  • pay for college
  • scholarship
  • dont rely on a full ride scholarship apply to multiple scholarships

Don’t Rely on a Full-Ride Scholarship: Apply to Multiple Scholarships

Posted byUnigo Staff May 29, 2015November 28, 2022

By tamara

Each year, as students begin the process of applying to college, many come face-to-face with the harsh reality of what it actually costs to earn a degree. Some may have an inkling of how the expenses add up (tuition, room & board, lab fees, books and more), but most don’t really grasp the total cost until they receive their college financial aid letters. Hopefully, you have some college savings stashed away, and maybe you began your search for scholarships as soon as you entered high school with the help of a free scholarship matching service like ScholarshipExperts.com. If not, we hope you haven’t pinned all your paying-for-college hopes on just one source: the ever-elusive full-ride scholarship. Don’t get us wrong…full-ride scholarships do exist; but it appears that there are only about 20,000 full-ride awards provided by colleges each year. If there are 20.4 million students attending college in the United States, that means only about .1% of all college students receive institutional full-ride scholarships each year (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009).  Many of these full-ride scholarship programs are highly competitive, too, and to be considered, students often must have grade point averages above 3.75 and SAT scores well above 1400. Some scholarship programs have additional eligibility requirements, too, like state residency qualifications or having a minority status. It’s also commonly known that there are even fewer private full-ride scholarships available; some estimate that there are only about 250 private scholarship programs that cover the full bill at college. A couple of the better known full-ride programs include the Gates Millennium Scholars Program and the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship. Even with these generous private scholarship programs in existence, however, your chances of receiving a full-ride scholarship are still very slim. All students should plan ahead and cover all bases by applying to several types of scholarship programs with varying prize amounts. Submit applications to several smaller private scholarship programs to help cover your college expenses, and also apply to those offered in your state and at your schools of choice. And always, always, always file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (the FAFSA) to see if there are any federal financial aid dollars that you may be eligible to receive. By spreading out your application efforts and stacking your scholarship award strategy across federal, state, institutional and private sources of funding, you just may be able to secure enough free money to cover most of your college expenses.

Post navigation

Previous Post Previous post:
Never Too Late for Scholarships!
Next Post Next post:
Birthday Scholarships: Get Rewarded for Being Born!

Scholarships

  • Athletic Scholarships
  • College-Specific Scholarships
  • Company-Sponsored Scholarships
  • Grants for College
  • Merit-Based Scholarships
  • Minority Scholarships
  • Our Scholarships
  • Scholarship Contests & Sweepstakes
  • Scholarships By Major
  • Scholarships By State
  • Scholarships By Type
  • Scholarships For Graduate Students
  • Scholarships For High School Students
  • Scholarships For Undergraduate Students
  • Weird Scholarships
Unigo Scholarship Database

© 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Scholarship Providers
  • Add a Scholarship
  • Expedite My Scholarship
  • Promote My Scholarship
  • Start a Scholarship
Resources
  • Job Board
  • Student Deals
  • For Parents
  • For Counselors
TAKE ACTION
  • Review A College
  • College Match
  • Scholarship Match
  • Find a Loan
Social
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Financial aid may be available to those who qualify. The information on this site is for informational and research purposes only and is not an assurance of financial aid.

Privacy Policy   |    Terms of Use   |    FAQs   |    About Us   |    Disclosure: “What Determines Top/Best?”    |    Do Not Sell My Personal Information (CA and NV residents)

Disclosure: EducationDynamics receive compensation for the featured schools on our websites (see “Sponsored Schools” or “Sponsored Listings” or “Sponsored Results”). So what does this mean for you? Compensation may impact where the Sponsored Schools appear on our websites, including whether they appear as a match through our education matching services tool, the order in which they appear in a listing, and/or their ranking. Our websites do not provide, nor are they intended to provide, a comprehensive list of all schools (a) in the United States (b) located in a specific geographic area or (c) that offer a particular program of study. By providing information or agreeing to be contacted by a Sponsored School, you are in no way obligated to apply to or enroll with the school.

The sources for school statistics and data is the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

This is an offer for educational opportunities that may lead to employment and not an offer for nor a guarantee of employment. Students should consult with a representative from the school they select to learn more about career opportunities in that field. Program outcomes vary according to each institution’s specific program curriculum.

×

Sponsored Meaning Explained

EducationDynamics receives compensation for the featured schools on our websites (see “Sponsored Ad” or “Sponsored Listings” or “Sponsored Results”). So what does this mean for you? Compensation may impact where the Sponsored Schools appear on our websites, including whether they appear as a match through our education matching services tool, the order in which they appear in a listing, and/or their ranking. Our websites do not provide, nor are they intended to provide, a comprehensive list of all schools (a) in the United States (b) located in a specific geographic area or (c) that offer a particular program of study. By providing information or agreeing to be contacted by a Sponsored School, you are in no way obligated to apply to or enroll with the school. Your trust is our priority. We at EducationDynamics believe you should make decisions about your education with confidence. that’s why EducationDynamicsis also proud to offer free information on its websites, which has been used by millions of prospective students to explore their education goals and interests.

close