How to Get Free Money for College

The next step is applying for these scholarships. Fastweb.com has made this as easy as possible through its sorting process and the features on the page listing the ones you have the best shot at getting. Not only do they give the name of the scholarship and the amount, but the deadline for application, and whether an essay is required. You can identify it as one of your "favorites" or click on several possibilities to create a priority list. Then for each scholarship there is a link directly to the organization offering it, so you can immediately download an application. Your personal list also lets you add notes online to keep track of the process.

Scholarships.com presents its list of offerings in a similar format, but it does not have as many useful features, such as the ability to make notes and track your application status. And the number of matches at Scholarships.com was smaller -- only 60 offerings, compared to 91 at Fastweb.com, using the same student characteristics.

Unusual Scholarships

Believe it or not, there are scholarships targeted for short people, tall people, fat people, single moms and even skateboarders! There's one scholarship at Loyola University in Chicago for people who were born with the name Zolp. Harvard has scholarships waiting for people named Hudson, Thayer, Downer and Bright -- among many other specific surnames.

Optimists International offers a $6,000 scholarship -- if you write an optimistic essay! Similarly a high school girl can get a $10,000 Girls Going Places scholarship by having the nominator write a thousand-word essay on her spirit of entrepreneurship and financial acumen. The $50,000 Davidson Fellowship goes to an 18-year-old student who can present the "creation of a significant piece of work aimed at improving the lives of others in the areas of science, technology, mathematics, music, literature, philosophy and/or outside the box."

Probably the stickiest of all the scholarships offered are the Duct Tape Prom Scholarships of $3,000 each to the "couple [two individuals] who attend a high school prom wearing complete attire or accessories made from duct tape. The submission must include a color photograph of the couple together in prom attire."

According to Mark Kantrowitz, director of projects at FastWeb.com (and publisher of a companion site, www.FinAid.com), nearly 7% of students receive some private-sector scholarship money. The average amount is $2,000 per year. He advises scholarship seekers to be realistic: "Very few students get a 'free ride' -- a complete, all expenses college scholarship. And those students probably have superior athletic, scientific, or artistic talent."

But that shouldn't deter you from applying for multiple smaller scholarships, which can add up to big amounts of free money -- money you won't be repaying in interest-bearing student loans. It's definitely worth a try. And that's The Savage Truth.

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