6 Ways College Students Can Pay for Tuition
Sharing my secrets to earning over $65,000 in scholarships and graduating debt-free! This blog post was inspired by a Pace University student that asked for scholarship help on TikTok. I’ll be using their background for an example on how you can make this advice work for YOU!
Here are 6 Ways YOU can Pay for Tuition with Scholarships and Grants!
Step 1: Understand Scholarship Strategy
Scholarship strategy is a fancy way of saying “How to create a plan that will give you the highest chance of winning."
Most students don’t win scholarships because they’re focused on the wrong types. You need to prioritize scholarships that are:
Super local
AKA they’re only open to students in your City, State, or College
Super specific
AKA they match specific categories that fit your background
Require actual work
work = some type of essay, short answer, video submission, artwork, academic information, letters of rec, etc.
Have small award amounts
like $5,000 or less.
Bonus: You find scholarships that are a combination of the above examples.
Why should you understand scholarship strategy?
By applying a strong scholarship strategy you will find scholarships that have less competition. This gives you a competitive edge to win money because you'll be up against fewer people.
Now, let's move on to how to find these scholarships.
Step 2: Search At Your Actual College
Some of the best resources for college students are right under their noses. You need to check out the financial aid section of your college’s website! Many colleges have a database dedicated to scholarships and grants offered at the school!
Student example:
Let's go through this together! Our example: A student on TikTok asked for scholarship help. This is what I learned from snooping through their profile:
They're a first-generation college student (meaning they are the first in their immediate family to attend a 4-year institution)
They're pursuing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) degree in Computer Science
They're a minority and a woman
They attend Pace University
After learning this, I searched “Pace University First Gen Scholarships” as a starting point.
Then I clicked on the search result that popped up for Pace University's official website.
Boom! I was able to find their database for scholarship opportunities (click through to see the process)
Sources:
https://pace.academicworks.com/users/sign_in
You can do the same thing by searching:
“(InsertTheNameofYourSchool University) Scholarships”
“(InsertTheNameofYourSchool University) (insert category) Scholarships”
For example:
“University of Houston STEM Scholarships”
“University of Houston First Generation Scholarships”
“University of Houston Athletic Scholarships”
For reference, here are the types of categories you can win scholarships for:
Academic scholarships
Community service scholarships
Athletic scholarships
Scholarships for hobbies and extracurriculars
Scholarships based on applicants' identities
Need-based scholarships
Employer scholarships and military scholarships
Step 3: Ask around
Be resourceful--always ask about different scholarship/grant/work-study opportunities offered at your college. Good places to start would be
Speaking with a financial aid officer at your college
Reaching out to your college advisor about scholarships/opportunities/resources
Talking to professors in your field of study about opportunities
Student example:
For the Pace University student, it would be best for her to search through her university's Computer Science program to see what resources they offer. Women are a minority group in STEM, meaning there is often a lot of funding to help them secure these degrees. Look for categories where there’s the most funding! This is typically going to be for groups that are underrepresented in certain programs or majors!
Step 4: Look for outside scholarships
Student example:
Using the above student again, the university included a link for scholarships for first-generation students:
https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/merit-based/first-generation-scholarships
This comes from a popular, free scholarship search tool. These search tools are great ways to find outside scholarships.
Search tools + how to use ‘em
Never pay to search or apply for scholarships. Here are free search tools that suggest scholarships based on your background
Pro tip: use a separate email to sign up for these tools. Use more than one tool and shuffle between them. For more tips, check out this guide.
Another tip: Diversity your tools, for example:
Bold is a unique scholarship platform where all the scholarships are offered on their platform. Don’t just use Bold as one tool because they only show you scholarships on their platform. BUT use Bold as an additional tool because they are a smaller platform and you can take advantage of their more “niche” (specific) scholarships
.
Student example :
Using the above student again, here are a few I found that match the creator's background of being a minority woman pursuing a STEM degree.
Young Women for STEM Scholarship
Minority Women in STEM Scholarship
Step 5: Try to negotiate
Did’ya know that you can just straight up ask for more financial aid?
Now, don’t just go to your university and say “I WOULD LIKE TO NEGOTIATE MORE TUITION.”
Or “PLEASE GIVE ME MORE MONEY, I'M POOR.”
This is a very goofy move. You need to add some strategy and finesse!
Disclaimer: I’m not the negotiation expert, I just know that sh*t is possible! There are essentially two main reasons you can negotiate for more tuition:
Need-based appeal
AKA: Listing financial circumstances that prove that you have a higher financial need that is not being met
Merit-based appeal
AKA: Listing academic achievements that prove that you’re a high performing student that is eligible for more merit-based awards
Always research before trying these things out! There are so many free resources out there to point you in the right direction. Here are a few resources that might help:
How to Negotiate College Tuition
6 Effective things to say when negotiating for more financial aid:
Step 6: Join the Finesse Team!
I know the above can seem like a lot of information at first, but I want to give y’all all the options you have for getting money. Remember that even the tiniest of baby steps you take towards scholarships COUNTS. Pace yourself and do what you can to improve your financial situation.
I created this platform because I know how frustrating the scholarship process is. The financial freedom I gained through the process has been amazing, but going through this journey alone was tough. You don’t have to go through this alone though! Check out the resources I offer on my website and join the FYE community by following my socials. I give tips and advice on how to start, win, and finesse scholarships!
click here to pop into my free resources section and start exploring!