If you are in the healthcare field, then you know what it is like to take care of people – now is your chance to be taken care of!

In its 18^th year, the Tylenol Scholarship program will give students in the healthcare field scholarship money towards their education. Tylenol is giving out $250,000 in scholarships to forty students, based on their leadership qualities and performance.

• Ten students will be awarded $10K scholarships
• Thirty students will receive $5K grants

Applications must be received by May 14, 2010 – so apply today! Visit Tylenol’s website for more details and to apply.

• Deadline is May 14, 2010
• Winners will be selected by July 15, 2010
• Funds will be delivered by September 2010

If you are in the healthcare field, check out more information on healthcare scholarships.

The AARP Foundation Women’s Scholarship Program is for nontraditional students – women who are 40+ years old, and who are seeking new educational opportunities, job skills, and training.

The deadline to apply for this scholarship is March 31, 2010. It is available for full or part-time students.

The AARP Foundation Women’s Scholarship may be used at public or private schools, community colleges, technical schools, and universities, for tuition, fees, and books. This scholarship is not for graduate degree programs. Rather, it is for women seeking out training and certificate programs. Many women are returning to the workforce after an extended absence, or are underemployed and need more skills and experience to further their careers.

Requirements for applying for the AARP Foundation Women’s Scholarship Program

Applicants must be:

• Women
• At least 40 years old (by 3/31/2010)
• U.S. Citizens
• Enrolled in an accredited school or technical program in the United States (within 6 months of the scholarship award date)
• Able to demonstrate a need for financial aid

For more information, or to apply to the AARP Foundation Women’s Scholarship Program, please visit their website. (Click on the “Apply Here” tab). Remember, the deadline is March 31, 2010 – so apply today!

Check out the other available scholarships for women:
Scholarships for Single Mothers

Happy Presidents’ Day! Since most of you probably have the day off, now is a good time to start searching for scholarships!  Here are some tips to help you with your search:

1. Don’t wait until your senior year of high school to start searching for scholarships. It is a time- consuming process that requires research. Search for scholarships from your community and state, the school you’re interested in, and any religious organizations or other groups that you may be involved in.
2. Don’t just apply for higher paying scholarships – a bunch of smaller scholarships can really add up! Apply to any and all scholarships that you are eligible for.
3. Market yourself in your applications and essays. Positively showcase yourself and your life experiences. Scholarship sponsors are looking for well-rounded individuals involved in their community, sports, or extracurricular activities.
4. Thoroughly answer the essay question that was asked. Don’t write about unrelated topics.
5. Proofread your scholarship applications and essays thoroughly.  You don’t want some grammar errors or typos to mess up your chances at a scholarship.
6. Send in all requested materials. Some scholarships want letters of recommendation, others want essays, and some will require both.
7. Make copies of all your paperwork – essays, transcripts, and applications. It will help you keep track of the scholarships you already applied to, and in case you need to reference or resend anything, you will have it readily available.
8. It may be helpful to create a spreadsheet with sections for the name of the scholarship, the deadline, requirements, contact information, and important links to organize your progress.
9. Don’t miss the deadline! Send things out early, since they may take longer than you expect to arrive at their destinations.
10. Send your application by registered or certified mail. You will have a receipt and be able to track its progress so you know when it has arrived.

Remember to start your scholarship search early – scholarships help pay for your education, so apply to as many as you can!

Are you an aspiring professional athlete? Do you think you have what it takes to be in the Winter Olympics one day? If so, and if you are in high school, you should look into sports scholarships that are available at the colleges and universities you are interested in attending!

Search for schools that offer your sport of choice, and contact their athletic department and coaches to obtain information about the scholarships they offer, and how to apply for one. It is important to market yourself to your desired schools, to make sure they know who you are!

There are a many different sports scholarships available, and they will differ according to what athletics and sports each school offers. These may include scholarships for golf, baseball, basketball, soccer, football, wrestling, swimming, hockey, softball, tennis, skiing, cross country, track, volleyball, crew, archery, field hockey, or gymnastics (among others).

Division I and Division II schools give out undergraduate athletic scholarships. Division III schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, they only offer academic scholarships. Athletic scholarships are regulated and partially funded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Athletic scholarships are also distributed equally among the sexes.

Student-athletes who are interested in playing sports in college should register with the NCAA Eligibility Center at the start of their junior year in high school. There are requirements for getting a scholarship at a NCAA Division I or Division II school, which always require students to earn and maintain a certain GPA. Additional information is available on their website.

A reminder that the 2010 Winter Olympics start Friday February 12 – so student-athletes should start preparing to win the gold today by receiving sports scholarships from their schools!

Top 10 Scholarship Scams

Don’t be a victim of a scholarship scams! Applying for college scholarships may be time-consuming, but researching available scholarships that meet your needs will provide you with a better chance of receiving money towards your college education.

Protect your time, money, and information while applying for college scholarships – avoid these popular scholarship scams:

1. Unsolicited or random emails offering scholarship assistance
2. If the scholarship requires you to send money upfront, but you see nothing in return – scholarships don’t ask students for money, they are supposed to give students money!
3. You’re told that you’ve won a scholarship, but it requires you to pay taxes or fees before you can receive it. You have to apply to scholarships in order to receive them, so if you don’t remember doing so, it is a scam.
4. If you receive a check in the mail for a scholarship, but are required to send a different check back paying for taxes or fees.
5. If a scholarship search service or database charges you to register to look through their information. Scholarship information is free to the public.
6. Companies that claim to fill out scholarship applications for you, if you pay them a fee. Applying for scholarships requires lots of time, work, personal information, and writing samples that outsiders cannot do thoroughly. Most likely they will pocket the cash, and never fill out any applications for you.
7. Scholarship matching services that claim you’ll win a scholarship, or they will refund your money. These scholarship matching services do not have anything to do with, or have a final say in which students receive scholarships by the sponsored organizations.
8. Some scholarship scams try to copy legit education, government, and grant-giving foundations by using official-sounding names. Look out for those that include national, administration, federal, or foundation – just because it is in their name, doesn’t mean they are official organizations!
9. If you are requested to attend a free seminar for financial aid advice or assistance, watch out! These are usually sales pitches for financial aid consulting services, pricey student loans, or scholarship matching services.
10. Some education loan scams will offer you a low-interest loan, but require that you must pay a fee before receiving it. Real loans are issued by banks or recognized lenders, and do not require a payment upfront.

Scholarships are intended to give students money toward their schooling, and are usually provided by the government or non-profit organizations. Check out more information on scholarship scams.

Video contest scholarships are gaining momentum these days. As more and more students create and post video content online, and with companies and associations wanting to interact with students on sites like YouTube and Facebook, video scholarships are a great way to add some variety to your scholarship search. Even the U.S Department of Education got in on the action last fall.

This semester, keep video scholarships in mind. These opportunities challenge you to be creative, give you the opportunity to win decent sums of money for college, and best of all, do not require a written essay! Here are three upcoming scholarships for this semester:

1. The Credit Union Foundation of Maryland and D.C. is offering their college-bound credit union members the opportunity to apply for their $1,000 video-based scholarship by creating a 60-second advertisement promoting credit union membership. The Foundation’s Chairman believes the video topics will provoke innovative and useful responses to help them better serve their college-aged members.
   Deadline: March 31, 2010
2. Texas residents or lawyers licensed to practice in Texas might be interested in a YouTube contest sponsored by the State Bar of Texas offering cash prizes and scholarships for the best 30-second video answering either “Why are lawyers important to our society?” or “How is the court system important to our society?” The cash prize is $500 (ahem, a drop in the law school tuition bucket), but two will be awarded, as will one videographer under 18 years old who will win a $500 scholarship. All three winners get a trip to Austin to celebrate Law Day with the Bar. Submissions will be posted to the bar’s YouTube group.
   Deadline: April 1, 2010
3. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at accredited colleges and universities are invited to create a short 5-minute film or video that interprets the message and mission of the Christophers, a nonprofit organization that believes one person can make a difference, and that God has given each individual a special task in life which belongs to no one else. First prize will receive $2,000.
   Deadline: June 11, 2010

Have you ever submitted a video for a scholarship? How did it come out? Share the link in the comments!

Women have been and still are underrepresented in fields related to the sciences, technology, engineering and math. Many college and university departments relative to these fields offer scholarships to attract women to diversify their classes and encourage women to make their own contributions to such disciplines.

In addition to engineering scholarships, such as the five below, some women engineering students invested in research could win lucrative graduate fellowships, which not only provide them with second-to-none experience, but help establish themselves and showcase their work in what is traditionally a male-dominated field.

1. American Nuclear Society – John and Muriel Landis Scholarships award eight scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students who have greater than average financial need. One of these scholarships, the Delayed Education Scholarship for Women, is awarded to a mature woman whose undergraduate studies in nuclear science, nuclear engineering, or a nuclear-related field have been delayed.
   Deadline: February 1, 2010
2. The Society of Women Engineers – The SWE Scholarship Program provides financial assistance to women admitted to accredited baccalaureate or graduate programs, in preparation for careers in engineering, engineering technology and computer science.
   Award Amount: between $1,000 – 10,000
   Deadline: February 15, 2010
3. AAUW (American Association of University Women) – AAUW Branch and State Local Scholarship Clearinghouse Pilot Program allows women in engineering and other sciences to submit a scholarship application which will then be directed to its local branch or state for consideration. Award amounts, degree or field of study, and other eligibility criteria vary per state.
   Award Amounts: Varies; most are between $100 – 5,000
   Deadline: March 1, 2010
4. The Society of Women Engineers – Reentry scholarships were established to assist women in reentering the workforce as engineers. These scholarships are for a non-traditional student, in any year of engineering school, including graduate school. These scholarships include the BK Krenzer Memorial Reentry Scholarship and the Olive Lynn Salembier Memorial Reentry Scholarship.
   Award Amount: $2,000 each
   Deadline: May 15, 2010
5. The Society of Women Engineers – some SWE chapters offer scholarship assistance to students on a local level.  If you reside or attend school within certain geographical areas, you may be eligible for additional scholarship assistance.
   Award Amounts: Varies; most are between $250 – 1,500
   Deadline: Varies by state

After a year of daunting news about student loan debt and broken state financial aid budgets, EducationGrant.com is happy to share this positive assessment of Santa Claus’s readiness for his big night, from his personal physician at University of North Carolina School of Medicine:

Although a bit conservative (they would like him to lose weight), the rest of Santa’s UNC medical team nevertheless appears optimistic about his continued employment. (Santa’s endocrinologist needs a little gender sensitivity training, however.)

For students in need of financial aid to attend college, North Carolina has a substantial collection of scholarship programs and sources. The Carolina Covenant program, for example, provides a debt-free education to qualified low-income students.

UNC Chapel Hill was the nation’s first state university (1795) and the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century. If you are or plan to be a UNC student, check the university’s Office of Scholarships and Student Aid for instructions on how to get started. The UNC Office of Adult Services and Evening Services has scholarship resources for single moms and other nontraditional students, and for North Carolina residents, the College Foundation of North Carolina has a long list of providers of both need-based and merit-based scholarships.

And check back here next week for information on the 2010 FAFSA. January 1, 2010 is the first day you can start filling out a FAFSA for a college program that starts after June 30th. The first step: applying for a FAFSA PIN (Personal Identification Number) and filling out a FAFSA practice worksheet to familiarize yourself with the official form.

Until then, EducationGrant wishes all its readers, and college students everywhere, safe and happy holidays!

In keeping with the season, it seemed appropriate to talk about college scholarships for Halloween. The current semester is half-over, but these unusual private scholarships will give some creative, artistic students a jump on next year’s scholarship applications.

Harry Houdini, who died on Halloween, 1926, was a longtime president of the Society of American Magicians — at 107, the oldest formally organized magical society in the world. Houdini was an escape artist, fraud-buster, and movie star, but along with all of that, he was a lifelong learner. The Society of American Magicians today funds a number of education programs, including scholarships for fulltime college students. To be eligible for the college scholarship, you must be an experienced magician with the potential to perform magic professionally. (You’ll need to provide letters of recommendation from 2 magicians who can attest to your expertise in magic.) You must also be enrolled in a curriculum that supports a career related to magic, including drama/theater and business and/or marketing, and you must demonstrate academic achievement as well as financial need. The scholarship application is not magically retrievable, but you can download it from the S.A.M. website. The deadline is March 31st.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE) was formed more than a century ago and is now the largest labor union in the entertainment industry. As a service to its members, IATSE’s Scholarship Foundation provides financial aid for 2 high school seniors applying for admission to a bachelor’s degree program at an accredited college or university. (To be eligible for the scholarship, you must be the son or daughter of an IATSE member in good standing.) Each scholarship provides $1,750 per year for a total of $7,000 over a 4-year period. You can download the application from the IATSE website, which will provide all the application criteria. The deadline is December 31st.

A long time ago, my mother made me a beautiful Halloween costume by hand out of tissue paper, Elmer’s Glue, a green sweatshirt, and brown tights: I was a leafy summertime tree. Today, the deep-rooted National Costumers Association, still going strong after 85 years, provides scholarships to students who want to go into the costume industry. Your application criteria include an essay describing how your college studies relate to and will support your career in costuming. You have to be 17 or older, maintaining a 2.75 minimum GPA, and either enrolled or enrolling in an accredited university, college, or career school. The scholarship amounts vary depending on the number of applicants and the amount of funding available. This is definitely an “early bird has the best chance at the worm” Halloween scholarship opportunity. See the NCA website for full details and the application. The deadline is April 1, 2010.

Promoting costume education, research, preservation, and design, the Costume Society of America works to “advance the global understanding of all aspects of dress and appearance” and to “encourage study in the rich and diverse field of costume.” The Society’s $2,000 – $2500 Student Research Grant (named for a Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute curator and CSA founding member) was created to support a current undergraduate or graduate student doing research in North American costume. You must be a member of the Society to be eligible for the grant, but you’ll find everything you need for both membership and the grant’s thorough application on the CSA Grants website. The deadline is May 1.

Scholarships and grants may not seem like a Halloween-friendly subject, but financial aid should not be scary. The trick is to find the trade organizations related to your career path, as these scholarships for Halloween show.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Here’s a nifty scholarship program: the University of Alabama offers full 4-year scholarships to students who get to the Semifinalist round of the National Merit^® or National Achievement^® Scholarship program. That’s Semifinalist, not Award-winner or even Finalist.

To qualify for this scholarship, you have to be a high school senior who can apply for admission to UA in time to be accepted by December 1st of your senior year, with a 3.5 GPA.

If you meet all the above requirements as a National Merit/National Achievement^® Scholar Semifinalist, you’ll be eligible for a scholarship that covers the value of tuition for 4 years.

If you meet all the requirements as a Finalist, you’re in line for housing, an annual $1,000 stipend, a laptop computer, and one-time award of $2,000 for a summer research or international study project, in addition to tuition. The Finalist benefits are also available to National Hispanic Scholars who meet certain GPA and SAT requirements.

It’s easy to see why the University of Alabama is so proud of its National Merit, National Achievement, and National Hispanic Scholar students. In the 2008-2009 academic year, UA was 11-highest enroller of National Merit Scholars out of the country’s 629 public universities, and in 2007-2008, #28 out of 2,400+ public and private universities together.

For complete eligibility, enrollment, and application details on UA’s Semifinalist scholarships, visit the university’s website.

And if you’re not interested in Alabama, there may be public or private colleges in your area who offer similarly generous scholarships to Semifinalists.