You earned it, so use it. All of it.
Scholarship awards are fully applied to tuition: no reductions taken at Trinity Western University-Bellingham!
Many private scholarships and grants are available to students nationwide for both first-time freshmen and adult students returning to school. However, most public and private universities reduce a student’s total financing package by the amount of scholarships awarded. This can result in students still owing for tuition in spite of receiving federal financial aid and scholarships.
In contrast, at Trinity Western University all of your scholarship awards are applied 100% to your tuition...no reduction. Apply to all for which you are qualified, and see how your awards build. Use our attached scholarship database and check regularly for updates. The database can be downloaded and sorted for your ease of use.
1. Search and Find Scholarships
TWU Bellingham Scholarship Database
Download the Scholarship Database
The number of scholarships available today is overwhelming. There is no need to use a 'scholarship service" and those websites usually have a profit-motive so are not recommend. Instead, use the free methods already available to you: the Internet, and your local library.
High School Career Center
For new freshmen, check out the career center websites of local high schools as these have many scholarships listed. Usually this will be located in the counseling area of a high school website. It might take some clicking around but you will be surprised at the large lists these wonderful counselors have developed for college-bound students like you.
Financial assistance pages of university sites
New freshman, current college students and adults returning to school should look at the financial assistance web pages of a few well-known universities. Some of their listings will be specific for their school but most will be foundations whose money is available to any US resident. So you don't need to be a student at these schools to apply for the scholarships. Also, KFC, Burger King, and many retailers/restaurants have scholarships now. You could sit in the mall with a laptop, look around at the stores, and search their corporate homepage for their word "scholarship" to see what you find!
Internet search for organizations related to your life
Finally, search the Internet for organizations related to who you are—your life. Look for religious groups, special interest organizations (e.g. serving the environment, animals, communities), ethnic organizations, disabilities, special skills such as gifted ed (Mensa, Davidson ), career field (business, mental health) etc.
2. Get Organized
First deadline at the top of the pile
To organize your search, consider printing out the information for each scholarship then arranging the papers in order of deadline, with the soonest deadline first in the stack. Then these will have priority and you’ll be less likely to miss deadlines. To do this electronically instead of printing paper, you can simply create a list of website links, and list the links in order of due date by month. However, working off of printed pages is easier for parent and student to do together, and there is a physical sense of completion when putting the sheet into the "done" folder.
Prioritize your unique scholarship opportunities
Take time to look through the lists, portals and individual scholarships to find those that address your unique strengths and life situation. Note the deadlines and plan time in your calendar to collect the necessary information for a on-time submission.
You did the work. You won the scholarship.
Use it in full at Trinity Western University-Bellingham.
Get Started: Three Options
