Some Places to Look for a Scholarship...

…would be the local community foundation, especially for young people in high school who are looking into the future. The best time to start checking for scholarships is in your junior year of high school, when you still have time to check out all the possibilities and easily beat deadlines. Most grants from community foundations go to nonprofit groups, but many groups or individuals also give money to community foundations to administer their scholarship programs. For instance, the Toledo Community Foundation administers scholarships for Muslim students pursuing a journalism degree, students pursuing a degree in electrical engineering, and local students studying music, particularly jazz, and other scholarships.

Often, the scholarships they manage are for students in the nearby geographic area, so the trick is to find the community foundation near you. The Council on Foundations makes this easy with their community foundation locator.

Other possible sources of funds are service clubs in your area, like the Kiwanis or the Rotary. These clubs often give small grants to groups or scholarships to individual students. One place to look for service clubs is to start with the big groups and find your local chapter. You can start with the Google directory for such clubs, and inquire at your local library as well.

Don’t forget your place of work, or union. Large employers may have competitive scholarships for employees or their children. The same is true of your union. For family members of participating unions, the Union Plus scholarships are available, opening for applications in the fall. Many unions are a part of this network. See this site to find out if your union is part of this network, and if you might benefit.