This headline, "Scholarships for College Dwindle as Providers Pull Back Their Support," caught my eye since a recent SLA Flash Survey (full results out on Wednesday) found that Scholarships/ Grants ("free money") were the #1 item that families wanted to discuss in counseling sessions.
Here are some highlights from the article:
- While scholarships are most needed due to the weak economy, that same weak economy has led to their reduction:
"The recession has led foundations, corporations, state governments and
colleges themselves to reduce their support of providers of
scholarships, and in recent months programs have been reduced or
canceled outright. The cuts come as economic conditions make it harder
for families to pay for college and as more unemployed people look for
financing for retraining."
- State grant programs have also been hit:
"In Pennsylvania, the
maximum amount available to resident college students has fallen to
$4,120, from about $4,700 last year, according to the Pennsylvania
Higher Education Assistance Agency. California, confronting a severe
budget crisis, is weighing the shutdown of a state scholarship program
benefiting hundreds of thousands of students."
- However, FastWeb, the largest aggregator of scholarship information, has not detected a drop-off this year:
"FastWeb, which claims to have the nation’s largest database of scholarships, has not detected a decline in the total dollar amount of scholarships available this year, said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com, both units of the job search company Monster. “Currently we have $3.1 billion in scholarships,” which is about the same amount as last year, Mr. Kantrowitz said."
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