Scholarships for Community Colleges
Scholarships for Community Colleges are specifically designed to help students get their higher education needs fulfilled at a community college. While not all students should head off to a community college, those who do not want to spend a lot of money or are otherwise unsure of the direction they would like to head in would find a community college a great place to start their education.
Community college scholarships come in a lot of different forms, from assisting students in getting their education at a specific institution or by helping students transfer out into a traditional four year college to continue their education. This article will primarily focus on those scholarships designed to help students afford a community college and get at least the start of their education at such an institution.
One of the nice things about community college scholarships is that they will often give students access to the money needed to attend a place local enough that many will not have to concern themselves with moving to new areas. The other nice thing about community college scholarships is that, because of the low cost of community colleges, students will not have to worry about finding enough money to cover a $20,000+ bill. Mott Community College in Flint, MI for example only costs around $3,300 a year to attend making a scholarship which awards $1,000 worth a lot more to a student who goes there.
The Coca-Cola Scholars All State Community College Academic Team Program awards scholarships for community college students of up to $2,000, covering more than half the cost of Mott Community College in our above example, and quite a bit of overall tuition at other similar institutions. The Coca-Cola Community College Scholarship awards a $2,000 stipend to a single student from 50 different states along with $1,500 to another fifty students coming in second place. Another $1,250 and $1,000 will be awarded to fifty different students each after that, meaning that over 200 applicants will be awarded stipends towards their community college education. Finally, another 150 students will be given an award of $1,000 bringing the total number awards up to 350. In order to be eligible students will need to be nominated, be enrolled at a community college, have a 3.5 grade point average, and be planning to get a degree. Nominations go through Phi Theta Kappa, though United States citizens do not have to be members in order to be nominated. The deadline for this program is November 1.
Scholarships for community colleges exist for all sorts of reasons. The Fisher Communications Scholarships for Minorities focuses on students in broadcasting at community colleges. In order to be eligible students must be earning their degree at a university or community college, be an ethnic minority, and have at least a 2.5 grade point average. Further all applicants will need to be residents of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California or Montana or, if not residents, be attending school in one of those states. Three different awards are given out every year and are adjusted based on need. Application materials must be turned in no later than May 31.
Like many universities, community colleges often offer their own scholarships to interested students. In fact many students interested in getting access to a community college scholarship should stop in and check with their school of choice before investigating anywhere else. Henry Ford Community College, as an example, has a list of scholarships for community college students available to incoming students. While amounts vary for each individual CC scholarship available at Henry Ford, students will need to have their general scholarship application filled out by April 4 for the summer semester.
While there are many different community college scholarships, many of them tend to exist at individual institutions and students should start their search there. Most community colleges will have programs within their own institutions which will help students pay for their education. While many of these CC scholarships may be relatively limited in available money any amount is better than none.