Where to Look for Scholarships

Most high schools have one general scholarship application they use to consider you for numerous local scholarships. Some high schools post scholarship opportunities online, others have a printout in their counseling office.  Check the lists frequently as they get updated often.

Ask your school office for more information.

Make sure you attend your school’s financial aid information night (November-December) and Cash for College workshop (January-February).

Once you apply to one scholarship, you can easily import your answers into the other scholarship applications.  The local scholarships using this system are:

• The McConnell Foundation
• George Grotefend Scholarship
• Community Foundation of the North State (CFNS manages about 30 different scholarships)
• College & Career Options
• NorCal Retired Coaches Association

Scholarships at these levels can be very large, but they can also be very competitive.  For large, competitive scholarships, the applications can be as early as October of your senior year.​

• National and local corporations: Google “(name of corporation) scholarship” (example: “Coca Cola Scholarship”)
• Military: Money for dependents of military personnel, money for those going into the military (before or after service)
• Another resource, updated yearly! Student Center – Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard
  2019-2020 Paying for College: Student Resource Guide
  Includes scholarships, internships, fellowships, and websites.  *HINT* Using the “Control” + “F” keys on keyboard helps when you want search/FIND something within a document and/or website. So if you want to search for keyword “male” control + F then type in keyword male in find box, all words with male will be highlighted.
• Hispanic Scholarship Fund
• Native American Scholarship Opportunities
• Health Career Scholarships 
• Health Career Scholarships: Look for “Health Careers Scholarship List”

University of California
​The application for admission is used for scholarships as well (another reason to put extra effort info the essays!)

California State University
​Scholarship application is separate from admission application.  Go to the campus’ website and type “scholarship” into their search field.  Typically scholarships are handled by the financial aid office.

Private Universities
​Some colleges use the application for admission (like UC), others require separate applications (like CSU); some, like Simpson University, offer scholarships simply for applying early and/or submitting the FAFSA by a particular deadline.

Community Colleges
YES!  Community colleges have scholarships to offer.  Look for information on their financial aid webpage.  Apply for the Board of Governor’s Grant (BOGG) Fee Waiver application (available on the college’s financial aid website) – takes two minutes to fill out.

Create a personalized profile and you will be emailed links to possible scholarships.  Consider creating a particular email address for your scholarship search engine profiles; check at least weekly (you WILL get a tremendous amount of mail from these engines).