In our opinion, the best scholarship-search websites are ones we categorize as “compilation” sites.  On these sites, you enter your needs-specific information. In return, a list of scholarships meeting your input displays. From there, you can easily apply for funding.  A big plus is that these types of sites usually keep their databases up-to-date.   There are pros and cons to using each site — so we recommend using each site in its areas of strength. 

Do you want to start earning scholarship dollars TODAY?   Would you like to know the secrets to make you application stand out from the crowd?

Fastweb.com — This website is always at the top of every scholarship search.  It has a huge database of speciality-area scholarships.    It also contains the most often downloaded scholarship applications, which makes it a very convenient site for the applicant. 

However, since it is a vendor-sponsored web site, an important goal of the site is to sell you something on your way to the scholarship list. This is great if you want to buy music, etc., but can be annoying otherwise.    Choose to "opt-out" from all vendor stuff — just say no — to continue onto the scholarship list without further sales-pitch interruptions. 

Another strength of Fastweb.com is that it provides notice of upcoming scholarship deadlines, which is very handy support who for those who need it. 

Scholarships.com — This is the best website for academic merit-based scholarships.  Although it is less popular than Fastweb.com, what I like is that they are not selling products of any kind. It is simply a pure, compiled list of scholarships. 

There is also no email notififcation of scholarship deadlines which can be easily overcome by using Microsoft Outlook Calender reminders instead. 

At times, the address information for some of the scholarships have expired with those requiring paper applications.   The way to overcome that is to simply expect that changes occur as a normal part of life—scholarhip foundations can change addresses or modify their requirements for awarding of funds without notice.  

Fdncenter.org — The Foundation Center Online is the most reliable database of scholarships or grants I have found.  The foundations that list through them are required to submit financial information of how much money is available for rewards. 

The drawback is that it is a subscription database.  A small fee is required to search the database, but well worth it in my opinion. 

The other cons are that some of the family foundations listed still require paper applications.    However, you’ll also know the financial status of the organization early on.    The family foundations also have a lower percentage of applications — that means a higher likelihood of earning that particular scholarship.