While it’s too late for most seniors to apply for scholarships, it is not too late for juniors and underclassmen to start preparing for their future. A handful of scholarships are available just within the Iowa City Community School District, as well as larger scholarships offered throughout the country. Some scholarships can be applied for as early as eighth grade, or as late as two weeks after graduation.
Scholarships can be the difference between ending up in mountains of debt or paying off student loans a mere four years after your college graduation. You can keep an eye on opportunities by opting to be contacted by colleges or by taking preparatory exams like the PSAT. If you’ve taken AP courses, you’re most likely aware of the BigFuture scholarship programs. All in all, there are thousands of available scholarships to help you with the financial strain of college.
While there are certainly fine scholarship programs, you have to know how to sort between the helpful ones and the not-so-helpful ones. Additionally, knowing which ones are worth your time can help you maximize your returns while not being drowned in a pile of application essays.
One little-known way to get a scholarship is through your job. Around Iowa City, multiple employers offer scholarships for University of Iowa students, including Chick-fil-A, Oaknoll Retirement Home and GEICO. Additionally, Target and Walmart help find scholarship opportunities for their employees, while Starbucks often helps with tuition for full-time employees.
Within Iowa City, there are scholarships available to just ICCSD students in specific. The Tina Wang Memorial Scholarship provides one student of journalism and one student of debate every year with a scholarship in memory of Tina Wang, a former West High student.
The Hills Bank leadership grant is given to 20 students per year, given they apply in their junior year and attend nine hours of leadership training. Up to $1000 may be provided. This year, four West Students were chosen for a Youth Salute leadership award. These students are recognized at the end of the school year.
For those involved in sports, some options include the Charlie Burkhart Scholarship for students who show excellence and interest in golf, the Brian Pearson Memorial Scholarship for outstanding student-athletes and the Lucas Brennemen Memorial Scholarship for graduating members of the West High Boys’ varsity track team.
For students who choose other extracurriculars, there is the Witinok Advancing Science Education fund, which chooses candidates based on their contributions towards advancing science education in the ICCSD secondary schools. More information on what scholarships are available can be found here, on the ICCSD foundation website.
There are also multiple kinds of scholarships, and you have to know which ones are the best fit for you. Merit-based scholarships provide money based on student achievement, such as outstanding performance in the arts, a sport or in the world of academics. Need-based scholarships provide funds based on the financial needs of the applicants. Merit-based may work better for you depending on how many extracurriculars you participate in since there will be more available. Need-based may work better if a major barrier is the ever-growing cost of college.
In 2023, the median amount money awarded from a scholarship was $7,822, according to Bankrate. In the 2022-2023 academic year, $145.3 billion was awarded to students in grants. On average, 72 percent of students received gift aid in 2019-2020, with there being little bias towards gender or race, according to a report by the National Center for Education.
