1. Unsolicited or random emails offering scholarship assistance
2. If the scholarship requires you to send money upfront, but you see nothing in return – scholarships don’t ask students for money, they are supposed to give students money!
3. You’re told that you’ve won a scholarship, but it requires you to pay taxes or fees before you can receive it. You have to apply to scholarships in order to receive them, so if you don’t remember doing so, it is a scam.
4. If you receive a check in the mail for a scholarship, but are required to send a different check back paying for taxes or fees.
5. If a scholarship search service or database charges you to register to look through their information. Scholarship information is free to the public.
6. Companies that claim to fill out scholarship applications for you, if you pay them a fee. Applying for scholarships requires lots of time, work, personal information, and writing samples that outsiders cannot do thoroughly. Most likely they will pocket the cash, and never fill out any applications for you.
7. Scholarship matching services that claim you’ll win a scholarship, or they will refund your money. These scholarship matching services do not have anything to do with, or have a final say in which students receive scholarships by the sponsored organizations.
8. Some scholarship scams try to copy legit education, government, and grant-giving foundations by using official-sounding names. Look out for those that include national, administration, federal, or foundation – just because it is in their name, doesn’t mean they are official organizations!
9. If you are requested to attend a free seminar for financial aid advice or assistance, watch out! These are usually sales pitches for financial aid consulting services, pricey student loans, or scholarship matching services.
10. Some education loan scams will offer you a low-interest loan, but require that you must pay a fee before receiving it. Real loans are issued by banks or recognized lenders, and do not require a payment upfront.

Things to Keep in Mind

Many colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations and private companies award scholarships to outstanding students each year. Scholarships are awarded for merit so an application, essay, or nomination are usually required to be considered.

See Also:

College Scholarships for Criminal Justice Majors

Private Scholarships