5 Awesome Scholarship Search Engines

In the last thirty years or so, the average college tuition and associated fees have increased a whopping 130%. The cost of college is creating a number of problems for graduates including crippling debt and the inability to buy a house, and is making the path towards financial independence increasingly treacherous. Thankfully, there are a number of scholarships out there that can lighten the burden of college tuition. Here are some great scholarship search engines to help you secure some much-needed financial aid.

Peterson’s

Kicking off the list is Peterson’s, which is currently offering $10 billion worth of available financial aid, as well as its own scholarship to those who qualify. Peterson’s has been around since the mid-1960s, and is known for its robust test prep program. Users can sign up for a free trial period, but a subscription is required to enjoy many of its features.

Besides its comprehensive test prep program, Peterson’s offers a convenient mobile app for its subscribers at no additional cost, as well as an on-demand tutoring feature. This feature is available to subscribers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long, and encompasses a wide range of topics and subjects.

Cappex

Cappex currently offers more than $11 billion in available scholarship options, including its own “Easy Money Scholarship” worth $1,000. The best part about the Easy Money Scholarship is it doesn’t require an essay, and it can be awarded to anyone, regardless of their GPA. In order to browse the other scholarships on Cappex, you’ll have to create an account.

Users will enjoy a number of features including a tool that can help students decide on a major, as well as guidance in the event they decide to change schools. The scholarship search feature lets you set parameters such as a scholarship’s dollar amount, your location, the deadline to apply, and more.

Scholarships.com

Of all the entries thus far, this one’s got the hardest name to forget. Scholarships.com boasts around $19 billion in available financial aid, with nearly 4 million possible scholarships and grants applicants can qualify for. The official website is easy to use, and breaks down all available scholarships based on common criteria.

In addition to its scholarship search engine, Scholarships.com also provides students with a variety of resources such as college application checklists and deadlines, a database to help find the school they’re looking for, and a newsfeed that includes important updates with regards to available scholarships, as well as other information.

Fastweb

Fastweb states that it’s the very first college scholarship search website ever to exist. Also known as Financial Aid Search Through the Web, it’s been providing a service for students since the mid-1990s. As of the present, there are over 9 million active users on Fastweb, and the platform remains free to use.

Similar to some of the other entries on the list, Fastweb offers a bit more than just a scholarship search engine. Users can also search for internships, find a part-time job, or even take advantage of a discount program that includes savings on products from Nike, Spotify, Turbotax, and more.

Niche

Similar to Cappex, Niche offers a scholarship contest in which applicants aren’t required to write an essay, but Niche’s scholarship is worth $2,500. In order to qualify for the drawing, you’ll have to create an account, which is easy enough to do. There’s a whole ton of available scholarships on Niche that don’t require an essay—some are worth more than $20,000!

Those who sign up will be able to take advantage of a variety of other features such as a college search function that allows users to sort colleges by test scores, the number of current students, applicant acceptance rate, and more.

For some of us, college is about discovering what we’re passionate about and turning it into a career. We’re starting to see some progress in dealing with the student debt crisis, but we’re not out of the woods yet. In the meantime, scholarships are the way to go if you want to make the cost more realistic.