Kickstart your college scholarship search

Caroline

Anyone interested in free money for college? Scholarships aren't always easy to come by, but they're definitely worth the effort.

If you're a high school senior, you should begin your scholarship search now. Deadlines come up very quickly, and some scholarship applications are more work than others. Barbara offered a great post a few months ago full of advice about seeking out scholarships.

To get you started, I've got a couple scholarship opportunities to tell you about:

• Wells Fargo CollegeSTEPS® Program & Scholarship Sweepstakes: This is an easy one. It's a program that offers free college-planning tips (via email) AND the chance to win a $1,000 college tuition prize. Enroll online at the above link, and you're done. You can sign up for the CollegeSTEPS Program at any time during high school (freshman through senior year). Once you enroll you'll start receiving grade-appropriate college-prep information (don't worry, we don't bombard you – you'll get a couple emails each school year from us). During your senior year, you'll automatically be entered for the sweepstakes drawings. Check out the official rules to ensure that you're eligible.

• Wells Fargo/UNCF Scholarship Fund : This is a scholarship for undergraduate sophomores, undergraduate juniors, and graduate students attending historically black colleges and universities. Eligible majors include Business, Finance, Accounting, Architecture, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Systems Engineering. Scholarship amounts are up to $2,000. Don't delay in applying for this one – the deadline is October 31, 2007.

Another opportunity to kickstart your scholarship search is to try out the Peterson's Scholarship Search . This tool allows you to search specifically for scholarships based on your talents and interests.

I hope these suggestions help get you started. Good luck in your search!