How to utilize scholarships

Are you an expert at calling ducks? Are you by any chance a dwarf? Do you know how to make outfits out of duct tape? Are you taller than 6'? Do you have an interest in making candy or other sweet treats?

If any of these descriptions fit you, you may be eligible for scholarship money!
With the cost of higher education rising year after year, students are looking for different ways to fund their education.

For students who qualify, financial aid and federal grants are available. In addition to the usual academic and merit scholarships, students can also receive scholarship money for unusual or rare talents.

According to Pam Henderson, the director of Scholarships and Financial Aid for Meadows School of the Arts, finding scholarships is easy if you know where to get information.

"Look at collegeboard.com," she said. "There you can enter information about yourself, and they try to match you with scholarships from their database."

"Another way to find out more information about various scholarships is to check with a high school counselor or local organizations," she said.

Officials at the central financial aid office at SMU could not be reached for interviews after repeated phone calls and visits.

Ms. Henderson said that about 80 percent of those in the performing and visual arts' departments receive scholarships from the Meadows school.

These artistic scholarships come in quite handy since the current cost of tuition for a school year at Southern Methodist University is roughly $35,000.

Some of the merit scholarships SMU offers to incoming freshmen are SMU Distinguished Scholars, University Scholars, President Scholars, Hunt Scholars and the National Merit Finalist Scholars' scholarship.

Invitation to any of these programs is an honor, since academic merits must be outstanding to even be considered for them.

Both the President Scholars and Hunt Scholars' scholarship provide full tuition and fees for its students.

As well as receiving scholarships directly from the university based on their scholastic achievements, students can also search on their own and receive scholarships for quirky talents and interests.

The Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest, for instance, is a competition in which students can win scholarship money for having an unusual talent.

The contest is open to any high school senior and participants have 90 seconds to demonstrate their use of four calls: hail, feed, comeback and mating.

The scholarship prizes range from $500 to $2,000, which can be used toward any college major.

There is no entry fee but contestants must register through the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce in Stuttgart, Ark.

Another example of an unusual scholarship is the National Candy Technologists scholarship.

Any undergraduate student who has an interest in making candy or has had experience in the field is welcome to apply.

Students who meet the qualifications can receive up to $5,000 in scholarship money if they are selected.

Jordan Johnson is a senior on a football scholarship at SMU and he also received a Tall Texan scholarship his first-year. He towers over 6'. 

He said his mother was the one who found the $700 Tall Texan scholarship and he believes without the scholarships he received, he might not have had the opportunity to attend SMU.

"[The scholarships] are not weird, just different. Everyone may not know about them, but they are giving everybody a chance at an education," Johnson said.

Jasmine Iglehart is an SMU junior who says unusual scholarships are great, because they give people with unique talents the opportunity to receive scholarship money. She believes finding these scholarships, though, is probably the hardest part of the process.

 "You have to search for them…because people rarely are just going to give you a scholarship for being awesome," Iglehart said.

According to Ms. Henderson, knowing where to look and search seems to be the key to scoring the type of scholarships you want.

"I've been 25 years in this business and with the Internet, it should probably be easier. There are more places to look but that doesn't necessarily make the process easier," she said.

There are many helpful Web sites for students looking for scholarships. One is scholarships.com. There, students can search for scholarships by interest, classification (undergraduate or graduate), major and state.

Udoka Omenokur is an SMU junior majoring in electrical engineering who receives both the University Scholar and the Engineering Scholar scholarships from the university. She has had these scholarships since her freshman year.

"All I know is I get them and was selected [because of] my grades in high school," Omenokur said.

She receives $3,000 from her University Scholar scholarship and $7,000 a school year from her Engineering Scholar scholarship.

In addition to scholarships, financial aid and grants also help pay for college.

According to the national grant informative Web site, www.grants.gov, a federal grant is financial assistance from the government given to a citizen to complete a certain purpose.

These grants do not require that the recipient repay them, which means that they are free money to students who qualify for them.