A Guide to Student Grants and Scholarships

 by: John Mussi

Colleges and universities can be expensive… sometimes getting accepted into the school of your choice can be the easy part of the educational journey of the new student. It isn't always easy to find the money that you need to pay for your education, but there are ways to make paying for school much easier. Two of the more common ways to ease the cost of continuing education are student grants and scholarships, both of which provide certain amounts of money that can be applied toward the cost of further education without the need to repay them.

Student grants and scholarships aren't always easy to find or to win, but the extra time taken in researching and applying for them is well worth it if you are awarded any of those that you apply for.

Defining Grants and Scholarships

The first thing that you need to know when looking for student grants and scholarships is exactly what the difference between grants and scholarships is. Both grants and scholarships are funds that are given to students based upon academic performance, financial need, or other reasons, and do not require the student to pay them back after graduation unlike student loans.

The major difference in grants and scholarships are their origins and the ways in which they are used. Grants are usually given by government offices and non-profit organizations and can generally be used to cover a variety of different expenses. Scholarships, on the other hand, are usually created by businesses or private individuals and are used to cover specific costs such as tuition or dormitory costs.

Both grants and scholarships must be applied for, and are generally considered to be highly competitive since there's only so much grant or scholarship money to go around each semester or each year.

Finding Grants and Scholarships   (continued...)

A Guide to Student Grants and Scholarships
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About The Author John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

Additional Government Grants Resources

Law & Social Sciences Program
In line with this mission, the NSF has constituted the Law & Social Sciences Program wherein it aims to solicit proposals that will address social scientific studies of law and law-like systems of rules.

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Regional Ecosystem Prediction Program: Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research
The United States Department of Commerce has recently constituted the development of the Regional Ecosystem Prediction Program, specifically the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research.

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Modeling Social Behavior Grant Program
The National Institutes of Health has collaborated with the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in order to establish the Modeling Social Behavior Grant Program wherein they intend to seek applications for the development and evaluation of innovative theories, as well as computational, mathematical, and engineering approaches that could better our understanding of a human being's social behavior.

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2012 Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Clinical Trial Award Program
In line with this mission, the United States Department of Defense has recently established the 2012 Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Clinical Trial Award Program in an attempt to financially support the studies regarding the promotion innovative research focused on decreasing the clinical impact of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).

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United States Institutes for Student Leaders on US History & Government
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has recently established the United States Institutes for Student Leaders on US History & Government Program.

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Smart Probation: Reducing Prison Populations, Saving Money, and Creating Safer Communities Program
In line with this mission, the Office of Justice Programs has recently established the Smart Probation: Reducing Prison Populations, Saving Money, and Creating Safer Communities Program in an attempt to substantially improve probation success rates, while simultaneously improve public safety, reducing returns to prisons and jails, and saving essential taxpayer dollars.

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Summer Seminars and Institutes Program
The National Endowment for the Humanities has recently established the Summer Seminars and Institutes Program wherein it aims to provide support to faculty development programs in the field of the humanities for school, college, and university teachers.

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