These scholarship companies do not assist students in obtaining scholarships and they do not screen applicants. After purchasing the lists, it is the students' responsibility to research and contact each organization with a possible funding source. Many of the scholarship sources that these companies provide for a fee, are available at no cost from high school guidance offices, in the reference sections of libraries or from the financial aid office of the college the student is planning to attend. For a reliability report on a scholarship company, consumers should call the Better Business Bureau where the firm is located. Inc. May be reprinted in whole or part with attribution.
Many families believe there are enough scholarships to completely pay for their child's education.
There are some scholarships available but there are simply not enough to go around. Almost all of the money for college is in the form of financial aid awarded by colleges through the need-based financial aid process. The need-based process simply compares the cost of college to a families ability to pay based upon a standardized process. Many organizations claim to list well over 100,000 scholarships in their database. The large numbers of scholarships you read or hear about generally refer to an estimated total of scholarships available only from certain colleges, to the employees and families of specific companies or members of a specific union or other organizations.