We strongly encourage parents to also use this site. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission sued the National Grant Foundation for making misleading claims. The FTC found that the company provided families with lists of funding sources that were not tailored to the students, were nonexistent, or were not sources of free scholarship money but rather were contests, loans, or work-study options. In May, a principal of the company agreed to settle the case without admitting guilt. Each year, thousands of students and parents fall prey to fraudulent scholarship search services, which commonly trumpet that millions of dollars in private scholarship funds are going unclaimed, either because students don't know how to apply or don't realize the money is available.
Scams operate in other ways, as well.
Some imply, falsely, that you're getting information that can't be found anywhere else. Most legitimate scholarship grantors do not charge an application fee. If you have to pay money to get money, it's probably a scam. And any assurance that you'll get your money back usually has many strings attached. She was told she had to supply a rejection letter from each organization to get a refund.