Peterson’s is a one-stop scholarship resource — not that we recommend this strategy — with a number of great (and free!) resources. The site boasts $10 billion in scholarship awards and has an impressive collection of articles, test prep resources and more.
But it’s not just a stockpile of scholarships. It also has the tools and tips you need to start your search — and its search filters make navigation simple. Filling out a very short survey allows you to adjust the filters as you go, which gives you more control than sites that require extensive profiles to get started.
Like Peterson’s, Unigo has plenty to offer beyond just scholarships, including jobs, internships, college profiles and rankings, articles and a textbook store. When it comes to scholarships, the site offers both profile-based matching as well as easy-to-browse categories.
Fastweb, a subsidiary of Monster, hosts more than 1.5 million scholarships that amount to more than $3.4 billion dollars. And it’s all so well organized! The search platform’s filters make it hard not to find exactly what you’re looking for.
One minor drawback: You have to fill out a profile to get started. But the profile helps match you with scholarships most likely to suit your needs, and the sign-up process is relatively painless.
Cappex has a large scholarship database and they’re not afraid to brag a bit: “We’ve Got More Than $11 Billion in Scholarships.” Registering can be annoying, but you’ll be glad you took the time to get personalized results.
Cappex sets itself apart with its “What Are My Chances” tool, which attempts to calculate the odds that you’ll get into a certain college before you apply.
Over the years, Chegg has expanded from its humble beginnings as an online textbook store to become a well-rounded education resource. It acquired scholarship match service Zinch in 2011 and now hosts scholarships totaling over $1 billion.
Its interface is simple and the mandatory sign-up process is well worth the time. What’s more, it has a “top scholarship picks this week” category, which highlights opportunities you may have otherwise missed. And on top of the scholarships, Chegg offers homework help, tutoring, test prep, internships and (of course) textbooks.
Scholarships.com’s tagline says it all: “With more than 2.7 million scholarship and grant opportunities worth more than $19 billion, just about everyone is bound to find something.”
It’s one of the largest databases and is updated daily. You can browse by category, but if you really want to navigate the extensive list of opportunities, you’ll need to make a profile. It’s one flaw: The site has ample information about alternate forms of financial aid, but it lacks some of resources other sites offer.
Despite its somewhat unusual interface, Collegenet has an impressive number of scholarships. You can search by keyword or create a personalized profile to get filtered results. From there, you can create, manage and save lists that you can return to later.
Scholarships are listed by their award amounts, with the highest payout listed first. While the site’s search results are often extensive, it could benefit from some more filtering or organizational tools..
Scholarship Monkey offers three search options: personalized search, search by keyword and lists of scholarships. Results from any of these searches can then be further filtered by college, but unfortunately not by any other criteria.
Despite its huge index of scholarships, the site is not as easily navigable compared to some others, making it more difficult to take full advantage of its opportunities. Another reason it ranks lower on the list: spam. I’ve received numerous emails from the site, even after unsubscribing.Nonetheless, it’s a great tool with a huge database of scholarships – even if it is trickier to use than others on the list.
