Rensselaer Hartford - Grant and Scholarship Resources

Private grant and scholarship opportunities occasionally are directed to the attention of the Financial Aid Office. Application information for these opportunities is shared with eligible candidates, assuming they can be identified using query parameters on our current student population.

A wealth of financial aid for graduate education is available through foundations and other organizations. With a little initiative, you can pursue these sources to receive funding for educational expenses. Remember that an award is based on the eligibility requirements, which can vary considerably. First, make sure that the grant or scholarship is for Master's level education and not restricted to undergraduate education or a Ph.D. program. Some grants require research or teaching. Others may specify full-time or part-time study, study abroad, or may have grade point average or other requirements (such as state or town residence, disability, ethnic background, previous education, and past or present involvement in the organization offering aid).

A fairly recent phenomenon is the increasing popularity of web-based, personalized scholarship searches. Most of the scholarship search engines and databases are free, with revenues streaming in either from web-site advertisements or marketing links. For the most part, scholarship searches are offered as inducements so you will visit an organization's web site where you'll find their own offerings of Federal Stafford Student Loans, private, credit-based student loans, and other products and services geared for college students. A word of caution regarding personalized scholarship searches on the web: most of these services require you to register or open an account by providing personal information online. If you are concerned about whether this information is secure, or even whether the organization makes your personal information available to others, be sure to read the privacy statement. This should disclose their information gathering and dissemination policy, and whether or not there is an "opt-out" feature that allows you to decline further communications in the future should you change your mind.

Online scholarship searches also have given rise to a burgeoning number of scholarship giveaways on the web. Mark Kantrowitz, who testified before a Senate Hearing on scholarship scams, includes a section on his web site (www.finaid.org/scholarships) that will help you distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent organizations. His advice: "If you have to pay money to get money, it's probably a scam." The Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 2000 requires that the Federal Trade Commission publish information about scholarship scams on its web site (www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/scholarship/). This site, entitled "$cholarship $cams," provides a list of defendants and an opportunity for you to file a complaint online.

The U.S. Department of Education suggests you avoid scholarship search services that use the following tactics:

With Internet access, you might want to check out some of the resources mentioned below for general financial aid information and funding sources. Rensselaer’s Cole Library staff also has prepared a guide to resources available in print in the Library and on the web. See this guide on the web at www.ewp.rpi.edu/hartford/library/subject/finaid.htm.

Internet Resources

For general information on financial aid, access the following web sites:

Information on sources of funding and/or personalized scholarship searches can be found at the following web sites: