I got a press release the other day from Dan Wansten of Professional Education Services in Grand Rapids, a college financial aid consultant who’s been quoted on this blog in the past, regarding college scholarship money and a reminder to today’s high school parents to be working on scholarship funds long before the college acceptance letters are received.

Dan suggests starting the research as early as freshman year in high school because the process can be overwhelming. I certainly agree with that recommendation.

“As high school juniors head toward their senior year, it is critical that they have their college scholarship research completed and applications filled out because the demands on their time will be extensive come September,” Dan said “Most scholarship money remains unrequested simply because nobody knows about it.”

Well, in my experience as a college parent and talking with other families in similar circumstances, I have found that many college students and their families are actively searching for those funds.

If someone posted a link to an electronic scholarship search engine, I was on it. If there was a posting at the high school office, my daughter picked it up. If an announcement ran in The Monroe Evening News or in our church bulletin that was relevant to my daughter, I pointed it out to her.

In my opinion, any scholarship money that goes unrequested in a given year is a situation that the sponsors themselves created – either with not doing a good job reaching out and marketing to their potential candidates … or in writing such a tight list of specifications or “strings attached” that ideal candidates either don’t exist or are reluctant to enter.

It’s not a fair system.

It takes a lot of time and effort to fill out those competitive applications.

There is no magic cut-off point where everyone who has a grade point above a certain level gets money for their education.

Whoever sponsors the money gets to decide where it goes.

Even that Michigan Promise money does you no good if your student goes to college out-of-state.

But if you are wondering who are the most promising candidates for scholarships, you will want to carefully read the top graduate biographies that have been running for the past few weeks in the Classroom page in Thursday’s print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News.

For example, Monroe High School’s Summa Grads, which is the equivalent of other schools’ top 10 or valedictorian / salutatorian honors, were featured on page 8B and 9B of the Thursday April 24 newspaper.

Now, you don’t have to be a top-ranked student to get money. My daughter was not a summa grad in 2007. She missed that ranking with her grade in one class. But her grades were still very impressive.

What I want you to pay attention to is what these students are doing OUTSIDE of the classroom. Here’s what you find on the resumes of MHS’ summa grads for 2008:

• Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County.
• Sports editor of the school yearbook.
• Volunteers as a coach for young wrestlers.
• President of International Cultures Club.
• Member of the iPirates robotics club.
• Vice president for Michigan DECA.
• Created a fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy Association.
• President of Youth Advisory Council for the Community Foundation of Monroe County.

I can certainly assure you it’s not just grades that got the scholarship foundations’ attentions for those summa grads, but the wide diversity of things they are involved in.

So if you currently have a high school freshman or sophomore, start looking up scholarship opportunities to see what might match your child’s interest, talents or activities. There’s no guarantee that a particular scholarship will still exist when your child is a high school senior because available funding and program rules change all the time. But at least you know what’s out there, what time of year the application season will be open for those programs, and what paperwork you’ll need to have ready.

Where do you find that money? Take these steps in the following order:

1. Your high school counselor’s office. They know what scholarships have been awarded to their students and what their resumes have been like.
2. Your college financial aid office for every college you are seriously considering. That’s the clearinghouse for any college-based funding.
3. Read the Classroom and Community Page sections of the print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News. That’s where you will find scholarship announcements that the foundations and sponsors send to the newspaper in hopes of attracting Monroe County candidates or to brag about who they decided to honor this year. If a particular scholarship seems a good fit for your circumstances, contact the sponsors directly for follow-up.
4. Your employer, union local or trade association for both parents and students. Some companies and industries sponsor scholarships or tuition credits for their employees or their children. These opportunities are often not advertised anywhere else, because only employees are eligible in the first place.
5. Your social and community service clubs or organizations. Again, you might not find those opportunities listed anywhere else because only members are eligible in the first place.
6. Then you can get on the Internet scholarship searches for other opportunities as you have time. You should be aware that some of these national scholarship application seasons are in the FALL of high school senior year, which overlaps with college application season and is long before you have any clue what the college’s financial aid offer will be.

If you do want to work the Internet resources, I have a college financing sidebar with lots of links to search sites and tips.

In the meantime, keep your student motivated and busy throughout high school. It really can take two or three years of involvement, planning and preparation for students to reach some of those accomplishments that get the attention of scholarship committees.

If and when they get discouraged, it might help if you can point to an actual scholarship opportunity that they could be eligible for in a year or two.