It sounds so easy to search for scholarships on line. All you have to do is fill out a profile about you or your student, and a web site will match you up with scholarships that you qualify for.

The annoying truth is that it’s not that easy.

My daughter is currently a junior in college. We’ve been keeping our eyes open for scholarship money since she was a junior in high school.

While today’s online scholarship databases are a convenience, I have not been impressed with the scholarship information I’m finding on the web. I have seen bad links, expired programs still listed as active, and downright bad matches such as programs that were intended for students in other states.

Keep in mind that a scholarship databases can only provide you with information on which foundation or grant agency has the money to offer, along with some preliminary rules. You still have to fill out the individual applications, submit transcripts, provide reference letters, meet all the deadlines involved … and then wait a few weeks or months to see if you won the award.

That’s why I want you first to focus your attention on notices and applications that are on file at your high school counselor’s office and at your college’s financial aid office.

Based on the scholarship award announcements that I have seen sent to The Monroe Evening News over the years, many of the scholarships that southeast Michigan students actually get are written specifically for those who attend a specific high school, live or work in a specific community, who work for or whose parents work for a specific employer, or who are enrolling / currently enrolled in a specific college.

If you were a scholarship foundation board member, where would you send a scholarship application notice if you intended the money to go to students who live in a specific community or attend a specific school?

Answer: You’d hand carry or mail that application packet to the intended school office. So think like a foundation board member, and go find where those notices are posted or filed at your high school and college.

The next resource to check with are the employers, union locals and community organizations that the college student and his or her parents are affiliated with. Yes, there are civic clubs and foundations who sponsor scholarships for any eligible person who lives in their communities. I’ve typed up a lot of those notices for the newspaper. But many groups also target any available scholarship money toward their own employees, members and families. My daughter has won two such awards. Go to the human resources office or contact your club or union president to get that information.

Now, as you or a family member has the time, you may want to expand your search. In fact, I was the one poking around the Internet while my daughter was following up on the leads at school and writing her essays.

If you want to do that, here are some of the databases that Michigan colleges such as Monroe County Community College and Michigan State University, and Michigan.gov’s scholarship search page, are referring students to:

• Fastweb.
• NextStudent.
• Sallie Mae’s scholarship search.
• International Scholarships.
• Mapping Your Future.
• United Negro College Fund.
• College Board.
• Petersons.
• Student Aid on the Web.

The FinAid web site, which I’ve frequently linked to because the site is so helpful for current and prospective college students, also has scholarship database tips in addition to a link to its scholarship search page.

Bottom line: the scholarship databases will only be worth your time if you follow up on the school and employer leads first.