Scholarship Search Engines

Free Scholarship Search Databases:

www.fastweb.com - After going through a quick sign-up process, you can sift through over 1.5 million scholarships.  The site has a user-friendly design and is easy to navigate.  You can also organize your finds into different lists by categories such as academic achievement, scholarships for PA residents, scholarships for soccer, etc. 

http://schoolsoup.com/scholarship-directory

EducationPlanner.org

https://myscholly.com/ - Scholly is both an online search engine and mobile app.  Create an account, enter information about your location and activities, and Scholly will match you with local and national scholarships.

https://www.cappex.com/scholarships/ - Cappex has a huge database of scholarships (along with lots of resources for college/career guidance).  The database is updated frequently, so you can find exactly what you are looking for.

www.chegg.com/scholarships - The Chegg scholarship finder is another tool that will help you find scholarships.  If you sign up, you'll get additional filters to customize your search.  If you prefer, though, you can get started without one and search by location, GPA, and application type.  If you're burnt out with application essays, narrow list down to scholarships that don't require an essay.  Chegg also offers a monthly $1000 grant.  To apply, you answer creative questions such as, "If you started a company, what would it be and why?''

www.niche.com/colleges/scholarships/ - Site has a user-friendly directory with no required sign-up process.  One of its best categories is the "Easy to Apply" filter.  Here, you can search for scholarships that don't have an essay, GPA, or recommendation requirement.

www.finaid.org

www.salliemae.com/planning/scholarships.html

www.scholarships.com - This site has over 3.7 million scholarships.  Users need to create a profile, then you can narrow down your options with personalized filters.  

Saving for College Web Sites:

www.collegesavings.org

www.salliemae.com

Other helpful tools:

MySmartBorrowing.org - Allows students to interactively see how decision related to their career choice, college choice, and level of borrowing could affect them when it's time to repay their loans.  The site quizzes students on their career choice, potential school or type of school, and their contribution to educational expenses, and then devises a budget to reveal to the student whether they have created a feasible plan.  The salary, school costs, and budget numbers are from accurate sources, so students find realistic results.

collegescorecard.ed.gov - This online tool provides families with essential information they need to make educated decisions about their choice of higher education institution.  The scorecard highlights 5 key pieces of data about a school:  cost, graduation rate, loan default rate, average amount borrowed, and employment.  

collegecost.ed.gov - Net Price Calculator (NPC) tool
     Most postsecondary schools have a NPC on their own websites.  If you can't find it on the college web site, you can use this one.  This calculator uses institutional data to provide estimated "net price" information to current and prospective students and their families based on a student's individual circumstances.  The calculator should allow students to calculate an estimated net price of attendance at an institution based on what similar students paid in a previous year.l