Credit Unions are probably the most helpful financial institutions known to mankind. They provide all the same services found in the more traditional bank settings but since they are owned and operated by the community members in which they serve, they bring a more comforting element to the table.

As you move forward in the college search process and start looking for outside scholarships, you will definitely want to drop a line to your local credit union to see if they have anything available. You may be surprised.

KEMBA Financial Credit Union located in Columbus, Ohio is celebrating their 20th year of providing college scholarships to their members. This year they are giving away $2,000 to one lucky member.

Here are the details regarding eligibility:

• You have to be a member of the credit union (which is easily accomplished by any of the following)
  • Live, work, or worship in Franklin, Delaware, Logan, Madison, Sylvania Counties in Ohio
  • Be employed by a participating KEMBA partner company
  • Have a family member that is already a member
  • Become a member of Angie’s List Association, Ohio Nurse’s Association, or Columbus Board of Realtors
• Be at least a High School Senior
• Be enrolled or planning to attend an accredited college/university
• Going full-time (at least two courses)

If you meet the above criteria, you can download an application from KEMBA here. You will have to answer an essay question but it is a fairly easy one: How can strong money management skills help an individual establish a stable financial future?

The deadline is January 27th. Good Luck!

If you need additional assistance with finding outside scholarships, please be sure to check out CheapScholar’s Scholarship Resource Page.

If you ever wanted to have a study abroad experience during your college years but financial constraints were holding you back, you may want to bookmark this page for future reference.

CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) has long since been known in the college sector as a leading provider of study abroad opportunities for students. They have been sending students abroad since 1947 and boast having over 140 programs established in 42 countries. Based upon this, it is only natural for people to use study abroad and CIEE together in the same sentence when they are looking at educational opportunities overseas.

CIEE is so committed to their study abroad programs that they are offering a million dollars of scholarship aid this coming summer for students in financial need. It is being referred to as the GAIN program (Global Access Initiative) and it will provide grants and scholarships to students regardless of whether they are taking study abroad programs for a full year, a single semester, or during the summer. At this time, the GAIN program is committing an additional million dollars to this program each and every year. So, if you are not planning on studying abroad for a couple of years, this still could be a great option for you to help fund that educational experience.

Additional details about the program (including the application process) will be announced this coming summer (2012). You can visit CIEE’s scholarship page for additional information as it becomes available or you can always email them at studyinfo@ciee.org

Studying abroad during your college years is a great learning experience. Being exposed to different cultures really helps you to develop a big picture approach to life. I hope these additional resources provided by CIEE help to make your dreams of studying abroad a reality.

Get $5,000 for your college education and $5,000 for the hunger related charity of your choice. This is definitely a win-win opportunity for you and your favorite charity. If you are active in your community, helping to promote awareness, and enabling others to be catalysts for innovative models and solutions to eliminate hunger in America, you should definitely apply for this scholarship provided by the Sodexho Foundation.

This scholarship program began back in 2007 and has provided thousands of dollars to students and their charities over the years. What is really amazing is that this scholarship is available for all students (kindergarten through graduate school). Students under the age of 18 will need to have a 529 college savings plan in place so that their funds can be properly deposited. Past winners can be seen here.

Here are the criteria and guidelines for the scholarship:

1. All applicants must be enrolled in an accredited educational institution (kindergarten through graduate school) in the United States.
2. All applicants must have demonstrated on-going commitment to their community by performing unpaid volunteer services impacting hunger in the United States within the last 12 months.
3. All applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
4. Volunteer services performed by applicant must help non-family members.
5. If applicant is selected as a potential national Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarship recipient or regional Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Honoree, in order to be confirmed as a winner, the student’s parent or legal guardian must sign an Affidavit of Eligibility and Assignment of Rights.
6. Scholarship funds awarded to winners must be used for tuition and related fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for courses at an accredited post-secondary education institution.
7. Applications must be received before December 5th.

Some unique attributes for the scholarship program:

1. The foundation may select up to five national scholarship recipients (at the $5k level); however, they reserve the right to select fewer than five national winners.
2. The foundation may select up to 20 regional Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Honorees and each will receive $1k to be granted to their favorite hunger related charity.
3. Employees of the Sodexo Foundation and Sodexo, Inc. are not eligible
4. Applicants must obtain a Community Service Recommendation as part of the application process.
5. Scholarship recipients will be notified by March, and a list of all winners will be posted on www.sodexofoundation.org by June.

Click Here to apply for this scholarship and to access additional details. If you have questions, you can contact the scholarship administrator via email: info@applyists.com or by phone at: 615 320 3149

If you know of someone that may benefit from this scholarship opportunity, please be sure to utilize the “share tab” below to pass this information onto them.

Do you have an interest in journalism? Are you embracing technology, social media and the digital revolution to help get the word out? If your answer is yes to these questions and you could use $20,000 to help fund your undergraduate or graduate educational endeavors, this scholarship may be for you!

Google and the Associated Press will be giving out six $20,000 scholarships to students obtaining degrees in journalism, computer science and/or new media. Preference is given to students that can display attributes that would recognize them as innovators in the digital journalism world.

Here are the requirements for all applicants:

• Be a U.S. citizen
• Be a minimum of 18 years of age
• Be currently enrolled full time at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree. (College graduates returning to school are eligible to apply and must provide an acceptance letter from graduate institution.)
• Have at least one year of full-time undergraduate or graduate study remaining
• Have minimum grade point average of 3.0
• Be at least a college sophomore at time of application
• Submit your application by January 27th
• Be available for in-person or remote interviews with selection committee if selected as a finalist

Some of the scholarships awarded will be based upon a student’s unmet need (meaning how much you have to pay over and above your estimated family contribution (EFC) and after your financial aid is factored in). So, the lower your EFC, the better your chances for getting one of the scholarships earmarked for students with unmet need.

You can apply for the Google – Associated Press Scholarship here…

The application process has three parts to it. Make sure you read through all the details and required information before initiating the application process. Good luck!

The scholarship process is being administered by the Online News Association. Mr. Irving Washington is the contact person. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to drop him a line via email: iwashington@journalists.org or phone: (317) 441-5051

If you know of anyone that may be interested in this scholarship, please be sure to use the “share tab” below to pass the information along.

Do you need help paying for college? Do you have a compelling story to share? Do you like Dr. Pepper? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should definitely enter Dr. Pepper’s tuition giveaway contest. The winners have a chance of getting either a $100,000 or $2,500 award to put toward their tuition expenses. ***Important Feature*** The award is transferable and you can use the funds to pay off any student loans that you may have incurred.

In order to enter, all you have to do is submit a video sharing your reasons of why you would be an excellent recipient of  Dr. Pepper’s tuition prize.

Here are the requirements for your video:

All videos must be:
1.   in one of the following video types: .avi, .mov, .mpg, .mp4, mpeg or .wmv
2.   no more than one (1) minute in length and 50 megabytes in size
3.   your original creation
4.   suitable for publication
Videos will be judged on:
1.   appropriateness to theme of college football and tuition
2.   inclusion of Dr Pepper
3.   impact of tuition prize on your life
4.   overall presentation quality
Videos must not:
1.   have won previous awards
2.   have been previously published
3.   infringe on any third-party rights

Each tuition prize amount is payable as follows (official legal language):
(a) as tuition to cover up to four (4) consecutive years of college or postsecondary vocational institution tuition, fees, books, supplies, equipment, related educational expenses and room and board to be awarded in the form of a check distributed to the school (eligible under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended) and located in the United States on behalf of the Winner or Winner’s designee, who must be at least 16 years of age (“Designee”); or
(b)  to pay off student loans incurred by the runner up for eligible costs in (a) above in the form of a check distributed to the lending institution on behalf of the Winner or Winner’s Designee; or
(c)  a combination of (a) and (b) above in an amount not to exceed the prize amount.

So, do you think you have what it takes for a chance to win $2,500 to $100,000 toward your education expenses? If so, put your media skills to test and upload your video today!

Contest Details Can Be Found Here!

Here is sample of a video submitted by a recent winner: