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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Office of Scholarships & Student Aid

"Outside" Scholarships Search

"Outside" aid includes any funding such as scholarships, grants, and benefits that is awarded directly to a student by any non-school affiliates, businesses, organizations, groups, or individuals. "Outside" aid can be based on a variety of criteria including academic merit, financial need, community service, area of study, organization to which the student and/or parents belong, place of residence or employment, and ethnic or religious background. Often "outside" aid may be applied to any college or university, including UNC-Chapel Hill.

The best time to investigate "outside" scholarships is fall and spring before the school year you will be attending college. Deadlines for some scholarships are as early as October 1st or as late as April 1st. It is important to note that "outside" sources of funding may affect the amount of need-based financial aid you are allowed to receive in your total financial aid award package. If you receive "outside" scholarships or aid, you must submit our "Outside Scholarships and Resources Reporting Form" form to the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid.

Books to search for information about "outside" scholarship and scholarship sponsors are usually available at your public library. There are also quite a few websites with information about "outside" scholarships for which you might qualify to apply. Below is a sampling of links to some specific scholarship programs. For a larger list of "outside" scholarships and sponsors, stop by our Scholarships Resource Center in 117 Vance Hall (1st floor) for a Web Resources Guide. You are welcome check our binders of information and to utilize our computer workstation to assist in your search.

Sampling of Specific Outside Scholarship Websites

• CFNC Grants and Scholarships
  Financial Aid for North Carolinians
  College Foundation of North Carolina provides a list of scholarships and loans for residents of North Carolina.
  
  The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority provides a list of scholarships and loans for residents of North Carolina.
   
• United Negro College Fund
  This link provides a list of some the scholarships available from UNCF. Unfortunately, UNC-Chapel Hillis not an active member. This page, however, provides a good resource for funding not applicable to UNC.
   
• American Indian College Fund
  This organization provides information about resources for Native Americans.

• Hispanic College Fund
  This organization provides information for funding resources for Hispanic Americans.
   
• Minority Scholarship Resources Through FinAid
  This page contains great information and additional links about scholarships and fellowships for minority students.
   
• Gates Millennium Scholars
  Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
   
• Coca-Cola
  Coca-Cola Scholarships are awarded based on character, personal merit, and commitment.
   
• DCTAG
  Expanding higher education choices for college-bound residents of the District of Columbia.
   
• North Carolina Council of Epsilon Sigma Alpha Scholarship
  Providing scholarships to individuals training for work with exceptional children, excluding the academically gifted.

Sampling of Outside Scholarship Online Searchable Databases

There are databases of outside scholarships and financial aid on the web. Some are searchable. Often the student can fill out a page of questions and the database will use that information to match the student with scholarships. Databases will usually give some pertinent information about the scholarships such as certain criteria, deadlines and award amounts, and will also list the address and/or phone number for the scholarship so the student can request an application.

Before you search:

• Beware; there are scholarship scammers amongst us! Check out this scholarship scam information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
   
• Note that the scholarship search web sites to which we provide links do not charge for the search; however, some websites may sell your name to other companies. When you register to participate in the search, you should consider whether you want to receive mailings from groups who may buy your name and address from the website owners.

• Absolutely Scholarships
  This database provides access to over 200,000 scholarships.
   
• College Board Scholarship Search
  You can also explore the CollegeBoard.org homepage from this site.
   
• CollegeFunds.net
  Free scholarship and financial aid information.
   
• Colleges.com
  Free scholarship search.
   
• College-Scholarships.com
  Free scholarship search.
   
• College Scholarships.org
  Free scholarship search.
   
• FastWeb
  Large database of 375,000 scholarships.
   
• Mach 25
  This site has a database similar to those mentioned above.
   
• Petersons.com
  One of the largest free online scholarship databases with over 1.6 million listed scholarships available.
   
• The Scholarship Page
  This database can be searched or browsed by subject.
   
• ScholarshipExperts.com
  Constantly updates their database to provide the most accurate scholarship information available. Also powers Sallie Mae's College Answer scholarship search engine.
   
• Scholarships.FATomei.com
  Catagorized list of scholarships.
   
• SuperCollege
  A database of over 400,000 awards worth over $1.1 billion. It also provides other financial aid links.
   
• SRN Express
  This database, provided by the Scholarship Resource Network Express provides in-depth information to over 150,000 awards.
   
• UNC-CH GrantSource Library
  The GrantSource Library offers information on funding for research, collaboration, fellowships, and travel. Resources include several databases that are searchable from any computer online.
   
• Wired Scholar
  This is a great site for college planning. It includes scholarship search.

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