Industry Tips
Scholarship Search Companies
Here are some helpful tips from your BBB on Scholarship "Search" Companies:
If you are considering using the services of a company for the purposes of locating scholarship sources or funds, it's important to know that these companies advertise on television, the internet and in the newspaper, or may contact a prospective student over the telephone or through direct mailings.
There is always an advanced fee involved ranging from $20 to hundreds of dollars, and in exchange, prospective students receive a list of possible scholarship sources. While the company may make the claim that the scholarships are guaranteed, prospective students should understand that only the source actually granting the funds can guarantee approval, not the company merely providing information about possible sources of funding. These companies don't assist students in obtaining scholarships and they don't screen applicants. After purchasing the lists, it is the student's responsibility to research and contact each organization. Students who are unsuccessful, or not satisfied, may find that refunds are difficult if not impossible, to obtain. The company may require students to prove, through documentation, that they were denied a scholarship by every source on the list.
Many of the scholarship sources that these companies provide, for a fee, are available at no cost from high school guidance offices, in the reference section of the public library, or from the financial aid office of the college the student is planning to attend.
Occasionally, some scholarship information firms try to recruit "licensees" to open their own scholarship services. For a fee of several hundred dollars and yearly renewals, licensees receive training materials on how to start their own business. Problems may arise because licensees are not given specific territories and can operate anywhere they choose, regardless of whether other licensees have already set up shop. Licensees also must market their own service to high school and college students.