Paying for college can feel daunting.  Thankfully, there are a number of ways to fund a college education, and scholarships are one of the best available options.  Not only are scholarships a form of free money, but there are thousands of them available that can assist every kind of student in virtually every subject.  Scholarships can offset other forms of financial aid, so if you are a student who is taking out loans to fund your education, a scholarship can reduce the amount you borrow, meaning you owe less in student loans in the long run.

Automatic Scholarships

Some IU East scholarships are applied at the time of your admission.  Depending on your date of enrollment, your GPA and your SAT or ACT scores, you may be eligible for a variety of scholarships that are awarded to you as soon as you are admitted to the university.  These scholarships can offset a large part of your tuition.  For instance, the Valedictorian and Salutatorian scholarships provide $6000 for four years, amounting to $24,000 during your time on campus.  Other scholarships, like the Chancellor’s Scholarship, awards $8000-$12,000 over four years.  There are also merit-based scholarships, with GPA requirements that must be maintained throughout your time on campus.

IU Scholarships portal

In addition to the automatic scholarships applied at admission, IU East also has competitive scholarships available.  If you go to One.IU.edu and type in “Scholarships”, you will be able to access the campus scholarship portal.  The application includes a form that asks you about your major, date of graduation, extracurricular activities and other information.  There is also an essay section that requires you to answer questions.  Once completed and submitted, your application will be considered for review for every scholarship on campus.  These scholarships are all are due on March 10, 2025.  The portal reopens every October, so you can apply every year you are enrolled here. 

21^st Century Scholars Program

The 21^st Century Scholars Program is a scholarship that, unlike other scholarships, must be applied for when you are in middle school.  It is an income-based scholarship, which means your parents needed to fulfill certain income mandates at the time of application.  The 21^st Century Scholars Program covers up to 100% of tuition for up to four years at any college or university in the state of Indiana.  Starting in 2023, students who receive free and reduced lunch will be automatically enrolled in the program, saving the need for application.  This program deadline is June 30^th of your 8^th grade year, which is helpful to know if you have younger siblings or relatives who want to go to college.  The application for the 21t Century Scholars program, as well as other scholarships, is located in the ScholarTrack portal.  Both 21^st Century Scholars and Frank O’Bannon grant recipients must attain certain credit hour minimums to retain their funding.

County foundations

Many counties in Indiana have foundations that offer scholarships.  The Wayne County Foundation, the Fayette County Foundation, the Rush County Community Foundation and the Henry County Foundation all offer multiple scholarships to students that are worth investigating.  Some are limited to certain majors or those still in high school, but others are available on a broader basis. 

External scholarship websites

According to Ben Williams, financial aid specialist at IU East, there are some external website for scholarships that he recommends.  Scholarship America offers a cross-section of nationally competitive scholarships that span a number of fields of interest and dollar amounts.  They can be sorted by whether they are currently accepting applications as well.  Fastweb and Scholarships.com also offer a very large list of scholarships, often from corporate foundations, but beware that they may send lots of email afterward.  Scholly is an app that can help you find scholarships that few people have applied for in the past.

Getting through college doesn’t have to be expensive.  A scholarship opportunity exists for almost everyone, and there are lots of resources available to assist you in finding one.  Need help on searching for scholarships?  Want to know if there are scholarships in your field of interest?  Interested in learning more about college funding opportunities?  We can help!  iueref@iu.edu.