Private Scholarships

Outside scholarships

The following list details several sources of information to help you search for outside scholarships:

• UMass Dartmouth Academic Major Department: The academic department for your major program may have information for you about scholarships related to your field of study. 
• Claire T. Carney Library: The Claire T. Carney Library contains a number of research resources related to financial aid and scholarships.
• High School Guidance Counselors: If you are a graduating high school senior, your high school guidance counselor is an excellent source of information regarding scholarships.
• Private Scholarship Search Services: There are many services available that will perform a scholarship search for you for a fee. Because the amounts of fees charged and the level of service provided vary, you should exhaust all free resources first. You may wish to read the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warning about potential scholarship scams about scholarship search services.
• Employers: Quite often your employer or your parents' employer may have scholarships available for employees or dependents of employees.
• Churches, civic, public service organizations:  Check with your church or any of the various civic organizations (e.g. Elks, Moose, Masons, Rotary, Lions Club, etc.) to find out if they have any scholarships available. (Note: most of these groups may require some type of affiliation with the organization.)

Private scholarship funds are credited to your University account and applied toward your tuition bill to help pay for your tuition, fees, and room and board charges. Remember, however, that private scholarships are a form of financial aid, and therefore, any scholarships received may cause existing financial aid packages to be adjusted.  If you are receiving a private scholarship, please notify Financial Aid and the Bursar’s Office of the award.

Private scholarships

Below is a listing of private scholarship opportunities for you to explore. Please note that these scholarships are not affiliated with the university and any questions you have regarding them should be directed to the organization itself.

Massachusetts Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA)

OFSA helps residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and their families find financial resources to help pay for their education.

FinAid.com

FinAid was established in the fall of 1994 as a public service. This award-winning site has grown into the most comprehensive source of student financial aid information, advice, and tools -- on or off the web. Access to FinAid is free for all users and there is no charge to link to the site.

FastWeb.com

With more than 1.5 million scholarships worth more than $3.4 billion, the FastWeb scholarship search is the largest, most accurate, and most frequently updated scholarship database.

College Board Scholarships

An online tool to help students locate scholarships, internships, grants, and loans that match their education level, talents, and background. After completing a brief questionnaire and scholarship search, students will find potential opportunities from their database of more than 2,300 sources of college funding, totaling nearly $3 billion in available aid.

Scholarship America

Scholarship America has been developed to mobilize America through scholarships and educational support - making postsecondary education possible for all students. Since its founding in 1958, Scholarship America has distributed more than $2 billion to nearly 2 million students across the country through various programs.

Scholarships.com

Assists students and their families in finding college scholarships and to help them explore a variety of valuable financial aid opportunities.