The ultimate scholarship is a full ride scholarship. This means that the entire cost of your college education is covered from the get-go. You get all your tuition paid for. You get all your other expenses covered as well: room and board and textbooks and supplies. Given the fact that this is the jackpot of a scholarship, you might find it rare and difficult to qualify for. The only catch is – and you may have guessed that this wasn’t going to be a free ride – is that you have to participate in certain on-campus jobs while you get everything paid for.
There are other ways to find full ride scholarships – there are certain areas of study where you can find sponsors for a full ride scholarship.
- Just to cite one example: suppose you want to major in political science. Well, in that case, you might need to apply for a full ride scholarship to either College Republicans or College Democrats. Another possibility would be to agree to work on the college’s newspaper – this would be the work area for someone who would be interested in pursuing a degree in communications or media.
- Certain full ride scholarships may go to people in certain areas of sports. If you are a woman who is interested in soccer, for example, then you might investigate the Division I Women’s Soccer under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. This means that if you are a woman who wishes to be a soccer player, you might just get your entire college education financed for you.
- Another possible avenue to explore is the full ride scholarship for African-American women. You would obviously have to be African-American and a woman to apply for such a scholarship, but if all things were otherwise equal, you could end up getting your entire higher education paid for. You do need to qualify, and you do need to apply, and you do need to have all the requirements that may be needed for getting one of these scholarships in order.
- The AAMC or the Association of American Medical Colleges – The next possibility may come to those who are interested in medicine. The Association of American Medical Colleges is the place to turn to if and when you are interested in becoming a doctor. Becoming a doctor is usually not an inexpensive ride. Many beginning physicians have considerable loans to pay back. If you are lucky, though, you may land a scholarship that’s full ride – for pre-med in a four-year institution of higher learning. When you get to be in grad school, you are usually the recipient of a fellowship that does cover all costs.
There aren’t many private schools that will award you full ride scholarships, but there are certain exceptions to this rule as well.
The fact is that a full ride scholarship is not easy to get even if you find an institution that is going to grant one of these enviable deals. There are some colleges that may give you plenty of money to attend them. Examples include Calvin College or Concordia College or the University of Dallas. These institutions of higher learning give scholarships that come under the rubric of a five-figure grant. Not too shabby.