Kristen Bailey
Published: January 9, 2006
Paying for college is a substantial worry among college students. Unfortunately, many students do not utilize scholarship opportunities open to them.
PJC offers many scholarships, ranging from merit-based to donor scholarships. Students can go to the financial aid office and talk to a representative there for more information on any scholarships.
“We usually have about 750 to 1000 applicants a year for here, at the financial aid,” said Scholarship Representative Pat Owens.
The academic scholarships, which are ranked by grade point average, are among scholarships that students can receive.
“For the spring term, I would say we awarded 20 academic scholarships,” Owens said.
Similarly, PJC offers major-specific scholarships.
According to PJC’s scholarship application, these scholarships are available to students meeting the eligibility criteria of the particular departments. The Corsair, for instance, offers journalism students a scholarship for their participation in the newspaper.
Many groups on campus also offer scholarships to their members. The Robinson Honors Scholars Program, for instance, will pay up to 25 percent of a student’s tuition during the regular fall and spring semesters, program director and head of the History, Languages and Philosophy Department, Charlie Schuler said.
“During summer, Florida Bright Futures isn’t available for students and we have been able to pay for 100 percent of students’ classes. That’s the big advantage,” Schuler said.
Students may also apply for a donor scholarship.
“We have some donor-specific criteria scholarships,” Owens said. “The donors specify certain criteria that they’d like the students to meet so that they qualify for the scholarship.”
Owen used the example of a scholarship available through the Lewis Bear Company that is available solely to Lewis Bear employees.
Yonit Shames, a PJC student, received two scholarships for the spring semester. One, a merit-based academic scholarship, she got by filling out the application offered at the financial aid office.
She received the Ami-Lee Wilder scholarship because of her involvement with Phi Theta Kappa, an international honors society that has a PJC chapter.
“I got it completely by merit of Phi Theta Kappa,” Shames said, “It’s open to anyone but preference is given to Phi Theta Kappa members. And because I’m a member and an officer, I knew about the scholarship.”
Along with the varied scholarships it offers to students, PJC also provides information about scholarships offered at other colleges for transferring students.
“The PJC scholarship newsletter. It’s sent to everyone on e-mail, it’s on the website under financial aid. (The newsletter) gives you infomation about transfer scholarships, other scholarships offered outside of the school,” Owens said.
Among the information listed in the newsletter are eligibility criteria, deadlines, and the amounts being awarded. Some of the colleges listed in the newsletter are the University of West Florida and the University of Central Florida.
Web sites such as www.fastweb.com also offer scholarship information. Boasting 600,000 scholarships worth up to $1 billion, Fastweb is similar to other scholarship Web sites such as collegeboard.com and collegeispossible.org. Students fill out detailed profiles, then scholarship information is sent when appropriate scholarships become available.
The scholarships do not come without paperwork.
” You cannot get a academic scholarship without filling out your Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It’s a requirement by the state legislature,” Owens said.
Students should not be deterred by the FAFSA form, according to Owens. The effort pays off.
“Let’s put it this way, you can’t win if you don’t play,” she said.
In order to fill out the form, students must have tax information available, as well as their parents’ tax information if the student is not classified as an independent student (over the age of 24, married, or having filed the appropriate forms).
Students should carefully read the eligibility requirements for any scholarships they are interested in.
After determining which scholarships they are eligible to receive, students are advised to fill out applications as soon as possible, as this will give them the most advantageous position.
Pay close attention to all instructions and be as thorough as possible. Make sure to check all grammar and spelling, and if possible, have someone else look over the application, as it’s easy to miss mistakes.
Students should try to distinguish themselves from other applicants; remember that quality is more important that quantity when writing essays and try to be as original as possible. It’s easy to get in a pattern of writing the same thing for every scholarship application.