AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
PAY FOR COLLEGE
African-American scholarships provide much-needed financial help to a segment of the population that is vastly underrepresented on American college campuses. This is welcome news to high-achieving African-Americans who are short on funds for college.
It is an unfortunate fact, however, that black students are underrepresented on college campuses for a variety of complex reasons that have nothing to do with money. Until these are addressed the numbers won’t change drastically because to access the money that comes from African-American scholarships you have to meet certain testing and grade point average standards.
There has been improvement, just not enough. As a relative sea of African-American college graduates continues to flow through American society perhaps the numbers of African-American scholarships will grow exponentially.
If it weren’t for African-American scholarship money Martin Luther King, Jr. may very well have never attended college. He received financial help from the United Negro College Fund and it would be hard to argue that the UNCF did not make an excellent investment.
The UNCF is just one of many sources for African-American scholarships. Its motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” has been embraced and repeated so many times it has become an indelible part of the culture now.
But while the numbers of African-Americans attending college has improved somewhat, the numbers don’t appear to be in proportion with the total population or the scholarship money available to them. Why is this?
Does it really matter? Yes it does, but not for our purposes here in this space.
For the African-American student seeking scholarship money it is worth noting that the history of this country affords you a unique opportunity to have most if not all of your college paid for. But you have to do your part too. There are very few scholarships that don’t have at least some academic component to them.
To earn an African-American scholarship it is important to do your scholarship homework. Do not go into the process with a sense of entitlement because you will surely end up disappointed. Rather you should follow the proper steps: taking the SAT; maintaining a high grade point average; and being involved in extracurricular activities and community service. This is the formula for landing an African-American scholarship.
There is funding that comes outside of the umbrella of the African-American scholarship. The Pell Grant, for instance, is a huge program and funds are readily available to all students who qualify. These conventional student funding sources should not be overlooked and, when combined with the monies you receive from your African-American scholarships they can make a potent one-two punch.
Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a day when all men would be judged not by their skin color, but by the content of their character. Today that dream is closer than ever before to being realized. But he believed in equal opportunity not equal outcomes. African-American scholarships allow for equal opportunity.
Since when did America become about punishing someone for his success? Well, the tax code is moving swiftly in that direction and so is the market for scholarships for Asians.
The Bill Gates Scholarship, flawed as it may be, throws billions of dollars into scholarship coffers and, if nothing else, should buy Mr. Gates a speed train ticket to heaven.
Champions for Christ has awarded $1.2 million in Christian scholarships since 1986, making it one of the go-to places for Christian scholarships.
What we usually refer to as weird scholarships are scholarships that are awarded based on unusual skills or at least something you don’t hear about every day.