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Personal Finance

These websites help students find college scholarships and get free application advice

Applying to college and figuring out how to pay for it can be tough. These websites provide a plethora of free resources for high school students.

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It can be stressful to go through the college application process and figure out how to finance that education, whether you're a high school senior applying or a parent who's supporting the process.

Even the thought of looking for scholarships or understanding how much you can earn from work-study can be daunting. It also doesn't help that all the news about the cost of college is depressing, with the total national student loan debt load at $1.388 trillion by the end of 2023, according to Experian — and that's after factoring in various loan forgiveness programs.

The College Board found that the average cost of in-state tuition and fees at a public university was $11,260 per year in 2023. Most students, though, aren't paying the full amount to go to college: The College Board also found that public university students, on average, were spending $2,730 per year on tuition and fees thanks to grant aid.

Financing your college education can be made easier if you know where to seek scholarships and how to apply for aid from the federal government.

What we'll cover

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How to find college scholarships

$100 million in scholarship funds go unawarded and over $2 billion in student grants go unclaimed each year, according to SoFi. A common misconception is that scholarships are only available for those with exceptional grades or abilities.

"There are lots of different scholarships out there and lots of different types of scholarships," says Jefferson Pestronk, executive director of the Modern States Education Alliance, a philanthropy focused on college accessibility and affordability, and a former director of special initiatives in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement.

As a result, there are many opportunities for students to save on education, regardless of their grade point average or their standardized testing score. However, it's a double-edged sword.

"You've got to put in the legwork to find the ones that match who you are," Pestronk says. 

CNBC Select has rounded up six scholarship search services that could help you save on school. While these websites and apps are useful, many of the scholarships listed are competitive, so students should also seek out local scholarships, fill out their FAFSA, appeal their pre-existing financial aid package and look into federal student loans.

Going Merry 

Going Merry, now owned by student loan lender Earnest, was first created by Raymond Murthi and Charlie Maynard. Ray saw a gap in the market when helping his girlfriend apply for scholarships for her master's program. Charlie faced similar issues during his undergraduate and master's programs. Together, they were inspired to create an online service that not only aggregates scholarships but also allows users to apply for them directly through the website.

Rather than fill out multiple scholarship forms, high school students can set up a profile by entering some basic information about themselves. Once they've established a profile, they can apply for multiple scholarships through Going Merry. Users can alter the info for each application and may be required to answer different questions depending on the application.

Going Merry will use the information in your profile to recommend scholarships. Users can also use the search function to filter scholarships by categories like number of recipients, the deadline and competitiveness.

Earnest

  • Eligible borrowers

    Undergraduate and graduate students, parents, half-time students, international and DACA students

  • Loan amounts

    $1,000 minimum (or up to state); maximum up to cost of attendance

  • Loan terms

    Range from 5 to 15 years

  • Loan types

    Variable and fixed

  • Borrower protections

    9-month grace period

  • Co-signer required?

    No

  • Offer student loan refinancing?

    Yes - click here for details

Terms apply.

Actual rate and available repayment terms will vary based on your income. Fixed rates range from 5.19% APR to 9.74% APR (excludes 0.25% Auto Pay discount). Variable rates range from 5.99% APR to 9.74% APR (excludes 0.25% Auto Pay discount). Earnest variable interest rate student loan refinance loans are based on a publicly available index, the 30-day Average Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The variable rate is based on the rate published on the 25th day, or the next business day, of the preceding calendar month, rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent. The rate will not increase more than once per month. The maximum rate for your loan is 9.99% if your loan term is 10 years or less. For loan terms of more than 10 years to 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 9.95%. For loan terms over 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 11.95%. Please note, we are not able to offer variable rate loans in AK, IL, MN, NH, OH, TN, and TX. Our lowest rates are only available for our most credit qualified borrowers and contain our .25% auto pay discount from a checking or savings account.

Fastweb 

Fastweb (Financial Aid Search Through the Web) says that it was the first scholarship search website. Founded in 1995 by Canadian businessman and entrepreneur Larry Organ, it has over 1.5 million scholarship opportunities listed. Its team of researchers decides which scholarship opportunities are posted and makes sure that none are scams. None of the scholarship applications have fees and none require you to enter personal information. 

Students can set up a profile, and Fastweb will recommend scholarships based on the information provided. There's also a database of scholarships organized by student type, whether you're Black, bilingual, a veteran, etc.

Whenever you apply for a scholarship via FastWeb, you'll be redirected to the specific scholarship website where you can apply. Unlike Going Merry, you'll have to go through the hassle of entering the same information multiple times to apply for different scholarships.

Appily

Appily (formerly Cappex) is a website that matches students up with potential scholarships and also helps them discover and learn about different colleges.

Appily, like Fastweb and Going Merry, recommends colleges for students to apply to based on their profile. It also has a comprehensive database of colleges with information about the average net price of a college, acceptance rate, application deadlines and post-grad statistics to help you choose which college is a good fit. 

The website makes a point to educate students about the college process. It has quizzes that help students understand what college majors they might be interested in and explainer articles about specific majors.

For example, the article about social work majors details what type of coursework you might take in college and info on entry-level salaries.

The scholarship search function allows students to search by different factors like ethnicity, first-generation status and the reward amount.

Fair Opportunity Project

The Fair Opportunity Project was founded in 2016, by Harvard students Luke Heine and Cole Scanlon. They started the organization to help high school students of all socioeconomic backgrounds gain access to college application resources.

The Fair Opportunity Project works a little differently than the other sites, as it doesn't match students to scholarships. Instead, it offers a comprehensive 129-page guide, available in multiple languages, for high school students that includes information about letters of recommendation, how to compile a college list and examples of college essays that worked. 

The Fair Opportunity Project also offers a mentorship program free to students from underserved and underrepresented communities in the United States. Mentors are volunteers who are either current college students or recent college graduates. Students can meet with an advisor for about an hour at a time to get help with college applications, the financial aid process, writing and editing essays and completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Mos

Mos is set up like a dating app, but for scholarships.

Students can download the app for free and create a profile by taking short quizzes that ask questions about things like desired majors, GPAs, interests and background. The app then matches students with scholarships that align with their profiles and students can swipe right to save their favorites.

The app provides a summary for each scholarship, including how long the application should take, as well as a brief list of requirements, such as whether it requires an essay. What Mos doesn't do is automatically apply for scholarships on your behalf — it's just a matching tool designed to make finding scholarships easier.

According to its website, Mos' database has over $160 billion in financial aid, some of which is exclusive to the app. Students interested in more personalized support can opt for Mos Premium membership ($9.99 per month or $49.99 per year) to get access to a financial aid advisor who can help with things like filling out scholarship applications, reviewing aid offers and drafting tuition negotiation letters.

Scholly

Scholly, now owned by student loan lender Sallie Mae, is another free mobile app that matches students with scholarships based on their interests, background and accomplishments. Founder Christopher Gray won $1.3 million in college scholarships and realized how time-consuming the scholarship hunt could be, so he started Scholly to make the process easier.

Students have used the platform to earn over $100 million in scholarships, according to its website. The platform has also provided access to exclusive scholarships from major companies like Amazon and Google.

Users share information about their interests and qualifications, and Scholly provides them with a tailored list of relevant scholarships to consider. Thousands of scholarships are added to its database every month so even long-time users can find new scholarships easily.

Sallie Mae Student Loan

  • Eligible borrowers

    Undergraduate and graduate students, borrowers seeking career training

  • Loan amounts

    $1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance

  • Loan terms

    Range from 10 to 15 years

  • Loan types

    Variable and fixed

  • Borrower protections

    Deferment and forbearance options available

  • Co-signer required?

    No

  • Offer student loan refinancing?

    No

Terms apply.

Other ways to save

Between high tuition costs, housing, food and supplies, a degree's sticker price may seem scary. Pestronk recommends finding someone who has been through the college application and financial aid process before to help you better understand your options and plan ahead. 

Students often forget they don't necessarily have to be at an expensive institution for four years to get a bachelor's degree. Students can get college credit through approved classes or college-level examination programs, which can allow students to start their college careers even a year ahead of schedule. 

"That 25% is going to make the difference for a lot of students who otherwise can't afford it," Pestronk says. 

He also highlights College Promise, a non-profit organization that provides "last dollar scholarships" to students who already qualify for financial aid and grants. College Promise programs, which are available in certain geographic areas across the country, then cover the remainder of the student's out-of-pocket costs to allow that student to attend college without cost.

Pestronk recommends that students use tools that estimate how much attending a certain college will cost them and how that translates into loan debt. If you're looking for a private student loan, CNBC Select named College Ave as a top low-interest student loan lender thanks to its competitive interest rates, as well as no application, origination or prepayment fees. Eligible borrowers also receive hardship protections like deferment, forbearance and grace period options.

College Ave

  • Eligible borrowers

    Undergraduate and graduate students, parents

  • Loan amounts

    $1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance

  • Loan terms

    Range from 5 to 20 years

  • Loan types

    Variable and fixed

  • Borrower protections

    Deferment, forbearance and grace period options available

  • Co-signer required?

    Only for international students

  • Offer student loan refinancing?

    Yes - click here for details

Terms apply.

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Bottom line

Financing your college education doesn't have to be stressful. Scholarships are one way to keep your student loans low, and they may be more attainable than you think. There are thousands of scholarships out there, many of which go unclaimed. You just have to know where to look. 

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Meet our experts

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Jefferson Pestronk, an expert on education affordability. Pestronk is the director of the Modern States Education Alliance, a philanthropy dedicated to making college more affordable and accessible. He has nearly two decades of experience working in education, notably as the vice president for strategy and development at a non-profit organization focused on improving public education in New York City, and as the director of special initiatives in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Why trust CNBC Select?

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every college scholarship guide is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial productsWhile CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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