If you’ve been putting off scholarships, now is the time to get busy. Most scholarships for this semester are due in early October. I know you probably don’t like sitting down and filling out 10 almost identical applications and mailing them out. Or maybe you don’t know where to look. But procrastinators and easily lost alike rejoice, the HCC Foundation has made this process extremely simple.

  Before applying for anything, make sure your FAFSA is updated for this year and is on file with the school. This is the hard part. The FAFSA takes a bit of time to finish and requires some tax information and previous work information. Expect to spend a few hours on this, it’ll go by faster if you are prepared and have your forms on hand. Be careful finding the FAFSA website, there are many fake sites floating around and you will be giving out several very important bits of information about yourself: like your Social Security number, your parents and their Social Security numbers, your tax information, your address (so many things you don’t want out). The official webpage for the FAFSA is fafsa.ed.gov. It is free to fill out. There is no $78 charge, do not use the website with the smiling lady wearing the earpiece, there are two of those and they both charge fees.

  Do not apply using a website ending in “.com,” the FAFSA is a government website and ends in “.gov.” It takes some time for your application to process, so if you are doing it now, it’s probably too late for this fall semester.
From the HCC home page, go to “Financial Aid” under Quick Links. Then click the piggy banks for “Scholarships, grants and workstudy.”
We’re here for scholarships, workstudy may be full by the printing of this article and grants are not in my scope right now. If you want to check them out, it is worth noting that grants are “gift aid” and do not have to be repaid, as long as the requirements are met, so don’t go failing on someone else’s dime.

  On the scholarship page, you have access to five resources. The first is for Bright Futures. Bright Futures is for high school graduates, usually a guidance counselor will help you with this in your senior year. The steps required to apply or reapply depend on what year you graduated high school. Find the link on the Bright Futures page that applies to you. I had it, then lost it in some college transferring, math failing, GPA dropping fiasco, but I will still fill it out because it’s a big help. Remember that you have to pay them back for failed classes.
Next is the HCC Foundation Scholarships link. It is the easiest scholarship form I have ever used. Use your Hawkmail account name and password. You fill out your basic information once, answer a few short essay questions, your degree, your GPA, attach your current transcript, available on your Hawknet account, and email a request to some professors who like you for some recommendations. After all this, it generates a list of scholarships available to you. As a white guy with a 2.7 GPA, I got six generic results, but still worth the time to check a few boxes and apply anyway. But, since I have a degree interest in mass communication, I was also suggested the Bright House Networks scholarship. The pages let you know how many awards are given, so you know what kind of competition you have. But since it’s so easy to do, there’s no reason not to apply.

  The College Board link is a bit broader. It is statewide and takes more into account like certain employers, clubs, religions, and ethnicities. You don’t have to make an account, but it doesn’t automatically fill out your information for the scholarships. So you can get 80 results, but that’s 80 forms to fill out.

  FinAid is the next link. It has tips for applying as well as links to find specific scholarship types, like full tuition, cancer scholarships, and unusual scholarships. There is no reason you shouldn’t get paid to be over 6’2” (guys) or 5’10” (ladies). Or being the best at marbles or duck calls. And of course it has a section on scams, so read up, we’re here to make money, not have it taken away.

  The last link is for the U.S. Department of Labor scholarship search. It is a little harder to navigate, don’t be too specific in your searches or nothing will come up. Read the descriptions for information since it’s statewide and pay attention to deadlines. I only got 42 results for “scholarships,” “Florida,” “include all study levels,” “no affiliation or other.” So be prepared to change your search a few times until you get what you want.

  Don’t be like me and wait until the last minute to do your financial aid. I’ve spent too much of my own money on classes when there are entire organizations dedicated to putting me through school. So use these links, find out who wants to pay your tuition, and use the money from your regular people job for regular people things like groceries, gas, and rent.