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Mission impossible no more! All the inside secrets on how to get full ride scholarships
Let’s face it: Not everyone can graduate valedictorian. Nor can everyone be a world-class athlete, a five-generation legacy for an ivy league, juggle 20 hours of community service a week with a part-time job and still find time to pile on five advanced placement classes a year. So how do non-super-human students find full ride scholarships? The answer may surprise you.
Earning a full ride scholarship is no easy feat, but it’s not an impossible endeavor. That being said, it still requires hard work, ambition and yes, a healthy college resume. Slim acceptance rates and post-graduation requirements are often the underlying costs of free tuition programs, but still students are saved the long-term headache that is student loans and bank-draining semester tuition checks.
Essentially, there are three types of free tuition options: Zero-tuition private schools, military programs and full ride scholarship opportunities.
Tuition-Free Colleges
Brace yourselves—certain schools do not require students to pay tuition. Repeat: No tuition. Huzzah!
These universities commit to covering each student’s financial need through a series of work-study programs, scholarships and grants. They tend to be small universities with noteworthy reputations, and often specialize in a certain field of study.
Deep Springs College
“Our financial aid program is pretty simple—none of the students admitted to the college pay for tuition, room or board. The only costs the students are responsible for are books, supplies, travel and personal incidentals (toothpaste, etc.),” Niki Frishman, the office manager and bookkeeper of the university, said via email.
Like a picturesque Western film, Deep Springs College has a certain undeniable charm, and is nestled on a cattle ranch and alfalfa farm in California’s High Desert. The accredited liberal arts college houses a two-year program in which each of its 26 students work on the farm as they pursue their academic endeavors. It’s an isolated school--30 miles from the nearest town—that provides a truly unique schooling environment.
“Deep Springs operates on the belief that manual labor and political deliberation are integral parts of a comprehensive liberal arts education,” the school’s website reads.
The faculty and student form a close-knit community, and work alongside each other outside of the classroom setting as well. The physical labor, along with private endowments, covers each students’$50,000 a year tab.
College of the Ozarks
The school offers a simple formula to explain the $0 tuition fee: “Work Program + Federal and State Grants + College of the Ozarks Scholarship = Your annual tuition!”
Through scholarships, grants and generous beneficiaries, this Christian, Missouri-based college does not allow students to pay the $18,300 annual tuition price out of pocket. Instead, they work with each student to secure specific scholarships and grants, and then allow the student to work off the rest of the tuition through work-study programs.
However, with accommodated tuition costs come certain disadvantages—namely, a slim acceptance rate of 12.2 percent.
Berea College
This rural Kentucky college pledges the Tuition Promise Scholarship to each of it’s students. That means that the school will make up the difference for whatever other scholarship and grant money a student earns does not cover.
“For most Berea students, the Tuition Promise scholarship amounts to nearly $100,000 over four years,” the college’s website reads. “We are able to provide this level of financial assistance due to the generous support of alumni, friends, organizations, and others who believe, as we do, that a student’s income should not dictate their outcome.”
Students pay roughly $870 in other expenses—that’s it. They’re even issued school laptops. The school itself is rated 69th in U.S. News’ National Liberal Arts Colleges, and approximately 34 percent of applicants are accepted.
Macaulay Honors College at CUNY
A City University of New York, Macaulay Honors College seeks to provide gifted students a mean to realize their dreams and give back to the city. As such, each applicant receives:
▪ Full undergraduate tuition scholarship
▪ An Apple laptop
▪ Cultural Passport to N.Y.C.’s arts and cultural venues
As the CUNY honors college, the program provides unique and challenging opportunities designed to inspire and grow students into global citizens. Roughly, the school accepts about 15 percent of applicants (according to 2005 statistics).
Curtis Institute of Music
Although the annual price tag per student rings in at $38,728, the Curtis Institute of Music does not require that any form of tuition be paid. Instead, the music school maintains an all-scholarship policy that provides merit scholarships to all of its students. The school does factor in outside financial aid, such as grants and private scholarships, and allows students the opportunity for on-campus employment as well. The school does not provide financial assistance to all students for room and board—which totals $14,710 annually— but does accommodate those that demonstrate a profound need.
As a music college, the school requires a series of auditions as well as a formal application to be considered for admission. The Philadelphia-based school is quite small, with less than 200 students per class.
Academic Military Programs
There are a few basic elements to sift through when it comes to military scholarships: First, there are those military academies students may attend as active-duty servicemen, and then there are the benefits provided by the GI Bill that allow veterans and their children to attend college on the government’s dime.
Military Academies
Don’t be fooled: Being accepted to a military academy is no easy feat. These schools rank as some of the top universities in the nation, and provide top-tier educations in exchange for a minimum of three years military service upon graduation. The top three most prestigious academies are:
· U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY
o Acceptance rate: 9%
· U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
o Acceptance rate: 7.4%
· United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT
o Acceptance rate: 16.5%
As active duty military, students who attend these institutions are not required to pay tuition, room or board. These schools provide active duty benefits for students, including a monthly cash allowance, and only require that students pay minimal fees for various activities and benefits.
“When choosing colleges, financial aid was a huge factor for me. When I got accepted to West Point, that with the prestige of the school made my decision for me,” Court Harris, a 2007 West Point graduate, said. “My family has a long line of West Point graduates, and that made me even prouder to attend. I received one of the best educations available in the country, and was able to travel and see the world after my entry into the army.”
Harris, who’s now using his military expertise degree along with his science in management degree as a platform to run for public office in Illinois, would not have traded his university experience for anything.
“I’m a proud American, I love my country. Getting to go to college for free and serve my country; it was an honor and a privilege for me. I knew I didn’t want to be in the military forever, but my experience there was invaluable,” Harris said. “I don’t have any student debt, and since my family didn’t have to spend any money paying for my college, they bought me my dream car—a brand new Audi— for graduation. Win-win.”
GI Bill
Formally known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the GI Bill is still a work in progress. The bill has been reformed many times—usually after every armed conflict or war—to accommodate returned veterans, and often their spouses and children. As of 2008, the bill now offers “enhanced educational benefits that cover more educational expenses, provide a living allowance, money for books and the ability to transfer unused educational benefits to spouses or children,” the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ website reads.
Note that these benefits are not just for returned veterans—they can also extend to their children, meaning it’s not always a requirement to enlist after high school in order to receive these benefits. These benefits vary state by state, but one can calculate his/her GI Bill aid here.
“With the signing of this bill a well-rounded program of special veterans’ benefits is nearly completed,” former President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in a statement after signing the GI Bill into law. “It gives emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down.”
Full-Tuition Scholarships
These are the holy grail of scholarships—they cover practically all college expenses including tuition, room and board, meal plans, books and more. With the broad array of expenses accommodated, however, they can be extremely competitive and only offer a slim number of spots. The top full expenses-paid scholarship programs are:
Posse Scholarship
“The Posse program emphasizes students in leadership roles who will push not only our personal boundaries but lead a community or group to do the same,” Celena Madlansacay, a Posse Scholarship recipient and current Pepperdine University student, said. “Posse scholars are expected to have the tenacity to excel not only in academics, but also in creating a change on campus as well. As a group we each bring something different to the table, but work well enough together in keeping one another to these standards. Students who are able to balance a multi-tasking life and constant risk taking while in leadership roles are just some of the qualities that make a candidate stand out in the interview process.”
Established in 1989, the Posse Foundation selects a handful of students from 10 metropolitan areas with outstanding academic and leadership potential. The goal is simple: Give children from different cultural opportunities the means to go to college, and promote an enriched and diverse society.
With a 90 percent graduation rate, the program is exceptional in fostering its students, the likes of which have attended distinguished universities from John Hopkins to Yale. However, it is not solely a minority or need-based scholarship program, and the initial application process only begs four criteria be met.
Through a series of interviews and screenings, candidates are selected and narrowed until a small ‘posse’ of recipients is chosen from each area. The scholarship winners are then awarded a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to one of 52 Posse-affiliated schools. In 2014 alone, 16,000 students applied for 680 slots—meaning there’s an acceptance rate of just more than four percent.
Chick Caddie Evans Scholarship
ounded in 1930, this full tuition and housing scholarship program provides outstanding golf caddies with the opportunity to attend university with all expenses paid. Along with being a caddie, applicants must also demonstrate impeccable grades, unblemished character and a financial need. The scholarship is awarded to more than 800 deserving applicants every year, and requires that recipients live together in an Evans Scholarship house, found on each of the 14 campuses with which the scholarship program affiliates.
Gates Millennium Scholarship
Does ‘Gates’ ring a bell? It should—Bill and Melinda Gates are the founders of this competitive scholarship foundation, and offer 1,000 worthy candidates an all-expenses-paid ride to the university of their choice. Additionally, Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients are also eligible for graduate school scholarships in select areas of science and education. However, applicants must be African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American or Hispanic American in order to be eligible for the scholarship, as well as have a 3.3 un-weighted GPA and be eligible for a Pell Grant.
For more outstanding scholarship opportunities, click here.
Let’s face it: Not everyone can graduate valedictorian. Nor can everyone be a world-class athlete, a five-generation legacy for an ivy league, juggle 20 hours of community service a week with a part-time job and still find time to pile on five advanced placement classes a year. So how do non-super-human students find full ride scholarships? The answer may surprise you.
Earning a full ride scholarship is no easy feat, but it’s not an impossible endeavor. That being said, it still requires hard work, ambition and yes, a healthy college resume. Slim acceptance rates and post-graduation requirements are often the underlying costs of free tuition programs, but still students are saved the long-term headache that is student loans and bank-draining semester tuition checks.
Essentially, there are three types of free tuition options: Zero-tuition private schools, military programs and full ride scholarship opportunities.
Tuition-Free Colleges
Brace yourselves—certain schools do not require students to pay tuition. Repeat: No tuition. Huzzah!
These universities commit to covering each student’s financial need through a series of work-study programs, scholarships and grants. They tend to be small universities with noteworthy reputations, and often specialize in a certain field of study.
Deep Springs College
“Our financial aid program is pretty simple—none of the students admitted to the college pay for tuition, room or board. The only costs the students are responsible for are books, supplies, travel and personal incidentals (toothpaste, etc.),” Niki Frishman, the office manager and bookkeeper of the university, said via email.
Like a picturesque Western film, Deep Springs College has a certain undeniable charm, and is nestled on a cattle ranch and alfalfa farm in California’s High Desert. The accredited liberal arts college houses a two-year program in which each of its 26 students work on the farm as they pursue their academic endeavors. It’s an isolated school--30 miles from the nearest town—that provides a truly unique schooling environment.
“Deep Springs operates on the belief that manual labor and political deliberation are integral parts of a comprehensive liberal arts education,” the school’s website reads.
The faculty and student form a close-knit community, and work alongside each other outside of the classroom setting as well. The physical labor, along with private endowments, covers each students’$50,000 a year tab.
College of the Ozarks
The school offers a simple formula to explain the $0 tuition fee: “Work Program + Federal and State Grants + College of the Ozarks Scholarship = Your annual tuition!”
Through scholarships, grants and generous beneficiaries, this Christian, Missouri-based college does not allow students to pay the $18,300 annual tuition price out of pocket. Instead, they work with each student to secure specific scholarships and grants, and then allow the student to work off the rest of the tuition through work-study programs.
However, with accommodated tuition costs come certain disadvantages—namely, a slim acceptance rate of 12.2 percent.
Berea College
This rural Kentucky college pledges the Tuition Promise Scholarship to each of it’s students. That means that the school will make up the difference for whatever other scholarship and grant money a student earns does not cover.
“For most Berea students, the Tuition Promise scholarship amounts to nearly $100,000 over four years,” the college’s website reads. “We are able to provide this level of financial assistance due to the generous support of alumni, friends, organizations, and others who believe, as we do, that a student’s income should not dictate their outcome.”
Students pay roughly $870 in other expenses—that’s it. They’re even issued school laptops. The school itself is rated 69th in U.S. News’ National Liberal Arts Colleges, and approximately 34 percent of applicants are accepted.
Macaulay Honors College at CUNY
A City University of New York, Macaulay Honors College seeks to provide gifted students a mean to realize their dreams and give back to the city. As such, each applicant receives:
▪ Full undergraduate tuition scholarship
▪ An Apple laptop
▪ Cultural Passport to N.Y.C.’s arts and cultural venues
As the CUNY honors college, the program provides unique and challenging opportunities designed to inspire and grow students into global citizens. Roughly, the school accepts about 15 percent of applicants (according to 2005 statistics).
Curtis Institute of Music
Although the annual price tag per student rings in at $38,728, the Curtis Institute of Music does not require that any form of tuition be paid. Instead, the music school maintains an all-scholarship policy that provides merit scholarships to all of its students. The school does factor in outside financial aid, such as grants and private scholarships, and allows students the opportunity for on-campus employment as well. The school does not provide financial assistance to all students for room and board—which totals $14,710 annually— but does accommodate those that demonstrate a profound need.
As a music college, the school requires a series of auditions as well as a formal application to be considered for admission. The Philadelphia-based school is quite small, with less than 200 students per class.
Academic Military Programs
There are a few basic elements to sift through when it comes to military scholarships: First, there are those military academies students may attend as active-duty servicemen, and then there are the benefits provided by the GI Bill that allow veterans and their children to attend college on the government’s dime.
Military Academies
Don’t be fooled: Being accepted to a military academy is no easy feat. These schools rank as some of the top universities in the nation, and provide top-tier educations in exchange for a minimum of three years military service upon graduation. The top three most prestigious academies are:
· U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY
o Acceptance rate: 9%
· U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
o Acceptance rate: 7.4%
· United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT
o Acceptance rate: 16.5%
As active duty military, students who attend these institutions are not required to pay tuition, room or board. These schools provide active duty benefits for students, including a monthly cash allowance, and only require that students pay minimal fees for various activities and benefits.
“When choosing colleges, financial aid was a huge factor for me. When I got accepted to West Point, that with the prestige of the school made my decision for me,” Court Harris, a 2007 West Point graduate, said. “My family has a long line of West Point graduates, and that made me even prouder to attend. I received one of the best educations available in the country, and was able to travel and see the world after my entry into the army.”
Harris, who’s now using his military expertise degree along with his science in management degree as a platform to run for public office in Illinois, would not have traded his university experience for anything.
“I’m a proud American, I love my country. Getting to go to college for free and serve my country; it was an honor and a privilege for me. I knew I didn’t want to be in the military forever, but my experience there was invaluable,” Harris said. “I don’t have any student debt, and since my family didn’t have to spend any money paying for my college, they bought me my dream car—a brand new Audi— for graduation. Win-win.”
GI Bill
Formally known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the GI Bill is still a work in progress. The bill has been reformed many times—usually after every armed conflict or war—to accommodate returned veterans, and often their spouses and children. As of 2008, the bill now offers “enhanced educational benefits that cover more educational expenses, provide a living allowance, money for books and the ability to transfer unused educational benefits to spouses or children,” the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ website reads.
Note that these benefits are not just for returned veterans—they can also extend to their children, meaning it’s not always a requirement to enlist after high school in order to receive these benefits. These benefits vary state by state, but one can calculate his/her GI Bill aid here.
“With the signing of this bill a well-rounded program of special veterans’ benefits is nearly completed,” former President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in a statement after signing the GI Bill into law. “It gives emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down.”
Full-Tuition Scholarships
These are the holy grail of scholarships—they cover practically all college expenses including tuition, room and board, meal plans, books and more. With the broad array of expenses accommodated, however, they can be extremely competitive and only offer a slim number of spots. The top full expenses-paid scholarship programs are:
Posse Scholarship
“The Posse program emphasizes students in leadership roles who will push not only our personal boundaries but lead a community or group to do the same,” Celena Madlansacay, a Posse Scholarship recipient and current Pepperdine University student, said. “Posse scholars are expected to have the tenacity to excel not only in academics, but also in creating a change on campus as well. As a group we each bring something different to the table, but work well enough together in keeping one another to these standards. Students who are able to balance a multi-tasking life and constant risk taking while in leadership roles are just some of the qualities that make a candidate stand out in the interview process.”
Established in 1989, the Posse Foundation selects a handful of students from 10 metropolitan areas with outstanding academic and leadership potential. The goal is simple: Give children from different cultural opportunities the means to go to college, and promote an enriched and diverse society.
With a 90 percent graduation rate, the program is exceptional in fostering its students, the likes of which have attended distinguished universities from John Hopkins to Yale. However, it is not solely a minority or need-based scholarship program, and the initial application process only begs four criteria be met.
Through a series of interviews and screenings, candidates are selected and narrowed until a small ‘posse’ of recipients is chosen from each area. The scholarship winners are then awarded a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to one of 52 Posse-affiliated schools. In 2014 alone, 16,000 students applied for 680 slots—meaning there’s an acceptance rate of just more than four percent.
Chick Caddie Evans Scholarship
ounded in 1930, this full tuition and housing scholarship program provides outstanding golf caddies with the opportunity to attend university with all expenses paid. Along with being a caddie, applicants must also demonstrate impeccable grades, unblemished character and a financial need. The scholarship is awarded to more than 800 deserving applicants every year, and requires that recipients live together in an Evans Scholarship house, found on each of the 14 campuses with which the scholarship program affiliates.
Gates Millennium Scholarship
Does ‘Gates’ ring a bell? It should—Bill and Melinda Gates are the founders of this competitive scholarship foundation, and offer 1,000 worthy candidates an all-expenses-paid ride to the university of their choice. Additionally, Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients are also eligible for graduate school scholarships in select areas of science and education. However, applicants must be African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American or Hispanic American in order to be eligible for the scholarship, as well as have a 3.3 un-weighted GPA and be eligible for a Pell Grant.
For more outstanding scholarship opportunities, click here.