Private Scholarships and Grants

Private scholarships (also known as outside awards) are monies provided by donors outside the University. Such awards may range from a few hundred dollars given by a local service club to several thousand dollars awarded by a corporation.

The internet is one of the best ways to identify private scholarship opporutnities. Free scholarship search services are compiled on the www.finaid.org website. Most libraries have reference books that list private scholarship sources and criteria as well.

Nearly every town or city has service organizations that offer college students financial assistance. Frequently it helps if a family member has a relationship with the organization; you should not, however, assume this is required. Find out from the various organizations in the community if they have scholarships available and what the criteria is that is used to select recipients.

Purdue University compiles a variety of unique private scholarship opportunities and posts them on our website as Private Scholarship Announcements.

If you receive a scholarship from a group or individual, inform them of your gratitude and your progress. A letter of thanks goes far toward encouraging renewal of these awards. You can find out more about the availability of private scholarships by doing a little research.

Students are required to report all private awards expected to be received to the Division of Financial Aid. A Private Scholarship Reporting Form can be used to report expected private awards.

Beware of scholarship search firms that charge a fee for their services or "guarantee" a scholarship. Visit Finaid's Scholarship Scams page for more information.