example scholarship essay

example scholarship essay

The Importance of Scholarships in Achieving Academic Success

1. Introduction

Scholarships are a type of financial aid, in the form of a grant, that is given to a student to help them further their education. Scholarships are awarded based on various criteria, which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Scholarship money is not required to be repaid and is often awarded in conjunction with other types of financial aid. The necessity of a scholarship in order to achieve academic success is a subject of heavy debate. While it is often true that a scholarship can make the difference in whether a student can attend a college or university, there are still many who believe that a student should be able to attain their education on their own, without the “helping hand” of a scholarship. Even though it may be against the beliefs of a student to accept money that they have not had to repay now or in the future, there is no denying the benefits of a scholarship for a college student. Given the chance to graduate from a college debt-free, or close to it, is a huge advantage to a student entering the workforce for the first time. High levels of student loan debt can be a heavy burden to carry, and in an economy where new college graduates are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet, it helps to not have the additional burden of paying off debt.

2. Background and Need for Scholarships

Knowing that the quality of a nation is determined by the quality of its lower-middle class, the issue of poverty should be solved to release the future generation from the burden of poverty and give them a chance to study better and bring a bright future for themselves and the nation. The case study by the government in 10 districts shows that many students with excellent results are poor and not infrequently many of them fail to continue their secondary education to a higher level such as SMU or vocational school. It’s not that they do not want to continue studying, but more because of economic factors that they face. At least around 70% of them prefer to work by helping their family to cut the family burden related to education fees. This then also reduces the parents’ spirit to support a better study for their children. Because of it, the central and local government and also the society have the responsibility to get rid of the situation. They must unite to perform various programs which are intended for all layers of the poor society.

In some cases, the cage of poverty has also resulted in preventing bright and talented youths from pursuing their studies with excellent academic results. They are caught in the need to work from a young age in order to help their family and ease the family’s burden. Ironically, this will reduce their opportunity to be included in the list of the less fortunate who can still pursue their education to a higher level. These are the sorry truths which seem to become a shackle for the nation in helping to create a better education achievement.

3. Benefits of Scholarships

The impact of scholarship money goes deeper than giving money to an individual student. Students who can ensure financial aid to attend college will most likely attend a college in which he/she would not be able to attend without aid. Higher education institutes are places of diversity education, international involvement, and research. Today, many prospective students are considering factors out of academics and social atmosphere when deciding on a college but a great amount of high school students are limited to the colleges they can afford. Community colleges serve as a place for student transitions and students unable to afford tuition at higher education institutes. Step wise, increasing number of students going to higher education is a way to increase the number of college graduates. Higher education institute graduates can give back to communities, help future students, and provide advancements for certain fields. By increasing the number of college graduates, there will be no stops to improvements on global dilemmas and economy. The bottom line is every successful change in the world and its people today is backed by education and research.

Financial benefit of scholarships is enough money to decrease the number of students working outside of class and it is easier for students to have a part-time job because of the availability of credit for their education and other living expenses. Working during college often times results in a lower GPA. If a student is spending a good amount of time outside of class reading, studying, and doing homework then the opportunity of achieving a higher GPA is greater. A student with a GPA of 3.5 and higher has a much greater chance of avoiding academic probation, receiving scholarship money, and being accepted into graduate school. The higher a student’s GPA, the more money he/she will receive for education in the form of academic scholarship. If a student is involved in intramural sports, club sports, or collegiate athletics, getting money out of a non-athletic scholarship is a bonus to the activities and events he/she participates in. Scholarships are free money and are not a usual form of financial aid. Most financial aid comes in the form of a loan that needs to be paid off. A grant is another form of financial aid but is difficult to receive and paucities of certain minorities. A scholarship is usually given to students with a high academic achievement and can also be given to numerous amounts of people for a certain profession preparedness, talent, or involvement in certain activities.

4. Overcoming Challenges through Scholarships

Students from low-income homes face a variety of challenges that can hinder their ability to succeed academically. These challenges are many and can be unexpected. A family in a low-income situation may be unable to afford everyday expenses needed for a suitable family lifestyle. This includes proper food and shelter. CollegeTrek and GAP will help by providing a supplement to a student’s family income by providing a scholarship to those in need. This will allow for a more suitable living environment while allowing a student more accessibility to required expenses like travel to school and books. Many students from low-income families are obligated to pursue part-time employment, often with hours great enough to affect a student’s ability to perform well in school. In many unfortunate situations, a student can get stuck in a cycle where they are so consumed by working to maintain a suitable family lifestyle that they lose track of the importance of education. This can be true for single-parent families whose informal income is often well below the national average. The situation is exacerbated in circumstances where the student is from a single-parent family. Here, a student may feel a sense of obligation to care and provide for their family. This often takes away from a student’s focus on education and feeling of freedom to devote time to studying. This student would then be forced to take on moderate employment to support their family, usually foregoing healthy living expenses and further impeding their college readiness. FAFSA and college preparation for these families is often ignored as they feel it impossible to finance secondary education. With a GAP and CollegeTrek scholarship, students may feel less pressured by concerns of finance and provide students and their parents with the hope of financing a secondary education.

5. Conclusion

With the rising cost of tuition, textbooks, accommodation, etc., many students all over the world are undoubtedly feeling the pinch. For many working students, tertiary education is an economically unviable proposition. This is unfortunate as a good education is often a gateway to a fulfilling and high-earning career. Scholarships can be the solution to this problem. A scholarship at its best is the acquisition of money for schooling that you will never need to repay. This is free money and is especially useful to those being supported by only one parent as in some cases, the scholarship can be a tipping factor in whether a child can attend tertiary education or not.

Scholarships are a good way to finance your education, which is an investment in your future. If you are a high school senior, then you should start by applying for scholarships. Contact or visit the GSM site for information packets on scholarships. In the packets, there is information to help you find and apply for scholarships. Also, visit some popular online sites like Fastweb. This is a site where you can be matched with a scholarship that best fits you. It’s a free scholarship matching service, whose database has more than 275,000 scholarships.