One of the most frustrating challenges for many high school seniors is the search for college scholarships. There is no single source for scholarship information, but there are key places to look for scholarships.

First, seniors should check their applicant and accepted student portals to search for competitive scholarships at their colleges. There also may be academic scholarships posted with a major or department.

Some schools will connect accepted students with large scholarship platforms; for example, in our area, the following schools employ Scholarship Universe: Purdue University, University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, Kent State University, University of Cincinnati, University of Louisville, and the Ohio State University. After a student is accepted to one of these schools, they will have the login credentials to use Scholarship Universe.

Next, talk with family members to understand your eligibility for possible employer sponsored scholarships, family legacy scholarships (ie. organizations like Masons or alumni scholarships from parents and grandparents), or credit union scholarships. Military families should explore the scholarship opportunities listed by Fisher House as well as local scholarships from Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Local and regional scholarships offer smaller application pools and generous awards; here are the community foundations that list several scholarships for seniors in our area.

Middletown Community Foundation
Application Due 2/1/25
https://mcfoundation.org/scholarships-for-high-school-seniors/

Northern Cincinnati Foundation
Application Due 2/7/25
https://northerncincinnati.foundation/scholarships

The Dayton Foundation
Application Due 3/7/25
https://www.daytonfoundation.org/scholarshipsGreene Co. Community Foundation. This site provides a list of local scholarships for Beavercreek, Bellbrook, Fairborn, and  Xenia Seniors: https://greenegiving.org/scholarships/

There is no magic formula for scholarships, so we recommend a regular cadence of research and applications. Class 101 – Dayton will post several scholarships on social media channels (Instagram and Facebook), and area high schools post local scholarship applications in February for their students. Class 101 scholarship information will be posted in February for the 101 Scholar National Award, 101 Scholar Local Award, and the Class 101- Dayton Find Your Voice Scholarship for students in the performing arts.

Announcing Senior Scholarship “Appy Hours” 
Class 101 Seniors will work on scholarship research as well as writing to answer scholarship prompts. Our goal is that every student applies to at least three scholarships during the workshop and makes progress to submit more! 
Sunday, February 23 from 1 to 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 11 from 12 to 2:30 p.m.
Class 101 Seniors can sign up for this on their college planner page dashboard.