Tips for finding 2025 scholarships for college students?

I'm looking for scholarships for the 2025 academic year as a current college student. Where's the best place to search for these, and are there any resources you recommend? I'm trying to lessen my student loan burden.

There are several ways to search for scholarships as a college student. While your university's financial aid office is always a helpful starting point, here are a few additional strategies you can use:

1. Online Scholarship Platforms: Online platforms such as Fastweb, Chegg Scholarships, and Scholarship.com are user-friendly databases that can match you with scholarships based on your profile. Remember to keep your profile updated to increase your chances of match accuracy.

2. Appily (formerly Cappex): Appily also provides an extensive scholarship database where you can search based on your demographics, academic background, extracurriculars, and more.

3. Your Department or Major: As a college student, your academic department might have scholarship listings specific to your major or study area. Make sure to look out for these opportunities, as they may be less competitive due to the narrower applicant pool.

4. Community and Local Scholarships: Local organizations in your area may offer scholarships to college students. This could be anything from a local business to a community service organization. Reach out and check their websites to see what’s available.

5. Employer Scholarships: If you work part-time, see if your employer offers any scholarships for their employees. Some larger companies do provide these types of benefits.

Start your search early, be consistent, and consider setting up a smart system to track the scholarships you find, deadlines, and progress on applications. As you will find, each opportunity has its requirements for GPA, essays, letters of recommendations, and other specific prerequisites. Stay organized to ensure you submit your applications on time. Good luck!