MLK Library Makes Scholarship Search Easier for College-Bound Students, Parents

For some students and parents, finding money for college is as easy as going to the nearest library. Tim Howard, 20, knows this. Every Friday afternoon, he is at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, flipping through scholarship information in the Greater Washington College Information Center, located on the ground floor of the library.

"I've been here like thousands of times," he said. He is not the only one. The crowds are a testament to its popularity with college-money-seekers.

"There's always a three-hour wait for the computers," Howard and librarians at the center said.

The center is equipped with computers with Internet access and people to help with searches and filling out applications.

"We try to find out where they are in their search and try to help them figure out their next step," said Jane Collins, director of the Greater Washington College Information Center.

Howard picked two schools to apply to: Prince Georges Community College and the University of Maryland. The staff also helped him locate some scholarship information.

"I pretty much got everything I need," Howard said.

Education financing experts recommend that the first place those wanting education money look is the government. The federal government gives millions of dollars away each year in the form of grants, scholarships and loans.

But they suggest early application. Early application increases the chances of getting federal monies.

To get money from the government, one must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Submitting this form is the only way to get money from the government, and it is also required by many other money-granting institutions. The form can be filled out on the Web site (www.fafsa.org), and workers at the College Information Center can help with that form.

The center also has information about D.C.'s Tuition Assistance Grant Program, a new federal program for any District resident to attend a private or public college.

Reggie Sanders, spokesman for the program's office, said many more students in the District will go on to college, thanks to the grant program.

"A lot of the kids felt that they couldn't afford college," he said. "I think that affected their decision as a family and as an individual."

The program gave more than $3.5 million in grant money last year, which was its first year.

Many people believe that federal aid and scholarship money are only for traditional students, but that is a myth, Collins said.

"It doesn't matter if you're 35, 18 or 50," Collins said. "A lot of scholarships don't always indicate that you have to be a certain age. It depends on the individual sponsor."

Many private donors don't discriminate, either. For example, Howard dropped out of high school, but got his high school diploma through a GED program. Howard qualified for the AmeriCorps VISTA scholarship program, which gives an educational award in after for one year of service at an AmeriCorp-specified site.

Almost anyone will be able to find a scholarship that pertains to them, Collins said. "There's hundreds of scholarships that exist. Some of them have really specific criteria," she said. "It really is a search process that is somewhat personal."

It is also a process that may take a while, she said. Collins suggests that people start researching scholarships as early as a year and a half before they intend to apply for college. She also stresses that people pay close attention to deadlines. Most of them tend to fall between November and April.

Collins strongly cautions people against paying money to scholarship-search companies.

"There are lots of free ways to research," she said.


E-mail Rafiah Davis at RafiahD@yahoo.com.


Additional Info:
The D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program Office can be reached by calling (202)727-2824. There is also a link to its Web site at www.dc.gov.

The College Information Center is available on the Web at www.collegeinfo.org. There are links to scholarship search engines on the site.