How students can benefit from scholarship programs

If you're on your way to pursuing a degree from a university or college, there are plenty of reasons to apply for a scholarship, many of which were recently spelled out by the website Student News.ie.

As many people applying for college are aware, tuition fees have continued to rise annually for some time. The news provider points to 2010 statistics from the College Board, showing that fees and tuition at four year colleges rose by 5 percent that year. Experts at that time said it was unlikely that this trend of college prices would reverse anytime in the foreseeable future. Student News.ie also points to the sagging state of the U.S. economy, and the resulting cuts to state subsidy funding as reasons why relying on other sources of financial aid for college might not be a great option at this time.

But there's more to paying for college than simply covering tuition, the source explains. The continually rising cost of living may make it more difficult for students to afford their books, other educational supplies and housing. All three of these things are covered by certain scholarships for college.

A scholarship may help students study harder
However, there may be reasons that aren't directly related to money that make working towards a scholarship a good decision.

According to an article appearing on Cleveland.com, the so called "carrot and stick" strategy for encouraging students to study harder appears to work for some Ohio college students. If they're promised loan forgiveness and tuition rebates, they're shown to be more likely to maintain a respectable grade point average and graduate on time.

A study from the research organization MDRC showed this in a 2008 study of how Ohio students receiving performance based college scholarships fared. Before the study was completed, it's initial results mirrored those of a prior Kentucky study from MDRC - which was known as the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation until 2003. In that study, 500 students given financial rewards for successful academic performances did better than students who received no awards for their studies.

"The money gave them a reward for staying engaged and succeeding and more importantly keeps them connected to the next semester," Lorain County Community College President Roy Church told Cleveland.com. "The mechanism keeps them moving forward to their educational goal because adult students have a lot of complexities in their lives and it is hard to stay on track long enough to complete a degree."

Be Sociable, Share!

•