How to Find Scholarships for Homeschoolers

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How to Find Scholarships for Homeschoolers.   How to Find Scholarships for Homeschoolers College is SO expensive! Scholarships can really help alleviate the financial burden. We are often asked to share tips for finding college scholarships, so that's what we will do in this week's episode! Let's start with some good news and bad news about college scholarships There is good news, so take a breath! On the other hand, there is bad news, also. With that in mind, let's get the bad news over with. Here's the bad news about finding scholarships for homeschoolers: So many homeschool families feel a "keep up with the Joneses" pressure for their homeschool high schoolers. The pressure tells them that their teens must have a full-ride scholarship to college...or else they have all failed. Homeschool moms need to show their success by their homeschool graduates getting totally free college. We know there are programs and people who peddle the idea that they can help you find those full-ride scholarships. However, the difficult truth is that VERY FEW teens get full-ride scholarships to college. Very few. In fact, the National Center for Education Statistics' recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Study found that in 2015-16 (the most recent study) seventy-two percent of undergraduates received some sort of financial aid. However, only 0.2 percent received $25,000 or more in scholarships. So if your homeschool high schoolers do not go off to college with a full scholarship, that means they are normal. My advice to you? Get out of the comparison game. You and your family are supposed to be your family...not the Joneses. Here's the good news about finding scholarship for homeschoolers: The good news is that there is scholarship money out there. In fact, that NCES study also found that in the 2015-16 academic year, $61 billion in scholarships were awarded to 1.58 million students. Thus, there was scholarship money available. All told, approximately one in eight college students received an average of $4202 per student. Every $4202 helps. With that in mind, may I ask you a favor? Do not miss the joys of homeschooling high school because you are fretting about how on earth your teen can work hard enough and long enough to win a full scholarship to their favorite college. Make the most of high school and help your teens do their best, but do not miss the fun of these wonderful years. So let's look at scholarships and financial help for homeschoolers There are a number of ways to help reduce your homeschool graduate's financial stress about college. BTW- Here's a college-planning timeline to keep you organized. File the FAFSA The first thing you need to know, is that many scholarships and most financial aid require you and your teen to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). This is a long application that both you and your teen will complete online. It asks for your prior, prior year's income (two years ago), as well as the same from your homeschool graduate. The