Scholarships offer a good way to help pay for your education. Thousands of scholarships are available each year, and every one of them has its own unique requirements. You must search out scholarships to match your own skills, interests, heritage, and field of study. Also, be sure to keep track of your academic achievements, work experience, and extracurricular activities. Many scholarships are based on your involvement in certain activities and/or your association with particular groups.

Scholarships are monetary gifts presented to students who meet conditions defined by the person or group giving the money. Many organizations, agencies, and businesses - including Rogue Community College - offer scholarships. You can search through books about scholarships, available in Student Services. There are also many online sources of information about available scholarships.

You may apply for scholarships from the Rogue Community College Foundation, the Oregon Student Assistance Commission (OSAC), and from other organizations and privately funded sources.

Scholarship Essay Help

For Study Abroad scholarships go to http://www.studyabroadfunding.org

RCC Foundation Scholarships (Application)

www.rccfoundation.org

The Rogue Community College Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation dedicated to "Resources for Excellence in Education."

Over the last two years alone the RCC Foundation has awarded nearly $1.5 million in scholarship assistance to the students of RCC. Applications are available each year beginning the first week of January and can be found online or at a Rogue Central Student Service counter at each RCC campus. The 2009-10 submission deadline for RCC Foundation scholarships is 5PM, March 2, 2009.

Through submission of just one application, students are able to apply for all available RCC Foundation scholarships at once; nearly 200 separate funds.  Individual award sizes vary from $50 to $6000 and applicants may receive multiple awards through submission of just one RCC Foundation application.  In 2008-09, RCC Foundation scholarship recipient awards ranged from $125 to $6,600 per student. 

All RCC Foundation scholarship recipients must plan to enroll at Rogue Community College the fall term following the application process in a minimum of 6 credits as well as maintain a minimum 2.50 term GPA (some scholarship awards may have alternate enrollment and GPA requirements; all eligibility criteria is specified in RCC Foundation Award Letters).  Current as well as potential Rogue Community College students may apply – students do not have to be admitted to RCC, nor are students required to obtain or provide a social security number to apply.

After all applications are received, the RCC Foundation Scholarship Committee reviews scholarship applications and selects recipients based on academic achievement, financial need, faculty recommendations, and student essays.  Award amounts vary depending on the amount of donations and annual earnings on endowments.  Scholarships are awarded according to criteria set by donors. 

All applicants will receive a letter of determination in May 2009 and recipients will be invited to the Annual RCC Foundation Awards Ceremony, May 27th, in recognition of recipients’ success.

Oregon Student Assistance Commission (OSAC) Scholarships

OSAC Website
The Oregon Student Assistance Commission provides hundreds of scholarship opportunities for Oregon students, and you can apply for your choice of these with just one application. Because some new scholarship programs may be added during the year, you will be considered for any new OSAC program if you complete the application process by the March 1 deadline.

Year-Round Scholarship Search Tools

Scholarship Central
The Financial Aid office regularly receives notices of scholarships offered by organizations outside the college. These scholarships will be listed at our own scholarship search site called Scholarship Central, which is updated frequently. RCC is in not responsible for the selection or awarding of these scholarships, but links to them are provided for the benefit of RCC students. For more information on any outside scholarship, visit the donor’s website, if listed, or contact them by phone or mail.

Click here to learn about the FastWeb scholarship search.

Based on your answers to a short questionnaire, you can receive free scholarship sources other than the RCC Foundation and OSAC, and for other colleges beyond RCC for which you may apply.

If you change majors, be sure to update your answer to the question about majors. List as many areas of study as appropriate. If you are not awarded a particular scholarship the first time you apply, reapply the following year.

The FastWeb database is updated daily. An electronic mailbox will be created for you on FastWeb's computer when you use this program, and new scholarship possibilities will be automatically sent to this mailbox.

Note: The Attorney General of the state of Oregon and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have both issued warnings and taken action against companies that "guarantee" scholarships to families using for-a-fee scholarship search services. State and federal authorities remind families that using the word "guarantee" in promotional materials is a questionable activity of scholarship search businesses.