Tips for the Over-extended Undergrad

To attend their colleges of choice, today’s high school students must cobble together a number of funding options to foot the bill – financial aid, loans, work-study programs and scholarships. Of these, scholarships is the wild card opportunity that often makes forward planning difficult -- some scholarships pay a little, some pay a lot, some pay for one year, some are renewable – and that’s if you’re competitive enough to be awarded one at all.

     Once nestled into their freshman cribs, undergraduate students may make the mistake of slacking on administering to their funding streams, only to find that some have dried up when its time to pay for sophomore year.  Some fail to meet the criteria of their scholarships. Others forget to apply for renewal awards. And others simply don’t want to bother with the tedious application process that accompanies piecing together their meal ticket.

     “It can be a full-time job just to keep track of funding sources and to research what else is available,” said Eric J. Neetenbeek, President and CEO of Minnesota Masonic Charities. “The good news is, there are some excellent opportunities for those looking for scholarships at the undergraduate level.”

     Neetenbeek knows of what he speaks: Minnesota Masonic Charities has provided generous and renewable scholarships to high school seniors for many years in an effort to continue Minnesota Masonry’s commitment to higher education. This year, the MMC Scholarships Program added scholarship awards for undergraduates. In all, ten college students will receive $2,000 undergraduate awards from Minnesota Masonic Charities in 2014, which are annually renewable. The program will collectively offer 85 scholarships totaling over $700,000 this year.  Neetenbeek would like to see the MMC Scholarships Program expand to $1 million in award offerings by 2018.

     “Once in college, it has become financially difficult for a lot of students to stay in,” said Neetenbeek. “We follow our scholars. We believe in them. And we wanted our scholarships to enable students to complete their educations, not just start them.”

     Here, Neetenbeek offers some scholarly advice for undergrads:

Keep track

     Create a spreadsheet that outlines each school year, the funding source, all contact information and the amount of aid you can reasonably expect from each source.

Read the fine print

     Make sure you understand the parameters of your loans, work-study expectations and all scholarship program criteria. Many scholarship awards require some kind of status reporting from recipients. For example, Minnesota Masonic Charities asks Masonic Scholars to submit annual renewal forms and current transcripts.

Keep up your grades

     You might have earned good grades freshman year, but if your GPA takes a dive thereafter, so might your award funding. Be clear about what grade point average you need to maintain, and be sure you do so.

Know your deadlines

     Add another column to your spreadsheet that lists renewal application deadlines, loan payment dates and other requirements.

Find alternatives

     Consider other funding opportunities. Stay up-to-date on available scholarship offerings and grants. If one of your sources falls apart, you’ll have a better chance of supplementing your funds and avoiding gaps in your education.