Colleges and universities annually distribute about $23.2 billion in scholarships

By DEBRA CANO RAMOS, Special Advertising Sections Writer

When Chhunny Chhean was scouting colleges to attend, she had her sights on landing a scholarship to help pay for the rising cost of higher education.

Chhean, whose family fled Cambodia in the early 1980s, was hoping not to have to take out student loans and did not want to be in heavy debt after earning a four-year college degree.

She got her wish.

Chhean, 22, landed the scholarship of her dreams: The one given by the President’s Scholars Program at Cal State Long Beach, which awards full scholarships to valedictorians and National Merit scholars.

As President’s scholars, each student receives a scholarship that covers general student fees, an annual book allowance and paid housing in the campus residence halls for four years, and other perks, such as priority registration. The funding is made possible through the support of the Cal State Long Beach Alumni Assn., President’s Associates and the Corporate Scholars Council.

“For me, it meant that I didn’t have to work — and that I could focus on my studies,” said Chhean, a high school valedictorian who grew up in Porterville in California’s Central Valley.

Plus, Chhean said the scholarship gave her the freedom to study what she wanted: creative writing and philosophy.

“The scholarship money is really important, but it’s also important to choose the college and the programs you are interested in,” said Chhean, who plans to attend law school at UC Berkeley after graduating in May. Scholarships can help with all or part of the cost of a college education — and there are thousands of scholarships in varying amounts available, if students invest the time to search and apply for them.

“Students sometimes make the mistake of ignoring a scholarship opportunity because some represent only a small sum of money,” said Jack Joyce, director of college planning services at the College Board. “Although everyone would like a full scholarship, students should be encouraged to apply for as many scholarships as they appear eligible. Students absolutely can receive more than one.”

Student aid includes a variety of money sources, including federal education loans and grants, as well as scholarships. Scholarship awards, often referred to as “free money,” do not have to be repaid, like loans, and they are not work-study programs.

“I would define a scholarship as a form of gift aid to help a student meet a part of his or her college costs,” Joyce said.

Eligibility for a scholarship generally involves criteria, such as special skills or abilities, academic achievement or high test scores, or a particular talent, Joyce added. However, scholarships also may be based on financial need.

“One myth many students hold is that scholarships go to only the star athlete or the star student. The fact is that scholarships are awarded on the basis of a wide range of considerations, including ethnicity, religious affiliation, academic interests, career interests and community service,” Joyce said.

The President’s Scholar program at Cal State Long Beach was established in 1995 by University President Robert C. Maxson. For the 2004-05 academic year, the value of the scholarship is about $35,000 for the valedictorian students and $42,000 for the National Merit scholars, officials said.

With college costs rising, according to the College Board, getting a scholarship can be crucial to managing the costs related to a college education. The average tuition and fees at a four-year private college is about $20,000 for the 2004-05 academic year (up 6% from last year) and tuition and fees at a public college costs about $5,100 (up 10.5% from last year).

When all costs are included — tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies, transportation and personal expenses — the average student expenses are more than $30,000 at a private college and $15,000 at a public college, Joyce said.

Financial aid can reduce the amount students or their families actually pay. The College Board’s “Trends in Student Aid 2004” reported that more than $122 billion went to students from all sources of financial aid for the 2003-04 academic year, Joyce noted.

More than half of that total went to students in the form of borrowing: financial aid through student or parent loans, he said. However, $23.2 billion came from scholarships distributed by colleges and universities, Joyce said.

“Scholarships are therefore an increasingly important source of financial aid, reducing a student’s reliance on additional borrowing,” he said, adding that the majority of scholarship money is disbursed by the colleges and universities themselves.

Scholarship awards can be as little as $50 to upward of $15,000 for one year, said Dean Kulju, director of financial aid and administrative operations at Cal State Long Beach.

Kulju added that typically scholarships are a bigger part of a student’s financial aid at a private college, versus a state college because of the availability of money through endowments and foundations.

While the majority of scholarships are geared toward high school seniors planning to attend college for the first time, there also are scholarships available to college students, Joyce said.

At the graduate level, fellowships also are available to students, which are the same as scholarships, said Jim Whitaker, vice president for student services at Claremont Graduate University, which offers master’s degrees in 25 fields and doctoral degrees in 19 fields.

Fellowships are usually targeted at students interested in a particular field of study, and may have specific qualifications, such as personal and academic achievements, Whitaker said. Fellowships can provide financial support either in the United States or abroad.

The awards support a range of activities, including graduate and doctoral coursework; tuition or dissertation support; projects and research; internships; and community and public service.

“The money comes from the institution or an endowment that is used by students to defray the cost of tuition,” Whitaker added, explaining that like scholarships, fellowship awards do not have to be repaid.

The terms “fellowships” and “scholarships,” although interchangeable, can sometimes be confusing to students, said Paula Goldsmid, coordinator for graduate fellowships at Pomona College, a four-year private liberal arts college.

“In this country, normally the term ‘fellowship’ is used for a monetary award to people who already have a bachelor’s degree, but there are exceptions to that,” Goldsmid said. “What’s important is not what they’re called, but the content.”

Sarah Cook, 25, for instance, who will graduate this year from Pomona College, received scholarship awards toward her undergraduate degree in international relations and a minor in French, and a scholarship to continue on with graduate studies. She won the prestigious Marshall Scholarship, which will pay for her studies in Middle East politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

As a Marshall Scholar, Cook, who has a 4.0 grade point average, said she plans on earning two graduate degrees (through two, one-year programs), and aspires for a career in international human rights.

“It was a long shot,” said Cook of getting the award because it is a highly competitive national scholarship open to U.S. citizens who want to study in the United Kingdom. She said 40 students from across the country are awarded the scholarship each year.

The full scholarship, valued at about $60,000, pays for university fees, living expenses, books, thesis grant, research and travel grants.

“It’s a great opportunity because it opens a lot of doors. It’s exciting to get that kind of recognition,” she said.

Whether seeking a scholarship or fellowship, college financial-aid experts caution that students need to be aware of scams.

Students shouldn’t have to pay to apply for a scholarship or for scholarship information, and if they’re charged a fee, it’s a red flag, Kulju said.

He added that the old saying prevails: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Debra Cano Ramos is a freelance writer based in Orange.

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