Concerned about tuition? Every year there are thousands of unclaimed scholarships in Canada, with the total amount estimated at more than $15 million.
15. Million. Dollars.
Students can apply for some of the many scholarships available in Canada (there are $82 million worth of scholarships awarded each year), so why is the number of unclaimed scholarships so high?
Well, according to you guys, it’s an issue of essay writing. But really, how much is an essay worth to you? Tuition for a year? Living expenses? Put into perspective, a 1,000 word essay with a prize of $5,000 makes you more money than most columnists and bloggers you read each day.
If you’re concerned about quality of your writing, drop into Ryerson’s Writing Support for tips on writing a great paper.
You don’t have to be top of the class to apply for – and win – a scholarship. There are a large number of scholarships out there with many different qualifying criteria, and they are not all academic.
Some scholarships are focused on how much a student gives back to the community, some are for those who are studying fine arts, and some are awarded for an essay on a specific topic. The most difficult thing for both the students applying for and those providing funding to the scholarship is advertising.
Where to Find Scholarships
Most scholarships don’t appear in your social media newsfeed. Many can be random or obscure. So where can you find these? Luckily, we know where you can go to find all scholarship opportunities in Canada.
Scholarships Canada is a resource that all students need to familiarize themselves with and take hold of some of the free money out there. You should absolutely bookmark this site and never look back. The website has scholarships for everything, including for those students who are intending to study abroad (those international student fees are something else!).
Going into debt for school sometimes can and sometimes cannot be avoided. But if there is free money out there for you, you owe it to yourself to try to grab hold of some of it before borrowing.
Happy Hunting!
Fun fact: scholarship money is sent to your registrar and deducted from your tuition costs, so you don’t have to worry about it!
