HESC is pleased to announce that the 2024-25 New York State Excelsior Scholarship application is now available! With the Excelsior Scholarship, eligible students can attend a SUNY or CUNY college or university tuition free!
As school counselors, you play a vital role in helping your students pursue their academic dreams. We encourage you to inform your students about the Excelsior Scholarship.
In order to apply, students must meet eligibility requirements, including:
Be residents of New York State.
Plan to attend a SUNY or CUNY two or four-year college.
Complete 30 credits per year towards their program of study.
Be on track to graduate on time with an Associate's Degree in two years or a Bachelor's Degree in four years.
The application period for the Excelsior Scholarship closes on August 31, 2024. Eligible students should apply at www.hesc.ny.gov/excelsior as soon as possible to avoid missing the deadline.
More information can be found at www.hesc.ny.gov/excelsior.
SCHOLARSHIPS
College is an important investment in your future. A wonderful resource to help you with the monetary aspects of higher education are Scholarships. The East Aurora High School Counseling Center has put together a list of resources that we hope you will find helpful as you get ready for this next important step in your life. Please pay close attention to the Local / WNY Scholarships. This category is geared more toward local organizations that would like to award their scholarship funds to area students. Therefore, the amount of applicants are lessened as opposed to applying for State and/or National Scholarships. When applying for any scholarship, it is important to adhere to the below suggested recommendations and to prepare the anticipated information early in the process.
Letters of Recommendation - Give the writer of the recommendation ample time to compose their recommendation letter.
Deadline Dates - Adhere to deadline dates shown on the applications.
Essays - Edit and proof all essays. All essays should be typed.
Community Service - Some applications will require a list of Community Involvement Projects that you have participated in. These service projects could include Scouting, Church Activities, Boy's and Girl's Club, Community Sports Programs, etc.
Extra-Curricular Activity Participation - These could include sports, mentoring, tutoring, school club participation, volunteer work, etc.
High School Transcripts - Request your High School Transcript from the Counseling Center.
Acceptance Letter - Many scholarships will require an Acceptance Letter from the college you will be attending.
Delivery of Completed Application - Please proof your entire scholarship application and required documentation for accuracy. Make sure all requested documentation is enclosed. Some applications will have the submittal address as the East Aurora Guidance Counselor Office. It is important that you are aware that we will not check the application for accuracy and verification of all requested documentation. This is the student's responsibility.
Please keep in mind that the scholarships listed on our website are just a small fraction of the number of scholarships available to you. We highly recommend that you expand your opportunities by searching scholarship websites and speaking with a representative from the College you will be attending or prospective Colleges.
SCHOLARSHIP DATABASE PLATFORMS
SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES LOCAL/NATIONAL SEARCH TOOLS
Scholarship search tools to help you access the thousands of scholarships available nationally, followed by a table of dozens of local WNY scholarship opportunities in order by the annual due date.CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - BEST COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS T
he Chamber of Commerce has provided this guide into the types of scholarships available, the application process, and how to improve your odds of being awarded a scholarship.MBA Scholarships
Students today can attend graduate school on campus in traditional classrooms and lecture halls, or they can attend some or all their courses online. Online attendance can reduce some of the costs of graduate study because students can stay at home. Online students can continue to work at their jobs, operate businesses, and maintain other obligations. They must still cover the costs of tuition and fees like other students. Scholarships, grants, and fellowships can reduce the out-of-pocket costs for online MBA students. For some students grants, scholarships, and fellowships can cover all the costs of the MBA.Scholarships.com
Scholarships.com’s tagline says it all: “With more than 2.7 million scholarship and grant opportunities worth more than $19 billion, just about everyone is bound to find something.” It’s one of the largest databases and is updated daily. You can browse by category, but if you really want to navigate the extensive list of opportunities, you’ll need to make a profile.Chegg
Over the years, Chegg has expanded from its humble beginnings as an online textbook store to become a well-rounded education resource. It acquired scholarship match service Zinch in 2011 and now hosts scholarships totaling over $1 billion.Niche
Formerly known as College Prowler, Niche is one of the easiest sites to navigate. It’s neatly organized into categories that make it simple to start finding and applying for scholarships.
You can browse by categories – including, but not limited to, sports, interest area, career and major -- but it can be tricky to filter outside of these preset groupings. Still, with no required sign-up and a user-friendly design, Niche is a simple and powerful resource.Fastweb
Find scholarships to pay for college with Fastweb. Fastweb is the premier online resource for paying and preparing for college. Since 1995, they have excelled in providing students with the resources to realize their educational pursuits, from the time they begin their college search in high school, to the day they land their first job after graduation.College Board Opportunity Scholarships
Turn Your Efforts into Scholarships - The College Board is investing $25 million in a new scholarship program, with students earning $5 million in scholarships each year. The College Board Opportunity Scholarships is a different kind of scholarship program. Students don’t have to write an essay, fill out an application, or have a specific GPA or test score. The program rewards students for simply completing the actions they need to take in order to apply to college.Reviews Best Scholarship Search
College is the most expensive it’s ever been. A great way to manage the growing cost is scholarships. Because there’s no single source for scholarship listings, your best option for finding funding is dedicated scholarship search platforms. These sites compile thousands of active scholarships and match you to them based on your unique qualifications. We found four that promise to maximize your scholarship potential with large databases, smart filters, application tools, user-friendly design, and educational resources.StudentScholarships
StudentScholarships.org has been providing scholarship information to students and scholarship management services to companies since 2003.NextStepU
NextStepU.com is a personalized resource for students, parents and counselors to find information about pursuing a career, joining the military, applying to and attending a two-year or four-year college or university and developing essential life skills.
We strive to be a guide that will provide the essential tools to get students from where they are to where they want to be. We aim for you to get to your destination and succeed in whatever your next step may be!
Cappex
Our mission is to move every student closer to day one at the college that’s right for them. With the most current and complete profiles of every college in the United States, a multi-billion dollar scholarship database, advanced matching algorithms, and direct connections with colleges, we get students from wherever they are now to their first day on campus