Scholarship Search Tools

•     CareerOneStop Scholarship Finder: run by the U.S. Department of Labor, with more than 8,000 scholarships and grants and no ads. Covers four-year college, community college, and trade and vocational programs. Listed by closest deadline, with filters for location and level of study.

•     10,000 Degrees Outside Scholarships: a list kept by a Bay Area nonprofit that includes Sonoma County awards.

•     First in your family to go to college, or low-income: Rise First scholarship directory.

•     Not a U.S. citizen: Immigrants Rising scholarship list. Every scholarship on it is open without proof of U.S. citizenship, and it shows the ones with deadlines coming up.

•     Staying in California: California Student Aid Commission. The official source for Cal Grants, the Middle Class Scholarship, and aid for foster youth.

Many popular scholarship sites are run by lenders or advertisers. Be wary of any site that makes you create an account before it shows you anything, pushes “no essay” drawings, or emails you every day. If you find a scholarship on one of them, confirm it on the sponsor’s own website before you apply.