Students are strongly encouraged to begin scholarship searching early and often as each scholarship is unique with a wide range of eligibility criteria, applicant requirements, and deadlines. Additionally, many scholarships are specific to a student's future goals, intended major and/or career, and/or unique personal talents so students must spend time searching for scholarships that apply to them.
Best Practices
- Apply Early and Often!
- Embrace a "self starter" mentality! Applying for scholarships takes self directed energy and focus and no one can do it for you! Make it a priority and you will reap the rewards!
- Create professional, separate email for scholarship applications.
- Create a spreadsheet to track scholarships, deadlines, application links, login credentials, awarded money, etc.
- Think of applying to scholarships as a JOB! Show up, do the work, get paid!
- Aim to apply to a minimum 2-5 scholarships WEEKLY starting at the beginning of your SENIOR year.
Suggested Scholarship Search Websites
- FastWeb: Fastweb is a free scholarship search platform that connects students to scholarships and financial aid tools. Students create a profile and get personalized scholarship recommendations.
- Scholarships.com: Scholarships.com is a free college scholarship database. Students are instantly matched for scholarships they qualify for.
- Raise.Me: RaiseMe is a social enterprise focused on expanding access to higher education. Rather than waiting until the end of high school to earn scholarships, RaiseMe enables students to earn scholarships throughout high school, starting as early as 9th grade, for doing all the things that best prepare them to succeed, whether that’s getting good grades, volunteering in the community or joining an extracurricular.
- College Board BIG FUTURE: Earn entries in monthly drawings for $500 and $40,000 scholarships by completing steps to plan for college. The sooner students start and the more steps you they complete, the more chances they have to win.
- Cappex: Cappex.com is a one-stop destination that helps students and parents make smarter decisions about admissions and financial aid by providing free and easy-to-use tools for the discovery, application, decision and payment process.
» Application opens October 1
The Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) is the free financial aid application from the state of Florida's Office of Student Financial Assistance.
ALL SENIORS MUST COMPLETE the FFAA in order to be eligible for all state grants and scholarships including the Bright Futures Scholarship.
* Students do not not need to eligible for Bright Futures at the time of application. Students should submit their FFAA when the application opens on October 1 of their senior year and continue working toward eligibility until the deadline of August 31 of their graduation year.
» Apply for the FFAA (required for Bright Futures
FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid
» 2025-26 FAFSA Application opened December 2024
» ALL SENIORS MUST COMPLETE the FAFSA during their senior year in order to be eligible for all federal loans, grants and work study programs.
» Students planning to start college during a summer term after high school graduation will also need to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA.
» Many colleges have FAFSA deadlines in order to be considered for priority financial aid from the school - Students and families are strongly encouraged to submit their FAFSA as soon as possible.
» Some colleges will not make financial aid offers unless the student submits a FAFSA. Therefore, every student should submit a FAFSA application even if they think they do not qualify for need based aid.
Additional Information on OCPS Scholarships can be found at:
https://bit.ly/ocps_scholarships
https://www.ocps.net/departments/student_services/academics
Families and Students can contact our College and Career Counselor at [email protected]