Library: Scholarships, Grants and Financial Aid: Grants

Grants Websites

Grants.gov is a central storehouse for information on over 1,000 grant programs and provides access to approximately $500 billion in annual awards.

More than 1,800 individuals, families, and businesses have created unique funds through the Foundation to support the causes they care about. Grants are made from these funds according to donors' wishes, to support a wide range of initiatives, programs, and nonprofit organizations in the community.

Grant Types

The most popular grants are broken down by the federal, state and college level. These will usually be more generous, but many other sources of free funding exist outside those three main categories. Students with particular characteristics or talents may also find they’re eligible for at least a handful of grant opportunities, so do your research.

Federal Grants
Federal grants are an excellent source of college funding, as they’re guaranteed by the government and fairly stable in terms of their disbursement amounts and available the following year. They don’t need to be repaid, and your eligibility for them will be determined by the results of your Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA. Federal grants go primarily to undergraduates, although some students pursuing advanced degrees may be considered for certain programs.
State Sponsored Grants
As with state sponsored scholarships, state sponsored grants will be awarded either directly by your college or state-based program to help you fund your college education. State sponsored grants will often recognize need as a criterion, although there are many that look at specific student characteristics, such as whether a student is a minority, or a student’s intended field of study. State sponsored grants based on merit will look at a student’s academic achievement in high school, a high GPA and impressive standardized test scores, while state-based organizations may award grants based simply on a student’s association with a particular group.
College Based Grants
College-based grants are often awarded as a supplement to federal grants and state grants, often as a means of making college more affordable for a particular student or group of students. Many private colleges also use grants to discount tuition for students they want to recruit or to offset the cost of tuition for financially needy students whose federal student financial aid does not cover their full cost of attendance.
Grants By Degree Level
Students at all stages of their education have access to grants and other funding sources to help cover the costs of their undergraduate and advanced degrees. Your needs for funding will change as you progress from one degree to another, and there are many opportunities out there to assist you in coming up with ways to pay for an often daunting tuition bill. Grants for undergraduates will often come as a result of your financial aid application, while grants for advanced degrees will often be closely linked to your chosen field of study.
Student Specific Grants
Not unlike scholarships, grants are available to students with nearly every characteristic they can think of. Whether you come from a low-income family, are returning to college after a long absence or have survived cancer, chances are there is a grant you’re eligible for.
Unique Grants
As with scholarships, you can probably find a grant for any and all unusual characteristic you can think of. The good thing about that unique hobby you may feel somewhat reluctant to talk about out loud is that the awards for those kinds of pastimes and talents may be less competitive than other grants based on need or your chosen field of study.