Each year, students across the country ask this question: What’s the difference between grants and scholarships?
Grants and scholarships are free money that you do not have repay. The difference lies in who gives you the free money for your education.
Scholarships are awards of financial aid for a student to further education. A scholarship is given to a student because of a reason: the student has qualified for or won it by academic, artistic or athletic ability, or by agreeing to follow a particular career, or has some special ethnic or other characteristic. Scholarships are not given for financial need alone.
Grants are funds disbursed by one party (Grant Makers), often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. The same for scholarships, these are non-repayable funds.
Recipients
Scholarships are awarded to students who are academically qualified for it and those who need financial assistance to complete their course in time.
Grants are usually awarded to:
Non-profit organizations: Grants are made in social services, health, education, early childhood and youth services, arts and culture, housing and neighborhood development
Veterans: Governments issue grants for the training veterans to serve in the new economy.
Colleges and Universities: Grants are awarded to enhance research programs and other academic facilities.
Types
Scholarships can be merit-based, need-based, student-specific and career-specific. Merit-based scholarships are based on a student’s athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities, and often factor in an applicant’s community service record and extracurricular activities. Need-based scholarships are based on the student and family’s financial record and require applicants to fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) to qualify if the scholarship is a federal award. Student-specific scholarships are granted to applicants who must initially qualify by race, gender, religion, family and medical history, or many other student-specific factors. Career-specific scholarships are awarded by a college or university to students planning to pursue a specific field of study.
Grants are usually not categorized.