This is a really good question if you need financial aid to help you get through college.  A scholarship could be what you need to make it happen, and if you are a single mom or a single parent you will certainly benefit from having the financial help to enable you to go to college.

Scholarships can be awarded by all kinds of bodies and organizations, and the chances are good that whatever kind of scholarship you are looking for you’ll find something suitable somewhere or another.

But where do you start when you are thinking about the possibility of taking advantage of a scholarship?

Well it certainly helps to understand that there are several different types of scholarships available.  The reason for this is that they can be offered by companies as well as by schools and colleges, so you can see that different people with different ambitions might be swayed by different offers.

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples so you can see more easily how this works.  For starters there is a merit based type of scholarship which focuses on the best students in any subject.  This means that if you have got outstanding results in a particular subject – let’s say math – you might be able to get a scholarship to a college that is impressed by your results.  But it goes deeper than this as well.  You will need to show promise and excellent skills and aptitudes – and attitudes as well – in other areas too.

Another type of scholarship could be awarded to you if you are in particular financial distress.  As a single mom for example you could be eligible for a scholarship to help you further your college learning.  This would be purely based on your financial needs and the fact that you may not be able to enter college without that help.

Scholarships may also be handed out to those who show promise in a particular career field.  Rather than being tied to the results in a specific subject as a merit based scholarship would be, this one is based on the fact that you will be entering a particular career in the future.  For example if you want to break into nursing you could apply for a nursing scholarship that enables you to do this.

It is also worth looking around your local area to see whether you can find any other scholarship opportunities there.  As you can see there is no quick and easy way to find the right scholarship opportunity for you.  But it is heartening to know that there are lots of them out there which could make a difference to your future.  This is why it pays to spend some time researching the variety of scholarships out there so you can find the best one for your needs.

All you have to do then is apply for it in the proper manner and wait and see if you are successful.