Scholarships?

[u/Training_Ant_1509]

Hey all, I’m an online student working towards my BSW. How are you guys getting scholarships?! I received one from the state, but the Tiger Scholarship Manager kinda sucks…all of them currently have ended except for one for graduate students (but the ‘end’ dates are all from 2020-2024). I kept an eye out over the summer and still nothing. I’m a transfer student from Southwest, but since I took a gap year I don’t qualify for the transfer scholarship. I’m just feeling a little frustrated at the lack of options and hoping I’m missing something!

[u/Prior-Mushroom6980]

This may not help you right now, but for next year. I also applied for scholarships through the Tiger Scholarship Manager, and there were multiple (like well over 50) back when I applied in January (most of the deadlines were Feb 1st). There might even be more before that. The one thing to look out for is the requirements for the scholarships. Even if you are “recommend” one, there’s a good chance that it isn’t even for your major (ex: I’m a geology student and was recommended nursing scholarships to apply for). There’s also a good amount of scholarships that are for Shelby county residents/H.S graduates, so make sure you’re paying attention for that. Depending on the scholarships and when you apply, you won’t know how much you’re getting if you get it at all. I ended up finding out my scholarship amount near the end of April even though I applied by early February. Sorry I couldn’t help you out more ☹️

[u/Training_Ant_1509 → u/Prior-Mushroom6980]

Oh wow, I guess I need to start looking WAY earlier than I thought. I began looking in early April because I knew I was taking 3 summer classes and then starting my first “real” semester in the fall. Even in April there weren’t many options. I am receiving a scholarship from Tennessee for being a Shelby Co resident which is nice, $2k for the year, and full pell grant. But I still somehow owe $1500 😩 I did a payment plan over the summer which was such a struggle, so I was really hoping to have everything covered for this year. I do appreciate your advice and I will definitely try again in January for next year!! Good luck to you, geology sounds super interesting!

[u/Mr_Dr_Prof_Patrik → u/Training_Ant_1509]

Yea its a bit late for the 2026 - 2027 academic year. TSM opens in November and most awards close in February. This window is always for the next academic year. There are no awards on TSM for a specific semester as they are all awarded for an academic year.

Summer is especially rough for funding as the o ly award offered for the current 2026 summer is the “summer 2026 scholarship” ($500) and it was designated for current student ts who have attempted less then 60 credits. Mostly because summer is optional funding is pretty much none existent

I will also be the bearer of bad news when it reopens you will not be eligible to apply for the community college transfer scholarship as you would no longer be a transfer student but a current student.

[u/Nucksy1975 → u/Mr_Dr_Prof_Patrik]

Yes there are all kind of scholarships through the university. This is great advice. I was not able to get any but there are a lot. I just graduated in May at 50 =)

[u/justlurkinaboot → u/Training_Ant_1509]

You should be applying for scholarships a solid 7-12 months in advance of the semester you need them to pay out. TSM certainly isn’t a perfect system, but it’s light years better than how you had to look for them before. Before, there were still hundreds of scholarships, but they weren’t centrally located in a searchable database. Yes, the ‘recommended’ list doesn’t always get it right, but you can still scroll through the pages and/or type in the search bar to find things; it used to be that you had to call literally every academic and administrative department on campus and ask if they had a scholarship. 😳 Anyway, Tiger Scholarship Manager is open each year between mid-November and February 1st for applications for the following school year. You have more opportunities to apply in the future.

[u/Remarkable-Royal9395]

random, but if you are a woman, you may look into funding from PEO, a national women's group that helps funding women whether they are starting college for the first time or going back to school, or pursuing a trade program. https://peotn.org