where can I find legitimate grant opportunities?

Answer 1

There are tons of scholarships that go unclaimed each year. Many $400, $500 or $1000 scholarships never even get applied for because people think it's chump change and not worth applying for. Well, get a few of those $500 scholarships and it'll really make a dent in your tuition bill.

Do a search on scholarships, search your major, your ethnic heritage, your town, your parents employers, your employer, hobbies, high school, local chamber of commerce/rotary/ lion's club etc. Left-handed? There is a scholarship out there for you! Older woman returning to school? There are scholarships out there for you. Do combined searches on more than one criteria "hispanic women aviation scholarships" etc.

Go to the library and ask the reference librarian for a reference book on scholarships. They usually have more than one. There are all kinds of scholarships out there, you just have to start applying yourself and make it your summer career to send out letters everyday for scholarships. Good luck!

Answer 2

The federal government has a grants website that you can search: http://www.grants.gov

Beyond that, there are numerous scholarship search engines which will yield many legitimate scholarship offers. If you're concerned about scholarship scams, you should stay safe as long as you know what to watch out for. Give this site a read -- http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/common.phtml -- and then try searching these databases for scholarships:

http://www.fastweb.com
http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
http://www.scholarships101.com
http://www.scholarships.com
http://services.princetonreview.com/default.asp?RUN=%2Fcollege%2Ffinance%2Fscholar%2FscholInterview%2Easp&RCN=auth&RDN=7&ALD=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eprincetonreview%2Ecom
http://www.srnexpress.com
http://www.collegeanswer.com/paying/content/pay_free_money.jsp
http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/