Students and parents are increasingly struggling to afford the skyrocketing costs of attending college. McLaughlin (2002) reports that students used to rely mainly on family investments to fund their educations, but, due to the weak state of the economy, students are looking for creative alternatives to finance their educations. These students sometimes enlist their academic advisers for help in finding other financial options. Instead of automatically referring students to the financial aid office, advisers need to be aware of student fellowship and grant opportunities that students might be eligible to receive. Writing a proposal for a scholarship, fellowship, or grant is one fantastic option to help defray educational expenses for students. This article will provide a list of potential funding sources for students, information concerning how to apply for grants, and tips to assist the proposal writer.

Many sources are available to academic advisers trying to assist their students in finding funding options. Advisers can find resources by searching the Internet (websites of universities/colleges, local/state/federal government agencies, foundations, and private industries), subscribing to databases and mailing lists of professional organizations, talking with peers and colleagues, and receiving announcements from sponsors about current award opportunities.

To assist academic advisers in helping their students find financial assistance, the following are searchable databases that contain information about scholarships and funding options for students in all disciplines:

  1. Scholarship Gateway. Free listing of scholarships and funding opportunities for students.
  2. Scholarships.com. Free searchable database that matches students to scholarships, grants, fellowships, and internships from an extensive database.
  3. FastWeb. Free database with over 600,000 funding opportunities.
  4. Illinois Researcher Information Service (IRIS). Lists federal and private funding opportunities in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities (this service was created by the University of Illinois and is available by membership only).
  5. ScholarshipExperts. Membership-based company with a database showing more than two million scholarships.

The next set of resources is targeted to undergraduate and graduate students involved in conducting specific research projects:

  1. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has undergraduate and graduate research opportunities awarded annually to students in science, math, and engineering.
  2. The National Academies Ford Foundation has predoctoral, dissertation, and postdoctoral fellowship programs for students focusing on behavioral and social sciences, humanities, math, physical and life sciences, computer sciences, and engineering.
  3. The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in Humanistic Studies, administered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, provide tuition, fees, and a stipend to first-year Ph.D. students.
  4. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships are available from the U.S. Department of Defense to doctoral students in math, physical, biological, ocean, and engineering sciences. Three-year fellowships are offered, with stipends and full tuition.
  5. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsors the National Network for Environmental Management Studies, which assists students with environmental research and training relating to their field of undergraduate or graduate study.
  6. The U.S. Department of Agriculture makes grants available to land-grant university students.
  7. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance provides access to a database of all federal programs available to state and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally recognized Indian tribal governments; territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.
  8. National Institutes of Health supports students with research grants and individual fellowships in medical sciences.
  9. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a variety of grants in medical education and sciences.
  10. The Smithsonian Institution provides internship opportunities, fellowships, and grants in art and design, history and culture, and science and technology.
  11. Argonne National Laboratories focuses on granting support in the life sciences, math, computer science, and engineering.
  12. National Sea Grant College Program offers opportunities to students who are studying atmosphere, climate, and oceans.

To obtain student grants, advisers need to be aware that grants are initiated by responding to a sponsor's solicitation (Request for Proposal, or RFP). When a grant is awarded, it is awarded for a specific purpose, with no restrictions as to how the money is spent. However, when granting agencies solicit funding opportunities, the sponsor is seeking expertise for a particular need. The sponsor has minimum requirements that must be met in exchange for the grant funds, once both parties enter into an acceptable agreement.

Knowing how to begin guiding a student to write a proposal will be helpful to advisers. A grant proposal begins with a proposal writer, known as a principal investigator (PI). PIs can be experienced or inexperienced. Generally, an experienced PI (usually the student's adviser) writes the proposal and requests money to pay undergraduate or graduate students, including a stipend, fringe benefits, tuition remission, etc. Occasionally, advisers guide qualified graduate students to RFPs that allow students to write proposals for self-support. This option is attractive to the student because he or she can take advantage of a chance to learn more about an area by doing a smaller research project before attempting a Ph.D. dissertation or beginning his or her career (desJardins, 2002). Once the PI is identified, the PI/adviser and student should carefully review the RFP together. The adviser should ask the student the following preliminary questions:

  1. Is the RFP related to his/her project/mission?
  2. What are the requirements for acquiring the funds?
  3. What are the obligations?
  4. Are the funds worth pursuing? That is, will it take more time to complete administrative assignments than the funds are worth?
  5. What are the required deliverables? Are they realistic?

Once the adviser and student deem the RFP worth pursuing, the adviser needs to make sure that the proposal package is prepared according to the sponsor's guidelines. Most proposals involve a range of material that includes a work plan indicating how the sponsor's needs will be met or exceeded, a budget and budget justification, and any other documents requested by the sponsor. It is important that the adviser works with an assistant who provides technical expertise throughout the proposal process, adhering to granting agency guidelines.

The proposal process works best when the PI/adviser and the administrator are partners in acquiring grants. The PI/adviser is the project expert, and the administrator is the technical expert from the beginning (the proposal writing) to the end (when funds are depleted and the deliverables are sent to the sponsor). The PI/adviser will appreciate the administrator's assistance; it is important to have two people review the proposal because proposals can be rejected if guidelines are not fully met. Plus, the PI/adviser will want the assistant to help with the legwork in processing a proposal. The assistant will be helpful in getting official representative approval, copying, and mailing the correct number of proposals to the granting agency before the due date.

Because the proposal preparation process can be complex and overwhelming, a checklist of standard proposal requirements is a helpful tool for advisers. This checklist contains tips advisers can share with students as to what to do or what not to do in the submission stage:

  1. Read the RFP carefully; look for allowables and restrictions.
  2. Calculate and make sure the budget totals are accurate.
  3. Don't miss the deadline!
  4. Call and follow up to verify receipt by the agency.
  5. Make use of an internal proposal review committee: peers for technical review, managers for adherence to organizational policies, accounting personnel to check adherence to budget guidelines, and editors for text and grammar/usage.

In summary, advisers need to share grant opportunities with students to help them defray the cost of college. Just as important, advisers need to inform students that sponsors are willing to provide hands-on training opportunities, which often lead to jobs (desJardins, 2002). By guiding and encouraging students to explore grant options and helping students to write grant proposals, much needed financial assistance may become a reality.