by Kelly Pottinger
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

The office provides information to students regarding both internal and external scholarships and their applications.

For those students who may need extra assistance, the office recommends a scholarship workshop, which will be held every Monday in February from noon to 1 p.m. in the Forest Room of the Bayou Building. For evening students times will vary, see the office for details. This informal workshop will enable students to ask questions pertaining to their application process.

Leslie Wells, scholarship coordinator in SIAO says the workshop will teach students which scholarship will best suit the individuals' needs as well as tips for writing a successful essay and tips on getting recommendations. In 2001, SIAO helped 180 students receive a total of $191,823 in scholarship money from 236 awards, where the average award was $812.

The School of Education received the highest dollar amount of all the schools obtaining $52,320 for their students.

Scholarships for continuing students are available each spring for the following year.

Generally, students have one month to complete their application.

The deadline for complete application packets for this semester is Feb. 28.

Three complete sets of application packets must be returned to Room B1632 including: a coversheet, an evaluation, two letters of recommendation, a two-page essay discussing educational and career goals and the influence of technology on these goals, a list of honors, awards and community service, a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a paragraph describing the student's current financial situation and any additional documentation if indicated for a particular scholarship.

It is necessary to include a FAFSA application in the scholarship packet because the scholarship process is a very competitive one. It is important that students be considered for as many scholarship awards as possible, instead of only merit based or need based awards.

Along with helping students obtain scholarship awards, the SIAO warns students about the dangers associated with scholarship scams.

"In recent years several thousand students have been defrauded by these scams," said Marc Kantrowitz, publisher of the Smart Student Guide to Financial Aid. "Victims in the past have lost more than $100 million annually."

The victims are reeled into scam operations by their often official sounding names like "National," "Federal" or "Foundation," which are mistaken for government agency names.

The SIAO offers the following tips for students to protect themselves from being scammed:

First, scholarship applications should be free or cost no more than a postage stamp. If students have to pay money to get money, it might be a scam.

Second, if it sounds too good too be true, then it probably is.

Third, steer clear of sites guaranteeing that applicants will win a scholarship; no one can guarantee you will win anything. Students should remember to spend more time, not more money.

For more information, visit the Office of Student Information and Assistance on the UH-Clear Lake Web site at www.cl.uh.edu, click "current students" and then "scholarship."

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