In-State Vs Out-of-State Scholarships

Whether a student wants to go far from home for college or stay right at home, there is a scholarship for everyone. While finding an in-state scholarship may be easier, it is possible for both.

“It’s usually a little bit easier to get some of those in-state scholarships [than] out-of-state scholarships,” College and Career Counselor Brooke

 Prestidge said. “[For out-of-state] you have to have the highest merit, they’re gonna typically want to see a standardized test score and it needs to be fairly high.”

To many students’ dismay, the key to receiving an out-of-state scholarship may rely on having a high ACT score and high grades. This is something that a lot of schools look for when awarding scholarships. If grades or standardized test scores may not be a student’s best aspect, many schools also like to see strong essays in applications.

For students who want to leave the state but haven’t decided where they would like to go, Prestidge recommends looking into private colleges since their out-of-state and in-state tuition is similar. 

“They might look a little bit more expensive because they have one set tuition for all students, but they usually give larger scholarships,” Prestidge said. “So definitely don’t rule those schools out.”