A scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a financial aid award for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.

Types

Scholarships may be classified as.

• Merit: The recipient may be determined by students' athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities. The monetary value may be negligible, if the scholarship is meant to motivate the student and promote the study of the subject. The largest scholarships are usually merit-based.
• Need: This is financial aid for which the student and family's financial situation is a primary factor. Such scholarships cover all or part of tuition and perhaps living costs. Often need-based private scholarships require the awardees to be distinguished students, as the founding deed may include a phrases such as "for the studies of founder's favourite subject in founder's favourite institution of higher education for a talented youths of limited means from founder's home town or county or state".
• Sociology: This is financial aid where applicants must initially qualify by race, religion, or national origin. After filtering the applicants based on their ethnicity, additional factors are taken into consideration to determine the final recipients.
• Institutional: These are scholarships awarded by a specific college or university (institution) to a student planning to attend that institution.
• General: Scholarships may be for reasons of the student's association with the objectives of the sponsoring organization. For example, some corporations give scholarships to their employees' children or based upon academic success.

Some scholarships have a "bond" requirement. Recipients may be required to work for a particular employer for a specified period of time or to work in rural or remote areas; otherwise they may be required to repay the value of the support they received from the scholarship. This is particularly the case with teacher training scholarships and currently with health and medical education scholarships for people from (or prepared to work in) rural and remote areas. The programs offered by the uniformed services of the United States (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commissioned corps, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps) sometimes resemble such scholarships.

Local scholarships

It is typical for persons to find scholarships in their home region. Information on these can be found by asking local persons and organizations. Typically, these are less competitive as the eligible population is smaller.

• Guidance counselors: When starting to explore scholarship opportunities, most high school students check with their guidance counselors. They can be a reliable resource for local scholarships.