A Friendly Warning

Explore

Financial Aid Application
Scams
Bonner Application
Admission Application
View Our College Video
Find Your Counselor
Visit
Directions to Warren Wilson
View a Map of Campus

Interact

Find Your Counselor

Office of Admission
P.O. Box 9000
Warren Wilson College
Asheville, NC 28815-9000

Toll-Free: 1-800-934-3536
Local: 1-828-771-2073
Fax: 1-828-298-1440

Admission Email:
admit@warren-wilson.edu
Financial Aid Email:
admit@warren-wilson.edu

Interact

Kathy Pack
Financial Aid: Director

Address:
WWC CPO 6342
PO Box 9000
Asheville, NC 28815-9000

Phone: 828.771.2082

Email: kpack@warren-wilson.edu

View Bio

A friendly warning to prospective students about risks when researching the various external ways to fund your college education.

Listed here is information we hope you will find useful about some current scholarship scams.

From the Federal Trade Commission

www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/scholarship/

Need Money for College?
Doesn't everybody?

Unfortunately, in their efforts to pay the bills, many students and their families are falling prey to scholarship scams. The FTC cautions students to look for tell tale lines:

"The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back."
"You can't get this information anywhere else."
"I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship."
"We'll do all the work."
"The scholarship will cost some money."
"You've been selected by a 'national foundation' to receive a scholarship" or "You're a finalist" in a contest you never entered.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Rules of Thumb

From www.FinAid.org

If you must pay money to get money, it might be a scam.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Spend the time, not the money.
Never invest more than a postage stamp to get information about scholarships.
Nobody can guarantee that you'll win a scholarship.
Legitimate scholarship foundations do not charge application fees.
If you're suspicious of an offer, it's usually with good reason.

Warning Signs of a Scholarship Scam

Certain telltale signs can help you identify possible scholarship scams. Note that the following signs do not automatically indicate fraud or deception; however, any organization that exhibits several of these signs should be treated with caution.

Application fees. Be wary of any "scholarship" which requests an application fee, even an innocuously low one like $2 or $3. Most scams have application fees of $10 to $25, but some have had fees as low as $2 and as high as $5,000. Don't believe claims that the fee is necessary to cover administrative expenses or to ensure that only serious candidates apply, or that applicants who do not receive any money "may" be entitled to a refund. Even if the outfit gives out a token scholarship, the odds of your winning it are less than your chances of winning the lottery. Legitimate scholarship sponsors do not require an application fee.

Free Sources of Student Financial Aid Information

From the Department of Education
www.ed.gov/prog_info/SFA/LSA/

The financial aid office at your college or career school
A high school counselor
he U.S. Department of Education
Other federal agencies (including the military, if appropriate)
Your state education agency
The reference section of your school or public library
The Internet
Foundations, religious organizations, community organizations, local businesses, an civic groups organizations (including professional associations) related to your field of interest
Ethnicity-based organizations
Your employer or your parents' employers
Free scholarship search services

What If I'm Still Curious About Scholarship Search Services?

A number of privately operated scholarship search services charge fees that can range from $50 to well over $500. It is important to understand what information scholarship search services can provide. Some can be helpful in identifying sources of aid for students who meet certain criteria, such as academic achievement, religious affiliation, ethnic or racial heritage, artistic talents, athletic ability, career plans, or proposed field of study. However, bear in mind that funds from these sources are usually limited and not all applicants will receive awards.

Listed below are some of the services you might reasonably expect from a private scholarship search service.

Most scholarship search services provide a list of sources of financial assistance you may apply for. After studying the list, you then send a separate application to each source that interests you. The scholarship search service does not apply on your behalf or pay any additional application fees that may be required.

Many search services offer to refund your fee if you do not receive any award. However, some services require you to provide a rejection letter from every source on the list to claim your refund. You should be aware that many scholarship sources do not routinely send rejection letters. Make sure you get the scholarship search service's refund policy in writing before paying any money.

What Are Some Questionable Tactics I Should Watch Out For?

Some services will tell you that millions of dollars in student aid go unclaimed every year. The large figures you may hear or read about usually represent an estimated national total of employee benefits or member benefits. Usually, such benefits are available only to the employees (and their families) of a specific company, or to the members of a specific union or other organization.

Some claim that you can't get the same information anywhere else. Many services make you pay to get information you could have received for free from a college financial aid office, state education agency, local library, the U.S. Department of Education, or the Internet. Remember that you can find out about student aid without paying a fee to a search service.

Others request your credit card or bank account number to hold student financial aid for you. Search services do not, in most cases, provide any awards directly to applicants, apply on behalf of applicants, or act as a disbursing agent for financial aid providers. You should never give out a credit card or bank account number unless you know the company or organization you are giving it to is legitimate.

Others try to get you to send them money by claiming that you are a finalist in a scholarship contest. Most sources of financial aid have application deadlines and eligibility criteria; they do not, generally, operate like a sweepstakes.

Scholarship seminars frequently end with one-on-one meetings in which a salesperson pressures the student to "buy now or lose out on this opportunity." Legitimate services don't use such pressure tactics.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education receives numerous complaints from students and parents who did not receive the information they expected from a search service. The Department does not evaluate private scholarship search services. If you decide to use one of these services, you should check its reputation by contacting the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.com), a school guidance counselor, or a state attorney general's office. Additionally, investigate the organization yourself before making a commitment:

Ask for names of three or four local families who have used its services recently.

Ask how many students have used the service and how many of them received scholarships as a result.

Find out about the service's refund policy.

Get everything in writing.

Read all the fine print before signing anything.

The Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act created a fraud-awareness partnership between the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). For more information about scholarship scams or to report a scam, call the FTC toll free at 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357) or go to www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/scholarship

Could you run that by me one more time?

Most of the information private scholarship search services provide can be obtained for free elsewhere. Before you pay any company or organization to find student financial aid for you, make sure you know what you're getting for your money. Searching for student aid on your own can prevent you from wasting your money. You just need to know where to look.

To get information on student aid for college or career school:
800-4-FED-AID (800-433-3243); TTY: 800-730-8913 www.students.gov

To get more information about scholarship scams:
877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357) www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams

To report a scam:
877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357) or to fill out a complaint form on line

To check on complaints against a company:
www.bbb.com

To fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA):
www.fafsa.ed.gov

To get help completing the FAFSA:
800-4-FED-AID (800-433-3243); TTY: 800-730-8913 www.ed.gov/prog_info/SFA/FAFSA/