Applying to scholarships is a lengthy process and becomes overwhelming quickly. That’s why it helps to know the different types of scholarships the world has to offer for students worldwide. You can check out our previous article – Government and Private Scholarships: Pros and Cons. From the name you can tell that it discusses two types of scholarships; government and private with their advantages and disadvantages. This article will cover other two main types you will come across a lot; Merit-based scholarships – it’s pros and cons and need-based scholarships – it’s pros and cons.
Types of scholarships
It’s not a good strategy to start scholarship hunting without a plan and not knowing what categories of scholarships will suit your needs, situation, and more importantly be able to meet the requirements. Knowing what kinds of scholarships that are available will allow you to find the right one with less time, hence giving you time to give your all in each application. The previous article already covered two main types of scholarships; Government and private. Here is a little recap of the key points before we get into today’s types:
First, government scholarships
Scholarships that are funded by a governmental body.
- They are often fully funded for graduate students
- It is not rare to find fully funded scholarships in this category
- Often have need based conditions
Private scholarships
Any scholarship that is funded by some kind of private body. For example, companies, non profit organizations and universities are what we call private scholarships.
- They give an impressive touch to your resume for future employers
- The application requirements vary greatly from scholarship to scholarship
- Majority are competitive
Similar to the last article, we’ll start with merit-based scholarships and it’s pros and cons, then need-based scholarships it’s pros and cons. Secondly there will be some examples of actual scholarships available under each category. To conclude, a small comparison between the two.
Merit based scholarships
Merit-based scholarships are the ones that are based on an achievement that is viewed as impressive or valuable to the point that it’s worth investing in. Examples include but are not limited to: academic excellence, musical talent, high intelligence in mathematics, good drawings etc. You will find a great number of these scholarships in the world but they are usually more competitive than other types of scholarships, since they are a measure of skills and talents between the best of the best from all around the globe.
Furthermore, merit scholarships are a huge focus in places like China and South Korea. For example, the Chinese government scholarship focuses on the students with the highest academic score with an addition of each applicant requiring to provide a strong recommendation letter in proof of that. Similarly, many of the scholarships in China focus on academic achievement in areas like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in addition to how much potential that individual has to contribute positively to their country and economy in the future. Same goes for the scholarships where it’s offered to international students. They are merit based and one of their main purpose is bringing the right kind of individual from outside countries who will have a positive impact in China.
Advantages of merit scholarships
- These scholarships are really rewarding but not just in the sense of money, but also giving the person who won it a sense of pride and self confidence in their abilities.
- Due to their nature of competitiveness, they make students seriously work on their skills and hone them to the point that even if they don’t win the said scholarship, they will be ready for another opportunity (not necessarily in scholarship applications alone).
- Most of the times, once you have won the scholarship, you are free to do whatever it is you wish with the money. Due to the fact that many of them are awarded by a private personnal or an organization that falls under the private scholarships. You can section the money into different needs like half for your tuition fees, the other for housing and studying supplies instead of all the money going towards tuition fees alone.
- It will feel as if you will never out of these scholarships when searching for them because of how many of them are available yearly.
Disadvantages
- As repeatedly mentioned, they are competitive. This is discouraging to students to even try let alone win them when they are in dire need of it.
- It’s not majority, but you will find that the scholarship amount isn’t always very high or a better way of putting it – isnt high enough to cover your tuition fees fully (or other academic needs), so you’ll need to pair it with more scholarships or loans.
Need-based scholarships
These scholarships are based on students who meet the “financial need” requirements. The financial need requirements differ slightly from scholarship to scholarship but it’s mostly demonstrating that you and your family are in a tight financial situation that won’t allow you to afford the tuition fees without help. These scholarships are seen as “God sent” because some of them are simply entirely based on need with just an essay about why you deserve it. The others that aren’t entirely need based have conditions like an additional essay on top of the one mentioned above. The condition can also be passing a set minimum grade score (luckily that isn’t too high). Also it could be half merit and half need based. As in they’ll put a special consideration for people who will need it more but also they’ll need to offer more than their financial situation to attain that scholarship.
If you are looking through scholarships based in the United States of America, you will find that a large number of them are need based. A large number, meaning easily you will find it if that’s what you are looking for. This is because the US is trying as much as they can to bridge the already too big gap between education between the privileged and underprivileged. They want to make their country a place for everyone to have equal education as well as rights and so the universities, government, and rich people put great effort in offering financial support to underrepresented societies. Another reason is the amount of debt students get into quickly – in general, this is one of the goals need-based scholarships even exist. Governments want to decrease the high amount of debt students fall into easily.
Advantages
- Need based scholarships happen to be from the types of scholarships that offer full funding a good number of times.
- They give equal opportunities to all students to get into advanced institutions/programmes which greatly bridges the gap between the educated between underprivileged and privileged individuals
- You will find that many universities already offer a need based scholarship as an automatic part of the admissions. Specifically if you are coming from a low income country
Disadvantages
- These scholarships, especially when offered by universities, are highly competitive as there will be many candidates in the same situation as you with similar goals.
- Sometimes not enough are offered for everyone to get an equal amount
Examples in real life
Merit-based scholarships
The Rhodes scholarship is a fully funded award for postgraduate students around the world to come study at the university of oxford.
Criteria:
- Academic excellence (first class or its equivalent)
- Leadership and extracurricular achievements
2. Gates Cambridge scholarship
Gates cambrigde scholarship, similar to the last one is for international postgraduate students to study at the University of Cambridge in the UK. This one is entirely merit based and extremely competitive with around only 1.3% of applicants receiving an award in recent years.
Criteria:
- Strong commitment to having positive impact on society
- Proof of exceptional ability in chosen field
MTN scholarship is an annual award that provides financial support to Nigerian students in tertiary institutions.
Criteria:
- Undergraduates
- For the STEM majors – minimum 3.5 CGPA or it’s equivalent
This scholarship also has a section that is dedicated to blind students known as the Scholarship for blind students scheme (SBSS), making this scholarship partially merit-based.
The DAAD scholarship annually gives out awards to international students of all levels (with a focus on graduates and PhD students) to study in Germany.
Criteria:
- Strong academic record
- Relevant professional experience
- Proficiency in English
Need-based scholarships
This is a fully funded program that provides international students a pathway to study masters in the UK. This scholarship has it’s merit-based factors, but it’s under the category of need based because it is designed primarily for citizens of low income countries.
Criteria:
- Demonstrate financial need
- Citizen of a chevening eligible country
The Foreign Fulbright Program allows graduates from around the globe to study and conduct research in the united states with the goal of improving intercultural relations
Criteria:
- Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent
- Demonstrate commitment to cross cultural exchange
Commonwealth scholarship is a UK based scholarship program designed for citizens of Commonwealth countries who cannot afford to study at UK universities. Moreover, commonwealth countries include many low developing countries so that’s actually a tip for students; Search “scholarships for citizens of commonwealth countries” and you will automatically see results of many need-based scholarships.
Criteria:
- Demonstrate financial need
- Academic merit
- Demonstrate Potential to contribute to home country
