Start early. Most scholarships are awarded six months to one year prior to the start of the semester or academic year of the award. Some awards are available even as early as elementary school.
Don't pay. Penn State does not endorse any scholarship search engine or scholarship search service that charges a fee. You should never have to pay for a scholarship search. You should not apply for a scholarship that charges an application fee.
The Office of Student Aid recommends the following FREE scholarship search engines:
Penn State Fayette's Office of Student Aid also has application information available for a select list of outside scholarships .