What is a college scholarship?
Scholarships are financial awards with the purpose of helping students pay for college. Sometimes a scholarship is a one-time check, while other college scholarships are renewable and provide money for students each semester or school year.

These awards are different from student loans in that they don’t have to be paid back. Students can receive the money directly as a check in their name. In other cases the money is given to the student’s college. In these cases, the student would then pay the college for the difference on any money owed for tuition, fees, room and board.

How can the money be spent?
Scholarship checks awarded in your name can be spent on anything, but you would be best to consider this as an investment and not a free pass to splurge on apps, computer games, or video games. This money is slated for school expenses. This could mean tuition, but it could also be books, pencils, housing, food (you can’t study on an empty stomach), laundry, or even computers and software.