According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are unscrupulous companies that guarantee or promise scholarships, grants or fantastic financial aid packages. Many use high pressure sales pitches at seminars where students are required to pay immediately or risk losing out on the "opportunity."

The FTC cautions students to lookand listen for these 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 Directory of Schools website is "Built on Trust" and doesn't guarantee that any student will be awarded a scholarship. Scholarship awards are granted based on the eligibility requirements established by each individual scholarship sponsor.

Directory of Schools partners with several large data bases that provide information on available scholarships on the internet. By using technology and superior search engines we can match scholarships with students. But it is the student's job to win the award

Other Official Financial Aid Resources Here are our best links to sites that offer Grants, Scholarships and Loans from the government and private companies you can research.

A

• Adult Education Basic Grants to States
• Adult Education National Leadership Activities
• Advanced Credentialing
• Advanced Placement Incentive Program Grants
• Advanced Placement Test Fee Program
• Alternative Financing Program
• Alternative Strategies to Reduce Student Suspensions and Expulsions Discretionary Grants

B

• Basic Vocational Rehabilitation Services
• Bilingual Education Comprehensive School Grants
• Bilingual Education System wide Improvement Grants
• Bilingual Education Training for All Teachers
• Braille Training
• Business and International Education Program

C

• Career Ladder Program
• Carol M. White Physical Education Program
• Centers for Independent Living
• Centers for International Business Education
• Challenge Newsletter Grant
• Child Care Provider Loan Forgiveness Demonstration Program

D

• DC School Choice Incentive Program
• Demonstration and Training Programs
• Demonstration Grants for Indian Children
• Demonstration Projects to Ensure Students With Disabilities Receive a Quality Higher Education
• Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers
• Disability and Rehabilitation Research
• Discretionary Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse
• Distance Education Demonstration Program
• Drug Prevention and School Safety Program Coordinators

E

• Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program
• Early Intervention and Assessment for Young Children with Disabilities Special Education Research
• Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
• Early Reading First
• Ed-Flex
• Education for Homeless Children and Youths Grants for State and Local Activities
• Educational Opportunity Centers
• Educational Resources Information Center
• Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Math and Science Education
• Even Start Discretionary Grant to a Prison that Houses Women and Children
• Even Start Grants for Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations
• Excellence in Economic Education Program
• Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners

F

• Federal Pell Grant Program
• Federal Perkins Loan Program
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program
• Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program
• Foundations for Learning Grants
• Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship Program
• Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education
• Fund for the Improvement of Education Programs of National Significance

G

• Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)
• Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need
• Grants for State Assessments
• Grants for the Integration of Schools and Mental Health Systems
• Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders
• Grants to States to Improve Management of Drug and Violence Prevention Programs

H

• Helen Keller National Center Program
• High School Equivalency Program
• High School Reform State Grants
• Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program

I

• Impact Aid Section 8002 Payments for Federal Property
• Improving Literacy Through School Libraries
• Improving Teacher Quality State Grants
• Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind
• Independent Living State Grants Program
• Indian Education Formula Grants
• Indian Education Professional Development Grants

J

• Jacob K. Javits Fellowships Program
• Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program

K

• Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization

L

• League of Human Dignity
• Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program
• Life Skills for State and Local Prisoners Program
• Local Flexibility Demonstration Program

M

• Magnet Schools Assistance
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Scholars Program
• Mathematics and Science Education Research
• Mathematics and Science Partnerships
• Mathematics and Science Special Education Research
• Mentoring Grants
• Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program
• Migrant Education Program
• Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program

N

• National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)
• National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented
• National Technical Institute for the Deaf
• National Writing Project
• Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program
• Native American Vocational and Technical Education Program
• Native Hawaiian Education
• Native Hawaiian Higher Education Program
• No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program

P

• Pacific Vocational Education Improvement Program
• Parental Information and Resource Centers
• Presidential Scholars Program
• President's Education Awards Program
• Program Development Implementation Grants

R

• Randolph-Sheppard Program
• Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program
• Ronald E. McNair Post baccalaureate Achievement Program
• Rural and Low-Income School Program

S

• Small, Rural School Grant Program
• Special Education Grants to States
• Special Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (SLEAP) Program
• Star Schools Program
• State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grants Program
• State Flexibility Demonstration Program
• State Formula Grant Program
• Statewide Longitudinal Data System Grants
• Student Support Services Program
• Supported Employment State Grants

T

• Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants
• Teacher Quality - Mathematics and Science Education Research
• Teacher Quality - Reading and Writing Education Research
• Teaching American History Grant Program
• Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities
• Technology Grants for Coordinating Teaching and Learning in the Migrant Community
• Technology Innovation Challenge Grant Program
• Territories and Freely Associated States Education Grant Program
• Title I, Part A Program
• Title III Part B, Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program
• Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program
• Training Program for Federal TRIO Program
• Transferability for State and Local Educational Agencies
• Transition to Teaching
• Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Vocational and Technical Institutions Program
• TRIO Dissemination Partnership Program
• Troops-to-Teachers Program

U

• Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program
• Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program
• Unsolicited Grant Opportunities
• Upward Bound Math-Science
• Upward Bound Program

V

• Vocational Education - Basic Grants to States
• Vocational Education National Programs
• Voluntary Public School Choice

W

• We the People
• William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program