My wife is a Russian citizen living (and working) in the United
States. She is a permanent resident currently but will interview for
citizenship in the next few weeks.  She could become a citizen as
early as March or April (though this is not yet a sure thing). At the
beginning of January 2004 my wife entered Johns Hopkins Biotechnology
graduate program via their distance learning program (She already has
a Masters degree in Food Science from Russia and is employed in this
field).  We paid for
this semester out of our pocket however we would like to pay for
future semesters with scholarships, grants and where necessary loans. 
The problem is that there are a large numbers of potentially helpful
programs (scholarships and grants) and it is very time consuming to
apply for each program individually.  In addition we do not have a
complete list of programs that she might qualify for.

I am looking for a "REPUTABLE" service (with references) that
specializes in both finding applicable programs for their clients and
applying for those programs for their clients.  In the best case I
would envision providing a firm substantial financial and personal
information and then having that firm apply (as my wife?s proxy) for
numerous scholarships, grants and loans.

Please provide a list of reputable firms (and associated contact info)
that meet these criteria and if possible their prices.  In addition
please provide any helpful comments that you may find from previous
clients of these firms and any other information you think
particularly relevant.  Lastly please provide your assessment of this
approach.  Obviously the intent is to have my wife applied for many
programs without us having to do the research or having to fill out
multitudes of forms.


Thanks!

---

Request for Question Clarification by darrel-ga on 11 Feb 2004 10:37 PST

Hello RSanford--

I am working on your question, but have a couple questions if you don't mind:

- Are you willing to pay such a company or are you looking for a
"free" service (free might be rather difficult to come by)? If you are
willing to pay, is there a limit to how much you'd be willing to
invest? Please also keep in mind that any company that would conduct
this kind of service for you would not be able to "guarantee" such a
scholarship, but would work with you to find appropriate awards for
which you can apply and help you every step of the way.

- How many such companies would be included in an acceptable answer
for your question?

Thanks,

darrel-ga

---

Clarification of Question by rsanford-ga on 11 Feb 2004 13:17 PST

Hope I hit the right button.  If not please let me know this is my
first time using this.

I am willing to pay up to $400 for this service, but for that money I
would expect the firm to automaticly apply my wife for every
applicable program that does not require something special (like an
essay). Obviously if I pay them one time and get no results I would
not go any futher with them.  Listings for 5 reputable service
providers would be sufficient.

BYW -  Another researcher posted some links that suggested that these
type services may be fradulent.  I will check the provided links in
more detail after work tonight but that too would be an appripriate
answer if if can be backed up with sufficient evidence.  I have no
wish to waste my $400 :-)

I should mention that in the early Nineties I used a service like I am
describing and suceeded in getting several grants and one scholarship.
 Since then the Internet has blossomed and I wonder if these type
services have died because of the availability of easily obtained
information.

RSanford--

I have worked on this question for you off-and-on for a couple weeks
and have your answer for you.

First, I have searched for reputable companies that can locate
scholarships and grants that fit your profile and provide you with
information about applying for those awards. I will list those below.

Second, I have searched exhaustively for companies that both locate
scholarships and grants that fit your profile and apply for them on
your behalf and have arrived at the conclusion that their simply
aren't any out there. I have made phone calls to consumer-advocacy
groups and a couple colleges looking for such firms. No one, including
anyone I contacted online, was able to produce the names of any such
firms.

The reasons I was given for this kind of thing not existing is that
this is time consuming, tedious, and not always possible. I found that
because short-answer, essay questions, and sometimes even full reports
are involved with these types of applications, and that these writings
are required to be written by the students themselves, that it's just
not feasible for such a company nor typically particularly
cost-effective for students.

Third, you indicated that an acceptable answer would be providing
evidence about fraudulent scholarship-offering companies. I will also
do that in this answer.

So going back to the top: reputable scholarship companies. This was
also a difficult task, as there are plenty of ones that are considered
to be fraudulent.

To conduct this research, I consulted the database of the
consumer-advocacy group, the Better Business Bureau. You may search
the database of this group online. The link is http://www.bbb.org

Below is a list of financial aid-assistance companies that are given
"satisfactory" ratings by the BBB. Note: A "satisfactory" rating is
the highest rating awarded by the group.

Academic Financial Aid Research
P.O. Box 544
East Elmhurst, NY 11369
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1990
Principal: Aziz G. Adetimirin, President
Phone Number: (718) 457-2905
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Academic Investment Money
295 Greenwich Street, Ste. 241
New York, NY 10007
View Location Map
Principal: Devjani Terrwillger, Owner
Phone Number: (212) 406-8718
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(212) 732-6390 (212) 754-4221 (212) 754-4241 
(212) 888-0608 (800) 532-8890 
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

American College Savers
202 East Main Street
Smithtown, NY 11787
View Location Map
Phone Number: (631) 366-4013
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

College Funding Connection
284 Old Tarrytown Road
White Plains, NY 10603
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1992
Phone Number: (914) 946-1534
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Collegiate Capital Corporation
94 Willis Avenue
Mineola, NY 11501
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1991
Principal: Arthur Fein, President
Phone Number: (516) 742-4600
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(516) 742-4664 
Fax Number: (516) 742-4664
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Comtel Communications
414 Sunrise Highway, Suite 248
Patchogue, NY 11772
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1992
Principal: Angela Canino, Partner
Phone Number: (631) 289-2620
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(631) 289-6949 
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Grey International Advertising (Grant Money Offer)
511 Ave of the Americas #399
New York, NY 10011
View Location Map
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Guaranteed Scholarship Program
21-31 Brewster Street Box 577
Glen Cove, NY 11542
View Location Map
Principal: Richard E. Bishop, CEO
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

National College Funding
77 North Centre Avenue
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1990
Principal: Norman Stein, Owner
Phone Number: (516) 763-0861
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

National College Funding
20 Medford Avenue
Patchogue, NY 11772
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1986
Principal: Phillip H. Meyer, President
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Northstar Ventures
101 Clinton Avenue, Suite 1R
Mineola, NY 11501
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1994
Principal: Lawrence Nedelka, President
Phone Number: (516) 877-9707
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(516) 873-1939 
Fax Number: (516) 873-1939
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Polaris Scholarships Unlimited
28 Oliver Ave.
White Plains, NY 10603
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1994
Principal: Lester R. Eggleston, President
Phone Number: (914) 761-3007
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Ron-Tan Enterprises, Inc.
425 Broadhollow Road, Ste. 427
Melville, NY 11747
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1978
Principal: Alan Tanenblatt, President
Phone Number: (631) 694-2170
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(631) 694-2196 (800) 491-9630 
Fax Number: (631) 694-2196
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Scholarship Guidance Service
16 Yosemite Lane
Coram, NY 11727
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1993
Principal: Lee S. Amcher, Owner
Phone Number: (631) 331-6227
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Scholarships Unlimited
P.O. Box 50398
Henderson, NV 89104
View Location Map
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Search & Link Co.
4507 10th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11219
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1994
Principal: Michael Tuller, Owner
Phone Number: (800) 713-8666
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(718) 853-0793 (718) 853-0751 
Fax Number: (718) 853-0751
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Smith Funding Report
P.O. Box 625
Harriman, NY 10926
View Location Map
Phone Number: (845) 774-4449
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Sources for Students
1270 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027
View Location Map
Original Business Start Date: 1/1/1991
Principal: Paul Rivers, Owner
Phone Number: (212) 864-7766
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(212) 864-2727 
Fax Number: (212) 864-2727
Website: www.sourcesforstudents.com
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Tuition Solutions Inc.
65 West 55th St.
New York, NY 10019
View Location Map
Principal: William D. Thomas, President
Phone Number: (212) 397-0707
Additional Phone Numbers: 
(212) 397-0715 
Fax Number: (212) 397-0715
Type of Business: SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SERVICE

Further, I located a number of scholarship-offering companies that are
currently under investigation and charged with crimes by the Federal
Trade Commission. The FTC says you should beware of these companies.
You may read more about each of the cases against these companies
below:

National Scholarship Foundation & National Business Reporting Bureau
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/10/nsf.htm

National Student Financial Aid & National Student Financial Aid
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/07/nsfa.htm

National Grant Foundation
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/05/scholarscam.htm

Student Assistance Services
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1997/06/sas-2.htm

National Science Program
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1997/04/nwaigwe.htm

College Assistance Services
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1997/12/casrel.htm

Deco Consulting Services & Unimark Industries
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1996/10/deco.htm

List of Defendants
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/scholarship/cases.htm

The FTC cautions students to watch out for scholarship companies that
offer "guarantees" or say "you can't get this information anywhere
else" or "We'll do all the work" or "I just need your credit card to
hold this scholarship money."
 
You can read more advice about scholarship-offering companies on the
FTC's web site. A good link is
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/ouchalrt.htm

If you need any clarification or further information, please don't
hesitate to click the "clarify" button.

Thanks!

darrel-ga

Thanks for that in-depth answer!  I especially appreciate the work you
did off-line trying to find a firm that met the requirements we were
looking for.  It looks like we are going to have to do this the hard
way, but that is better than loosing our money!  Thanks again!
Ronnie

There are many scholarship finding companies but you may also want to check this:

Scholarship Search Scams
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/finance/search.html
This is a useful article, warning consumers of scholarship search
company scams. It describes what to look for in a company to see if it
really is a legitimate operation that will help your cause.

Scholarship Service Company Scam
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/features/scholars.htm
?After signing up with a scholarship service company, McPherson is
struggling to get out of the clutches of what she describes as a
scam.?

Graduate Trends - Federal Trade Commission Warns of Scholarship Scams
http://www.t-bird.edu/pdf/academics/FAAdvisor.html
?The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
estimates that 350,000 people lose $5 million a year to scholarship
scams. FTC and state law enforcement efforts have been reining them
in. Since 1996, that effort has led to court orders or settlements
that banned some scholarship service companies from engaging in
scholarship or telemarketing services and required other companies to
post hefty performance bonds to protect against fraudulent activities
in the future.?

Scholarship Matching Service
http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/matching.phtml
?Do not waste your money on fee-based scholarship matching services.
The largest and highest quality scholarship databases are all
available for free on the World Wide Web.?