Scholarships for high school sophomores are one of the most common categories of scholarships that are offered to students at the beginning of his or her academic career.
Many scholarship providers give big awards to the students early in their academic careers. Federal financial aid limits such as smaller student loans and later disbursement dates placed on aid for college freshmen can really help. It will be easier to get these scholarships if you begin preparing early in high school. There are some competitions that allow you to enter before your senior year of high school, thus keeping a better option in front of you to make the final search for scholarship opportunities much easier. It is always better to research on the various college scholarships you can apply for based on your requirements and win one easily.
You must be a permanent resident of the US, US citizen.
The minimum GPA needed varies depending on the award but generally, it ranges anywhere from grade point average between 2.0 to 3.0
The class rank requirement also varies depending on the scholarship and can range anywhere from the top 10 percent to the top 25 percent.
Demonstrate a financial need.
Before we go over the scholarships you can apply for, let's quickly review the best ways you can use this list of scholarships for sophomores and freshmen.
Play with your Strengths: Count on your strengths and bring in your creativity. Apply to the scholarships in which you can do justice to your strengths. For example, if you're an excellent writer, consider applying to scholarships that require essays.
Apply to as many Scholarships as Possible: Use your time wisely to apply to as many scholarships as possible to be on the safe side.
Pay Attention to Details: Make sure you read all the rules carefully before you apply for a scholarship, and be certain that your essays and other application materials address what is being asked. It's a waste of time to apply to scholarships if you're going to end up disqualified simply because you failed to follow the instructions.
Similarly, make sure to stay on top of important deadlines. You don't want to miss out on a great scholarship because you accidentally missed a due date.
The high school sophomores scholarships are typically tax-free. Generally, if the following requirements are meant then the scholarship money is tax-free.
You use the scholarship to pay for the qualified education expenses.
It’s not designated or earmarked for other purposes — for example, room and board — and doesn’t require that you use it for non-qualified education expenses only.
It’s not considered payment for teaching, research, or other services.
It doesn’t matter who awarded you the scholarship, and you can even take advantage of the tax-free status if you’re attending school overseas.
If one or more of the above requirements aren't meant, you could be on the hook to pay taxes on your scholarship.
The school offers higher education beyond high school.
If the school is eligible to participate in a student aid program through the U.S. Department of Education.
Most accredited public, nonprofit, and private for-profit universities are considered eligible educational institutions. It’s possible, however, that your school is eligible but isn’t on the list, so it may be a good idea to check with your school directly.
Any scholarship money you receive is taxable if you aren’t eligible for a degree for any reason
Tuition, fees, and other expenses required to enroll or attend school count as qualified education expenses, according to the IRS.
For tax-free scholarship, the following are not considered -
Rent
Groceries
Insurance
Medical expenses
Transportation
Other similar living expenses
The amount reserved for nonqualified expenses, purposes is considered taxable.
If you’re a student-athlete, and you don’t have extra time to get a part-time job. In such cases, your college may offer an athletic scholarship that includes funds reserved for both tuition, room, and board. Such cases require money that is taxable for both board and room.
If there is a requirement for you to offer some kind of service as a condition to receive your scholarship, then that money you receive is considered taxable.
For instance, you receive a $2,000 scholarship for tuition, but in such cases, you can get an extra $1,000 if you work part-time at a college or university. Accepting an offer of $2,000 money you receive is tax-free, but you’ll receive a W-2 showing the extra $1,000 as taxable income.
The same also applies if you’re required to perform future services to get the scholarship. So double-check in advance to see if there are any such stipulations or caveats.
Application Deadline
May 18, 2020
Award Amount
$1,500
Awards Available
Varies
About the Scholarship
Georgia Future Champions Scholarship is a program sponsored by The Champions Firm, PC, to help a local student of Georgia achieve his/ her dream. The scholarship amount is worth $1,500 and has no minimum GPA requirement. What makes this scholarship important is that it is having no academic performance...Application Deadline
June 01, 2020
Award Amount
$10,000
Awards Available
10
About the Scholarship
High school students attending prom are awarded scholarship prizes through the Stuck At Prom Scholarship Contest to the best student who makes and wears prom attires made of Duct Brand duct tape. The scholarship is awarded to the winners of the contest on the basis of online voting. The contest winners in different positions are ch...Application Deadline
June 30, 2020
Award Amount
$1,000
Awards Available
2
Website
Email Address
help@deletecyberbullying.org
About the Scholarship
The Delete Cyberbullying Scholarship is sponsored by the Delete Cyberbullying. The organization is a stop online harassment project that was started to educate students and parents about cyberbullying and work towards its eradication. The Delete Cyberbullying Scholarship evaluates the candidates on the basis of their content, dedication, devotion, an...Application Deadline
April 26, 2023
Award Amount
$10
Awards Available
10
About the Scholarship
The scholarship is awarded by the United States Bowling Congress, an organization established to serve bowlers of all ages. It is the national governing body of bowling as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee. Additionally, it provides standardized guidelines to make bowling fun and fair for everyone. To be eligible for this scholarship, selected ...Application Deadline
December 01, 2020
Award Amount
$6,000
Awards Available
1
About the Scholarship
The scholarship is awarded by the United States Bowling Congress, an organization established to serve bowlers of all ages. It is the national governing body of bowling as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee. Additionally, it provides standardized guidelines to make bowling fun and fair for everyone. This scholarship yearly picks out male high sc...Application Deadline
August 15, 2020
Award Amount
$500
Awards Available
Varies
Website
Contact Number
424-353-3791
About the Scholarship
The Hunting Bow is providing the scholarship to the fulfill student dream. The Hunting Bow is proud that this is the first scholarship they have started to help the students financially. And it encourages the students to achieve their dreams. The student can make use of this scholarship to achieve their goals. To gain this scholarship award a student must be currently enrolled in any leve...Application Deadline
June 17, 2020
Award Amount
$1,500
Awards Available
Varies
About the Scholarship
The scholarship is awarded by the From the Bow Seat organization. An organization that provides an innovative space for teens to connect, create, and communicate for our ocean. The global Ocean Awareness Student Contest is a platform for young adults to learn about ocean issues through art-making and creative communication, and where teens can explore their relationship to a chan...Application Deadline
February 01, 2020
Award Amount
$18,000
Awards Available
53
About the Scholarship
The National High School Oratorical Contest is organized by the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, which is committed to mentoring the youth and sponsoring wholesome programs in communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow servicemembers and veterans. ...Application Deadline
April 25, 2020
Award Amount
$2,000
Awards Available
240
Website
Email Address
essays@aynrand.org
About the Scholarship
The "Ayn Rand - Anthem Essay Contest" scholarship award is given by the organization \'Ayn Rand Institute\' which assists and encourages the students who are going to make their career at Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. This organization wants’ the people as a graduate and undergraduate\'s who are interested in writing novels or essays. ...Application Deadline
October 11, 2020
Award Amount
$10,000
Awards Available
400
About the Scholarship
The NFAA youngARTS Program is sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) to assist the students financially to pursue master classes in artists to become a presidential scholar of Arts in the U.S and helps to receive a lifetime of creative and professional development opportunities. The award program helps people to achieve national recognition. In or...
