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News for Seattle and the Northwest
Last updated 8:28PM ET
February 15, 2012
Education
Education
One-Stop Shopping for Scholarships
By Gary Davis, KPLU Education Reporter (2009-10-12)
Students searching a database for college scholarships. One Washington State initiative wants to make the process easier. AP Photo.
SEATTLE, WA (KPLU) - If you want to go to college, you may need more than a federal loan to make it affordable. In Washington there's no shortage of organizations that provide scholarships. But every year hundreds of thousands of dollars are left on the table because students don't know about them. Coming soon, a new web site will offer one-stop shopping for scholarships.

It's called "the Washboard-dot-org." When it launches later this fall, backers say it will be the first of its kind in the nation. Spokeswoman Allison Peake Parker calls it a sort of eHarmony for scholarship seekers.

"One scholarship might be looking for a student that is low-income, and that might be you. Another scholarship might be looking for a student who is majoring in education, and that might be you as well," says Parker.

You'd input as much information about yourself into a web form as you'd like, and the site will return your top matches. Parker says rather than providing only a comprehensive list, a matching system gives students a greater chance to find out which scholarships might specifically meet their needs.

The Washboard-dot-org has both public and private support, including the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board. Support also comes from the College Planning Network, College Spark Washington, The College Success Foundation, The Seattle Foundation, the Independent Colleges of Washington and the Northwest Education Loan Association. Together they make up the Washington Scholarship Coalition, the project's lead agency. Parker is its chairwoman.

She says some of the project's early heavy-lifting has been contacting the hundreds of organizations around the state that offer scholarships. She says the site offers providers an incentive.

"The students that you (scholarship providers) are reaching might be eligible for other funding that, if it was packaged together, could really help students, especially lower-income students," Parker says.

The site is sponsored by the Washington Scholarship Coalition, and is for all types of college bound students, including adults and workers looking for re-training opportunities. Launch is scheduled for early December. Gary Davis, KPLU News, Seattle.

For more information:

The Washboard.org

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