Scholarships What is a scholarship? Basically, scholarship is a financial aid or a grant given to a student for various reasons so that he/she can continue his/her schooling. It has different forms and is awarded depending on different criteria. Granting of scholarships by institutions and organizations is due to different factors. As such, scholarship can be grouped into different categories. This article contains a section that includes a discussion on the most common types of scholarships. However, before going there, it is best to differentiate first scholarship from the other common types of financial aid available to students. Types of financial aid available to students In this section, we ask, what is a scholarship? Is it the same as loans and fellowship? In what way are these three the same? In what way are they different? To answer these questions well, let’s look at each aid individually. • What is a scholarship? As said above, this is a financial aid given to students in any of the scholastic levels (i.e both graduate and undergraduate level students) for free for various reasons. • What is a loan? This is a financial aid given to students unable to pay for their tuition. Like scholarship, it can be given to all scholastic levels. However, unlike scholarships, it has to be paid later on when the student is financially able, usually with interest.