Where can I find financial assistance for students attending a private elementary or secondary school?

Most foundation support for individuals seeking financial aid is targeted towards students at the university level. However, there is some support for precollegiate studies. You may want to start the process by taking the Foundation Center's interactive e-learning tutorial, Finding Foundation Support for Your Education, that guides students through the process of seeking financial support from foundations to pursue their studies. Here you will learn the basics about such topics as facts about foundations that provide financial aid for individuals, other sources beyond foundations, resources for the scholarship seeker, and how to apply. This fully interactive tutorial also includes several worksheets you can download and complete to assist in your search for funding and a self-test to reinforce what you've learned. Free registration and Macromedia Flash Player are required.

Each of the Foundation Center's five libraries has a collection of materials of interest to individual grantseekers. The Foundation Center's information on grantmakers for individuals is available in two formats and may be helpful in your search for foundation funding. They are:

• Foundation Grants to Individuals, a print publication with a listing of more than 6,000 foundations that give to individuals. Updated biennially.

• Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, an online subscription-based database with more than 6,000 foundations giving to individuals. Updated quarterly.

Foundation Grants to Individuals, in both formats, includes information on grantmakers giving to individuals (approximately 3,300 foundations fund a wide range of educational needs, including pre-collegiate scholarships). Information about how to apply for funding from each foundation is included. All Foundation Center libraries and Cooperating Collections provide free public access to the print version of Foundation Grants to Individuals, and some may have the online version as well. These resource tools also may be purchased through the Marketplace.

You might also want to look at the following Web sites which focus more specifically on pre-collegiate scholarships:

• "How to Get Financial Assistance for Private School Tuition" (http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/bigkid/gpreschool/64647.html) This brief article by ParentCenter.com provides a description of the different types of financial assistance available and a list of resources on where to start looking.

• Michigan State University Grants and Related Resources (http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/3precol.htm)
  The Michigan State University Grants and Related Resources site has a very useful resource section for precollege scholarships.

• "Financing A Private School Education" (http://www.nais.org/about/index.cfm?ItemNumber=145880)
  This National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) article describes the different options for financing a private education.

• Admissions Quest (http://www.admissionsquest.com/finaid/scholarships.htm)
  This site provides a brief listing of private school scholarship programs.

• Foundation Center's Youth in Philanthropy — Scholarships for Elementary and Secondary School (/yip/youth_scholarships.html#elem)
  Provides a listing of resources for funding elementary/secondary education.

In addition to these resources, you may want to consult our FAQ "Where can I find information on college scholarships and fellowships?" However, most of these resources provide funding opportunities at the college level.

To learn more about foundation support for your education, attend our free one-hour class, Finding Foundation Support for Your Education.

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