Other Sources for Financial Aid Scholarship Search Services Scholarship services need careful consideration. Some services are helpful to identify sources of aid for students who meet certain criteria, such as academic achievement, religious affiliation, ethnic or racial heritage, artistic talents, athletic ability, career plans, or proposed field of study. Funds from these sources may be limited, and not all applicants will receive awards. Each year, the Department of Education receives numerous complaints from students and parents who did not receive the information they expected from a search service. Don't be fooled by the claim that millions of dollars in student aid goes unclaimed each year. The large figures you may hear or read about usually represent an estimated national total of employee benefits or member benefits. Usually, such benefits are available only to the employees and families of a specific company or to the members of a specific union or organization. Be aware of the following pitfalls when using private scholarship search services. Most scholarship search services provide a list of sources of financial assistance for which you may apply; search services do not, in most cases, provide any awards directly to students. After studying the list, you must send a separate application to each source in which you are interested; the scholarship search service does not apply on your behalf or pay any additional application fee that may be required. Some search services include federal student aid in their list of sources. However, please remember that you can find out about federal student aid without paying a fee to a search service. Some sources on the list may have early application deadlines or limited funds; awards for a specific year may have been already made before you apply. Many search services offer to refund your fee if you do not receive any award. However, some services require you to first provide a rejection letter from every source on the list to claim your refund. The US Department of Education does not evaluate private scholarship search services. If you decide to use on of these services, you may check its reputation be contacting the Better Business Bureau or a State Attorney General's Office.