Do real educational grants really exist? Well, if you asked people right after they checked their spam folder chances are good that they would tell you no, grants are just a scam and a pipe dream of far too many people. Thankfully, we don’t really take this negative view at all. It is possible to get educational grants, but they are a bit more complicated than you might imagine.

You see, the grant system has a definite process. You must have a proposal in place. If it’s an individual grant, then you will need to explain what you will use the money for, as well as what you will study if the money is accepted. You don’t want to be vague at this point. A lot of people think about going to for example law college, but very few are actually strategic about going to college. You need to make sure that you pick a major that’s actually in demand. While the classic adage is “Follow your passing and the money will follow”, the reality is that this isn’t as true as it should be. It’s better to make sure that you really think about the type of life that you want to ultimately lead in college. This will point you to the right grants over time.

If you’re already in school, you might want to hit up the school library as well as the financial aid office. There are directories of actual government grants out there, and these two locations will have them available to you for free. There’s no real reason to pay money to get a directory, unless you just want the convenience of looking at the database from a different angle.

You might need to hire a grant writer for some of the more competitive grants, because it’s really all about trying to get things off the ground as thoroughly as possible. Grant writers already know the government system well, and they can help you shape a proposal, or even create a new one from scratch. However, if you’re just starting out, you might be better off reading up on grant writing and doing it yourself.

As mentioned before, it’s really all about having a clear focus on what you ultimately want to achieve while in college. If you have a definite plan, this will show in your proposal. However, if you are too vague, you will be overlooked in favor of applicants that have already demonstrated that they have a plan and they are willing to commit to it. The reason why a lot of people are leery to chase educational grants is that they don’t think “real” people will qualify for them, but this isn’t the case at all. There are a lot of unused grant funds because no one bothered to apply. Don’t make that mistake — it’s better to apply and know where you stand than to not take the opportunity at all.

Overall, the time to look for educational grants is today — what will you land with your upcoming proposal? There’s only one way to find out!