Students may begin searching for scholarship opportunities during their junior year of high school, but generally may not apply until they are graduating high school seniors.

There are several types of scholarship opportunities available to graduating high school seniors.

• National Scholarships
• Statewide Scholarships
• Local Scholarships

There are a variety of scholarships offered:

Need based scholarships: Open to students demonstrating HIGH financial need. (Usually this applies to students receiving or are eligible for Free & Reduce Lunch, or have had an unfortunate financial circumstance at home)

Merit based scholarships: Open to students who have demonstrated strength in a particular area, whether is academic or extracurricular interests. (Need may or may not be important.)

Town Scholarships: Open to students based on their residency in a given community. (Need or Merit may or may not be a factor)

Combination scholarships: Scholarships that combine a number of factors, example the student is pursuing a career in education, and has been involved in community service. (Need may or may not be important)

National Scholarships

There are a number of web sites that provide free scholarship searches, that focus on national scholarship opportunities, but generally do not have information about all state and local scholarships. The web sites will ask the student to complete a questionnaire about themselves, and based on the information provided search their engines and match students to possible scholarship opportunities. These searches are FREE. National scholarship search sites are valuable, but usually produce minimal results. Most students see little to no return on their investment of time, and see more financial returns on state and local scholarship opportunities. However, if you are planning ahead, this may be time well spent.

Statewide Scholarships

State scholarships are scholarships open to NH residents only, and are sponsored by a number or organizations, both private and public. The NH Charitable Foundation web site is a great place to visit to begin to access possible NH scholarship opportunities.(Click on Student Aid) Students should also consider checking with family members about possible scholarships available through employers and service organizations. Please refer to the sample listing of past scholarships offered through the KRHS guidance department.

Local Scholarships

Local scholarships are were our students see the greatest return for time invested. These are scholarships dedicated to our students. The majority of these scholarships are open to only graduating seniors, few are renewable. There are wide range of scholarships, need, merit, town, organizations, etc. Please be sure to only apply to those that you fit the criteria. If you do not fit criteria, you are advised not to apply.