by Carlos Soto, CourseAdvisor

A degree is an investment in your future - and a great way to advance your career. If you're thinking about going back to school, you're probably also thinking about how to pay for it. We did some research on scholarships and discovered that:

• Most adults are disqualified from need-based scholarships due to the fact that they work full-time and have a steady income
• A lot of scholarships require the student to be enrolled full-time in order to qualify, while many adults can only attend classes on a part-time basis
• Most scholarships out there are specifically for graduating high school seniors

Are there scholarships for adult learning? Yes!
Fortunately, scholarships for adult learning are out there. You just have to look in the right place. Instead of focusing your search on state and government funded scholarship programs, shift your attention to other sources such as:

• Employers
• Professional associations
• National organizations
• Your school

Scholarships From Employers
One of the first places you should look for scholarships is through your employer. Although it used to be rare for employers to offer scholarships for their workers, it is becoming increasingly commonplace for employers to offer scholarships or tuition reimbursement as a benefit to their employees.

Scholarships From Professional Associations
If you belong to a professional association, you should contact a representative and ask them if the group provides any scholarship opportunities. For example, the Business and Professional Women's Foundation offers scholarships to members who are at least 25 years of age.

Scholarships From National Organizations
National organizations and companies are another excellent source of scholarships you never heard about. For example, the Talbot’s retail clothing store awards five $10,000 scholarships and 50 $1,000 scholarships per year to adult women who are returning to school to complete their first undergraduate degree.

Scholarships Through Your School
One of the first places you should go to look for scholarships supporting adult learning is your school's financial aid office. Although the majority are intended for younger students, most of the time they will have information about scholarships for their older students.

The above suggestions should give you ideas of where to look. Below you can find a list of scholarships for adult learning. We found them by doing a quick search on Google:

• The College Affordability Essay Contest
  This contest is open to undergraduate, graduate, and former students with a minimum of $2500 in educational debt.

• The Frank O'Neill Memorial Scholarship
  This scholarship is available to students enrolled in a college, university, trade school, technical institute, vocational training or other post-secondary education program in the 2007-2008 academic year. The scholarship provides $1000. The deadline is in December

• The Daylon E. Kinney Scholarship
  This scholarship is available to students attending an accredited university in 2006 or 2007. The scholarship provides up to $2000. The deadline is in May 2008.

• The College Insider Resources College Students Scholarship Program
  This scholarship is available to undergraduate students with a minimum 2.5 GPA. It provides a $1200 award.

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Carlos Soto is a Content Editor at CourseAdvisor.