College scholarships look to offer more than money as funds dwindle

Private scholarships and grants have been unable to keep up with rising tuitions prices, instead finding ways to 'make do'

• The crisis of student loans is real no matter what pundits say
  
• Grants, aid and solutions for students looking for tuition assistance

Many college students are used to jumping a huge financial gap: tuition is rising, and student loans are skimpy. Applying for a private scholarship – from a corporation or non-profit – used to be the bridge.

Now, students are finding, those scholarships are harder to come by as companies stop growing their scholarship funds. The pullback in scholarship money will affect a wide swath of college students and could spell trouble in the form of higher debt loads.