Weirdest college scholarships

Blogger Ramit Sethi likes to point out that college scholarship money can be found if you’ll just look for it. He’s right. You can find it from some unexpected or unheard-of sources.

Skeptical? Check out “45 of the weirdest college scholarships” at Zen College Life (and thanks to J. Money at Budgets are Sexy for the link.) If you’re tall, love hunting, or are a left-handed student at a certain college in the commonwealth known as PA, you can apply for free money for school.

• Bing: Can you afford college?

Here are some examples from the list of 45, starting with the wackiest one on the list (and our personal favorite):

• The Kor Memorial Scholarship is awarded by the Klingon Language Institute to students who are pursuing language studies. No Klingon required, but if you want to impress, we have an old cassette tape we can lend you.
• There are also Starfleet Academy scholarships. A George Takei International Studies Scholarship, anyone?
• Are you particularly tall? Tall Clubs International sponsors a scholarship competition for men who are 6 foot 2 inches or more, and women who stand at least 5 foot 10.
• The Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest awards scholarships to winners of a duck-calling contest in Stuttgart, Ark., including $2,000 for first place.
• Left-handed? Good. You’ve met one of three conditions set by the Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship, awarded to upperclassmen at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. Financial need and good grades are the other two.
• You could be lucky if your last name is Gatling or Gatlin (.pdf file), Zolp, or Van Valkenburg.
• You may also find scholarship money if you have an interest in entomology, mycology, vacuum coating, or welding.

Read the rest of the list of scholarships. And do you know of any others from strange or unlikely sources?

Related reading:

• The insider’s guide to scholarships
• 5 steps to landing that scholarship
• Your 5-minute guide to college savings
• Help! Can our kids afford college?