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Get Amazing Scholarships from Professional Associations


Do you dream of being a teacher? Or maybe you see yourself as a surgeon? How about as a helicopter pilot? Whatever your career aspirations are the one thing you can count on is that there is a professional association that supports that career.

In fact, in the U.S. there are over 135,000 professional associations. Some of these are household names. Take a look at a tube of toothpaste. Do you see the words "ADA" this stands for the American Dental Association and is a group that is composed of dentists. The primary function of these associations is to support the profession.

And one of the ways an association does this is by encouraging students to enter their profession by -- you guessed it -- offering scholarships!

If you dream of being a dentist then the American Dental Association has a scholarship for you. Or, if you want to be a lawyer take a look at the American Bar Association. The American Society of Travel Agents offers awards for future travel agents. And the Screen Actors Guild has scholarships for (surprise, surprise) future actors.

You get the idea. The key is to find the professional association that supports your future career goals and hit them up for some college cash.

The best way to find these organizations is to talk to people who already work in the field and ask what organizations they belong to. Remember, while a dentist may be a member of the ADA, she may also belong to the California Dental Association. Both regional associations and national associations may offer scholarships so you need to make sure you find both.

Next, visit your public library and find the trade journals for your profession. These magazines often have advertisements for professional associations.

Go to your favorite Internet search engine and type in the name of your future profession along with the word "association," "society," "federation," "guild" and "foundation." Also, try a search using the name of your city and state to track down some of the local associations.

Besides being the source of your future career, your professional aspirations can help you pay for college today!