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According to the survey, about 80 percent of respondents have not received a single scholarship. While it seems that the overachievers eventually get cash from somewhere — be it their school or an independent scholarship donor — the “B” and “C” students are often overlooked.

That’s why promotional scholarships are more important than ever. Let’s face it, promotional awards may not challenge your intellect like writing an essay, but contests like FastWeb’s Why I Deserve a Scholarship video contest, Create Your Own Scholarship and Scholarship BootCamp can still earn you valuable cash for school. Most don’t have strict terms or require essays and there are lots of them out there.

Tony Pintarelli, a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, worked his way through college – sometimes putting in 70 hours a week between two jobs. Tony’s problem was one that many students face—he didn’t qualify for need-based financial aid and although he worked, there was still an exceptional financial strain, making it hard for him to get through school.

When FastWeb asked students to submit their scholarship ideas, he came up with the “Stuck in the Financial Middle” award for students like himself and selected Cassie Grymes as his recipient. Both won $4,000.

While Tony’s story isn’t new, it is becoming increasingly common and with the high number of scholarship applicants, getting an academic award continues to get harder. It’s that much more important to take a creative approach when looking for cash.

Adrianna Bayer also won $4,000 when her video entry got the most votes in the first Why I Deserve a Scholarship contest – a lucky voter won $1,000. And in the recent Scholarship BootCamp promotion, four lucky participants won $1,000 each.

And these are just a few of the awards like this out there.

So get yourself out of that 80 percent bracket. Keeping an eye out for promotional scholarships like these can mean the difference between making tuition and taking out loans.

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