Scholarships and Student Loans, both represent two different things yet share a lot in common. The main difference between the two is that scholarships are more merit based (in other words you need to meet certain requirements and standards to qualify), while student loans are more based on need. The majority of the time students lean more heavily towards scholarships due to the simple fact that you do not have to pay the money back. However those who do not meet the requirements for a scholarship, have no other option but to take out a student loan. In this case the student has to pay back the full amount of money and more due to the interest rate. The most prominent issue consists in the idea that if you fail to pay back the full amount, over time it will begin to affect the students credit. Since applications to colleges usually begin within the month of January, it is not a surprise that the quantity of searches regarding scholarships spikes by about 25-50%. Throughout the years searches for scholarships has remained the same, with highs between January though begginings of March and a slow but constant decline in the following months. However regarding student loans, the amount of searches remains relatively low (keeping in mind that students would rather recieve a scholarship than a loan). The spikes for student loans ranges anywhere from 2-45%. Overall the data from the chart, and the information from the three sources makes a fairly clear preference between the two searches, and Scholarships win.
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