ConsumerWatch: Costly College Scholarship Lists May Not Pay Off
FREMONT (CBS 5) - The Better Business Bureau has warned college students and their parents to avoid companies that charge fees for scholarship information or advice. The BBB said all the information any student needs to learn how to finance their education is available for free.
Back in December, Luis Montesdeoca of Fremont paid $250 to Grants Research Center of Temecula, for what he was told would be a "customized" list of scholarship leads based on his personal information.
"It was a take-it-or leave it offer," Montesdeoca said of the sales pitch he attended at a San Jose hotel. The offer came with a money back guarantee, so Luis assumed it was a safe bet.
Three months later, when his list of 20 leads finally arrived, Luis was disappointed.
"Most of them were duplicates or did not even work," Luis said.
One lead from the James Beard Foundation is intended for culinary students. Another lead from the American Medical Association is intended for medical students.
The owner of Grants Research Center, Faith Valle, told ConsumerWatch her company would not give Montesdeoca a refund unless he could provide documentation of his failed attempts to contact the organizations offering the scholarships. Montesdeoca said it is difficult to provide proof because he said none of the scholarship organizations he contacted have responded to his emails.
For more information on scholarship searches:
CollegeBoard.com
CollegeNet.com
Fastweb.com
Scholarships.com
ScholarshipMonkey.com
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