Scholarship controversy in the United States

Controversy
The belief that scholarships have a discriminatory quality to them has become more prevalent today than ever. For example, as demonstrated by student-specific scholarships, minorities are thought to have a priority over Caucasian students when it comes to receiving certain scholarships.
These beliefs are known to come from college students themselves who have been affected by their failures at obtaining adequate financial aid. The argument that scholarship money flows disproportionately to those from minority groups<nowiki/> Mark Kantrowitz, author of "Secrets to Winning a Scholarship", explains that the average family tends to overestimate its student's eligibility for merit-based awards and underestimate its eligibility for need-based awards. In one study done by Mark Kantrowitz,<nowiki/> this controversy—or myth as he was attempting to debunk—proved to funnel down into a matter of financial aid breakdown. Kantrowitz argued that there is indeed disproportion between need-based and merit-based aid given to white and minority students, and that this is the main reason for the slight discrepancy overall. The breakdown of need-based versus merit-based scholarship money displays the reasoning that more racial minority students receive need-based due to certain minority groups being more apt to grow up in low-income families as opposed to Caucasian students. Race-based preferences in college admissions are no longer allowed, but programs within many universities aim to attract minorities and promote greater diversity in the university itself. After the Supreme Court's decision on this matter, colleges around the United States have found ways to promote diversity by targeting varying socioeconomic factors of students in hopes of diversifying without explicitly targeting minorities. Out of the remaining 74 students in the honors program, only two were African American. The diversity makeup of the honors program, with white students make up 81% of the population, is not too far out of line with the overall population of White Undergraduates at Colorado State University which sits at 74%. This is an example of a scholarship that was created in accordance to the Jim Crow laws, but has just recently attempted to be repealed. It is said to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution and should thus be disbanded; however, there are other present-day scholarships that have been created for Caucasian applicants only. When researching ethnicity based scholarships, there are many more options for African American students. According to one search there are 80 possible scholarships for African American students and a total of 6 for Caucasian students. This scholarship at Columbia restricts applicants to being American and "of the Caucasian race" and was created by Lydia C. Roberts when she passed away in 1920. Scholarships for minority students are not limited to that specific race or ethnicity. Each scholarship differs from one another through variances in academic merit, extra curricular activities, athletic success, and other factors. Free scholarship search engines are available to help potential candidates connect with candidates with the scholarships they qualify for. Minority scholarships are available for all races and ethnicities, some of the largest categories of minority scholarships are as follows:
* African American Scholarships
* American Indian/Native American Scholarships
* Asian/Pacific Islander Scholarships
* Hispanic Scholarships
* Latino Scholarships
* LGBTQ Scholarships
Controversy
Some of the controversy that lies within minority-based scholarships is that people assume it is impossible for a person of Caucasian decent to receive a minority based scholarship, typically Caucasian males. But as previously states above minority-based scholarships are not designed to advantage or disadvantage someone based of their skin color. But to uphold and celebrate minorities of all types including the LGBTQ community and members of society who are affiliated with, support, or celebrate each underrepresented community. Because of Affirmative Action, one can could make a decent argument contesting the constitutional validity of most scholarships specifically through federally funded institutions. In response to the legal threat many schools have changed their minority and female focused scholarships to include whites and males. The New York Times wrote an uncensored article in 2006 covering the minority scholarship controversy. The controversial allegations have put the public university system on high alert for misconduct from the Department of Education. The Center for Equal Opportunity, CEO’s mission is to make sure higher education becomes a more equal proving ground, inclusive to all. This includes the increasingly excluded white male, who may be the next most “underrepresented.”<ref name="collegescholarships.org"/>

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