Students often find themselves expending large amounts of money when coming to college, but the EC scholarship office is offering scholarships to ease that burden.

There are two types of scholarships, the first being institutional, which is funding that comes directly from EC and the other is non-institutional, which comes from other organizations.

“There are so many scholarships. Some majors have a lot more, whereas others don’t have as many, but you can pretty much find one that will pertain to you,” Kahea Kamahele, scholarship technician, said.

Last semester, there were 600 applicants and more than $214,000 in scholarship money was given away, which is a relatively low number.

“I think that is a small number considering how many thousands of students go here. The scholarships are there for all students, so more should apply,” Kamahele said.

The Scholarship Office has now taken more steps to promote the scholarship opportunities available to students.

“We are trying to educate people more about these scholarship opportunities,” Kamahele said. “We puts signs throughout the campus and that’s the first time we’ve done that.”

The lack of applicants is attributed to the previous lack of promotion and awareness students had for these scholarships.

“Students need to be more educated about (scholarships),” Kamahele said. “Even with the signs, I think students are not always aware of what is being presented to them.”

Students believe that the attempts to increase awareness about scholarships is helping.

“My professors have mentioned it a lot in class and I think they are doing an excellent job promoting it,” Katie Chappell, undeclared major, said. “Some students who go here need help paying for things, so scholarships are really helpful.”

Although students have taken note of the signs and other promotions, some have not taken it into consideration.

“I didn’t apply,” Chappell said. “I just did not give much thought to it.”

Because student expenses are paid, scholarships allow for students to save money, even if their scholarship is only for a minimal amount.

“If you figure about $500 for books for a full-time student, even if they win a $500 scholarship, that covers books for an entire semester,” Kamahele said. “That’s a semester of book costs they don’t have to worry about.”

Scholarships are also an opportunity for students who are not eligible for financial aid to have money for school available to them.

“There are programs here to help students pay for their books, but not everyone is eligible for the program,” Kamahele said.

To apply for scholarships, students must first register by logging on to MyECC and filling out the scholarship application.

All accounts that registered within the week are activated on Wednesday mornings.

Afterward, students may begin applying for scholarships.

They are asked to continually check their e-mail for updated from the scholarship office for institutional scholarships.

Students are encouraged to sign up for scholarships because many are going unnoticed.

“There’s money out there that can be awarded,” Kamahele said. “Students need to understand how to get it.”