Searching for scholarships online can get a LOT of results… maybe too many results. Luckily, search engines like Google have simple search tools that can help you narrow your results, filter out unwanted links, and find scholarship more relevant to you. You do not need to use every tool at once. Start with a search, notice what isn’t working, and apply one tool to make an adjustment.
1. Quotation Marks
Using quotation marks helps tell Google to keep an important phrase together instead of treating each word as separate.
Example
Without Quotation Marks
Michigan engineering scholarships for high school seniors
The phrase is split apart.
high | school | seniors
With Quotation Marks
Michigan engineering scholarships for “high school seniors”
The phrase is kept together.
“high school seniors”
2. Minus Sign
If the same unwanted results just keep persistently appearing in your searches (like loans, for example), use a minus sign to get rid of them.
Example
A minus sign tells Google to GET RID OF THAT.
Place a minus sign directly in front of the word you want to remove. There should be no space between the minus sign and the word you want to remove.
Michigan engineering scholarships for “high school seniors” -loan
3. Time Filter
Sometimes while looking for scholarships you may keep getting expired or out of date results. While it may not always filter out scholarships with old deadlines Using Google’s time filter may help with pulling more recently updated pages.
Example
After your search select:
Tools → Time → Past year
4. site:
If you already have a website that you want to search through for scholarships, this tool is useful for searching only that site for scholarships. This is particularly useful for websites of organizations, businesses, banks, and credit unions to see if any scholarships are being offered.
Example
Enter the address of the website after “site:” (there should be no space), and always have scholarships at the end.
site:michiganfirst.com scholarships
Replace the example website with the address of the site you want to search.
5. inURLs
Typically, when throwing words into a Google search bar, the results will be too many, too broad, and too irrelevant. inURLs help you to get more specific results.
Example
Adding inurl:scholarship asks Google to look for pages that include the word “scholarship” in the web address. This will more likely direct you to actual application pages than another database or list.
“STEM” inurl:scholarship
“Michigan” inurl:scholarship
Quick Reference
| Tool | Use it When… |
|---|---|
| Quotation Marks | An important phrase needs to stay together |
| Minus Sign | Unwanted results keep appearing |
| Google Time Filters | You want recently updated pages |
| site: | You already have a website you want to search through |
| inURL:scholarship | You want more direct and specific results |