Proof It Works: Stories from Real Families Who Beat the System
Paying for college can feel overwhelming, but you’re not alone—and you don’t have to go into debt. Below, you’ll meet families just like yours who used The Scholarship System to secure thousands of dollars in free money. Their journeys are real, inspiring, and proof that our proven approach works.
Been there, done it, let me show you how to do it – that’s what The Scholarship System is.
I am proud to report my daughter has applied for 34 competitive scholarships (using the methods taught in The Scholarship System) targeted to her strengths, clubs, and family background. $42,000 in total awards!
Essentially Being Paid To Go To School!
To date she has won 10 out of 34 scholarships applied to!!! She actually had to turn down 4 scholarships (2 competitive school specific and 2 outside scholarships that were only for local schools). The other 6 scholarships combined to $42,000 in total awards.
With the outside scholarship awards and her financial aid packages, she would have been able to attend 4 of the 6 schools on her final list debt free. Her final choice actually results in approximately $8,000 per year awarded beyond my debt free degree standards listed below. Her hard work applying for scholarships has her with no loans and not having to work while in school. She is essentially being paid to go to school!!!
We broke down the amount of time she spent on scholarship essays and the rough numbers were 3 hours per essay so approximately 100 hours. $42,000/100 = $420/hr. That is the best part time job I have ever heard of!!! She may have complained when she was “forced” to work on essays and scholarship applications but today she sees the results of her hard work. I am incredibly proud of her accomplishments and wanted to share our experience with the other The Scholarship System families.
Our family defines graduating debt-free as covering tuition, room and board, fees, and books. As we all know, this is no easy feat. We’ve also prioritized selecting the right school, considering our personal tax situation, choosing a suitable major, maintaining strong grades, and optimizing ACT/SAT scores—just to name a few key factors.
(As of December 2024)
Jeff Vanderhoff and Family
Debt-Free Degree Lab Member
YEAR 3 DEBT FREE!
My son just got his financial aid package offer for his Junior year of College, and will be able to cover EVERYTHING with scholarships, grants, his RA income, and a small amount (less than $1000) from his summer job. In other words, YEAR 3 DEBT FREE!
It was his Senior year of HS when we discovered this, and 3 years later he is 3/4 of his way to a DEBT-FREE DEGREE! I am so glad I found this system. Thank you for your group!
One year to go, but he is crushing it so far. 20 years old, no debt, $3000 in a Roth IRA, and his credit score is higher than mine (and mine is excellent).
He is NOT a straight A student, did OK on the SAT (scored around 1140 I think), and we are middle class income level. It was a lot of hard work, but having the right information and a sense of direction was huge, and that is what DFD provided for us.
I signed up for Jocelyn Pearson’s Debt Free Degree lab and gained the information and confidence we needed to believe it could be done, and to learn how to do it. From there, my son had to put it to work, which he did. Applied for 25+ scholarships, worked hard at his job when home from college, got a job as an RA at college, saved carefully and spent sparingly.
First off, I have to recommend joining DFD Lab. It paid for itself ten times over and is worth every penny as long as you put in the work.
Some of the avenues my son pursued:
- Local Scholarships
- State Grants
- College Scholarships
- Worked hard throughout HS saving $ for college
- Entered and won a weight loss competition at work his Sr year of HS that got him $800
- Got a job his Sophomore year as an RA
- Signed up for a couple Bank Bonuses and Credit Card rewards
- Developed relationships with teachers and professors and demonstrated an excellent work ethic that got him good letters of recommendation
These Programs Saved Us!
We signed up for both programs. The Scholarship System (TSS) for my 2 sons to learn the techniques to writing better essays, brainstorming ideas, and finding scholarships that are not scams.
We are also a part of Debt-Free Degree (DFD) Lab so my wife and I can learn how to close the gap on the cost of attendance – essentially learning ways of gathering funds where scholarships leave off.
DFD Lab does discuss scholarships to a certain extent but TSS completely focuses on that task at hand.
My oldest is off to college in August and he’s very excited. He’ll be attending Penn State University studying mechanical engineering.
Our other son, who will be a junior in high school this fall, has watched a few of the videos and is looking forward to getting knee deep into the TSS and DFD materials this summer/fall.
Michaela Bush
Student
We’re at about $84,000,
not quite six digits. Yet.
So—my Daughter has worked a bit to get scholarships and grants, though it’s been a bit of a challenge this year—crazy schedule, three musicals at school, a boyfriend breakup, and she worked a job—all in an effort to not take out a loan this year. We are also fortunate to have some 529 money, but we’re trying to stretch that out for grad school.
It’s because of DFD that we considered looking at private schools over state schools because of the opportunity to win merit scholarships. It worked. A lot!!
Because of her hard work academically (3.71)(NHS), she’s walking into a private women’s university with $19,000/year for four years. There are other grants and scholarships that amounted to $26,534. We appealed, without a really good reason, and won $1,000 for four years.
Writing scholarship letters (TSS) also made a difference. She was encouraged to apply for a full ride scholarship. We worked hard on the application, and chose the right people to write a letter of reference. Nearly 100 applicants for 6 awards, and they selected a group of 12 as finalists. Michaela was a finalist. We were disappointed that she didn’t win (volunteer stuff was weak, I figure), but they did award her $1,000/year for 4 years for being a finalist.
Those scholarship letters got to a point of cut and paste and allowed for tweaking. When it came to the scholarships offered by her high school, she won an additional $12,125. One of those scholarships was outside—didn’t know really what it was. Turns out it was national, competitive, and out of over 750 applicants, she was one of 33 that was awarded $2500.
My math has her needing to write a check for $1741 to cover the $42,400 for the first year. This wouldn’t have been possible without DFD/TSS. Truly. #rebelfamilies
Lori Parry
My son’s college just gave additional HEERF monies today. He called me ecstatic. The check paid off his balance & gave him back what he paid from working over the summer plus some.
Prior to this, everything else was paid with scholarship money and working as a resident assistant. He just got PAID to go to college!!!! I can’t believe it ❤️❤️
Gabrielle Schoeffield
FINALLY, I’m proud to brag my high school senior was notified by her dream school that her financial aid package was high enough that we can (with some more fancy footwork in the scholarship department) send her there! Her reply when I told her the good news? HOLY CRAP! WIN WIN WIN!!! #RebelFamily #ScholarshipWins – it can be done
Michelle Calvert
My daughter is now in her first year of college. She won a competitive 4-year full tuition scholarship, multiple local scholarships, a national renewable scholarship from the American Chemical Society, and is a finalist to be a Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar. All this even though she is 0% need-based. We are very happy with both programs and all the advice!
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