Scholarship Success Story: Money for a Dream School

Chris Diehl

When Roman Dias began his college search, he looked at the large state schools where many of his classmates chose to attend. It was a tempting option: He had friends there, it was a familiar environment, and tuition was significantly less expensive than at a private school.

However, Roman’s first choice was Dillard University, a historically black college in New Orleans. "Most of my high school was white, so I really wanted the experience that an HBC could give me," Roman says. "I also liked the fact that it’s small, especially compared to a state school."

The only roadblock was the annual tuition of nearly $10,000, which doesn’t include room and board. Total annual costs would run to almost $18,000.

Although Roman and his parents took out loans, he worried about being able to make the annual payments. Roman turned to FastWeb scholarship search to help finance his dream school.

Among the many awards he qualified for was the $1,000 Sam Walton Community Scholarship. Administered by Wal-Mart, more than 2,400 awards are given out annually, with no more than one winner per high school. After an interview process narrowed down the large number of applicants, Roman learned he was his school’s scholarship winner.

"There was a loan that my parents would have had to pay back this year,” Roman says. “The money from this award has helped knock out that loan so they have to pay anything this year."