<p>Usually if a scholarship search/database company wants money and "guarantees" results its not a very good sign. Some awards charge applicants a small entry fee - look for the evidence that people win the awards and consider how many awards are being offered and what your realistic chances are. This isn't necessarily a scam, a lot of scholarship foundations have limited donations and need to cover administrative costs of reading hundreds or thousands of applications at a time. Literature and Poetry contests usually have the highest entry fees but you SHOULD be getting some professional criticism out of the fee whether or not you win an award. That's actually pretty standard in the literary world, whether you're trying to get published in a periodical or anthology, or just trying to get a scholarship. </p>
<p>I think the point is, if you're looking for scholarships you should be GETTING money, not PAYING money.</p>
<p>The vast majority of programs are completely free and there are plenty of websites like <a href="http://www.ScholarshipExperts.com%5B/url%5D">www.ScholarshipExperts.com</a> and Fastweb.com that will help match students to awards they are eligible for. Not sure why people would pay for what they can get at high quality for free, especially when the point is to find money :)</p>