Students find stiffer competition for aid - Anna Simon, Greenville Online

Recession is burning both ends of the scholarship candle and could extinguish college dreams for many as the economy melts down family incomes and scholarship providers' investment returns. The bottom line is an increasingly competitive arena for scholarship dollars and a scramble by schools to stay accessible to needier students even as their own endowment revenues drop. “It's a struggle but that's one area where we can't sacrifice,” said Brenai Bell, a rising senior at Furman University who is working a summer internship in the school's admissions office and knows first hand the stress many students face in paying for college.