For Teens : BUCKS : Cashing In on College Assistance

Do you love cats and dogs? Written any plays that are languishing unpublished in your bedroom desk drawer? Or maybe your ancestors fought in the Civil War?

There are scholarships for people like you, based on your financial situation, ethnicity, academic interests and even your hobbies or your parents’ professions.

All you have to do is find the money.

The California Community Foundation’s Funding Information Center, on Olive Street in Los Angeles, has a resource library where you can find books on scholarships and grants. Give them a call to learn more about how they can help you: (213) 413-4042.

If you already know where you want to go to college, contact that school’s financial aid office for information. One good local source: A UCLA staffer is compiling a handbook on where to look, told to students by students.

The two-book set, just published by Student Financial Services of Seattle, details all government programs as well as private foundation grants and scholarships.

It should be available in libraries and bookstores by spring, but for now you can order it at (800) 959-1605, Ext. 10. The price for both books: $69.95 plus $5 shipping and handling.

If money is too tight for that, local bookstores and libraries should carry the most popular guides:

“Cash for College: The Ultimate Guide to College Scholarships,” by Cynthia Ruiz McKee and Phillip C. McKee Jr.; “College Costs and Financial Aid Handbook, 1994,” published by the College Board; “The Scholarship Book” (for private sector money), by Daniel J. Cassidy; “Peterson’s Paying Less for College” and “Barron’s Complete College Financing Guide.”