It's getting more and more expensive to pay for college nowadays. Higher education has become quite a burden for American families.

It was previously reported that paying for college last year took an average of $19,548. Financial advisors speculate that that figure will continue to rise up every year. Moreover, there is already more than $1 trillion of student loan debt in the country.

This is why students who want to help their families pay for college should start looking for ways to earn their degree without acquiring too much debt. One of the most common ways is to apply for a scholarship.

According to SayCampusLife.com, there is a scholarship available for almost all types of characteristics and skills. There is one for being tall, being short, being a vegetarian as well as one for duck calling. The most common type of scholarship would be for sports.

The publication noted that students should find the scholarship that would be the best match for him or her. Check the institution's requirements and specifications to see whether you are qualified for the grant. Common requirements are age or year in school, areas of study/intended major, culture, nationality or ethnicity and GPA minimums.

The timing for scholarship applications depend on the type of scholarship you are aiming for. It also depends on when you want to receive them.

Moreover, for those who don't know where to start looking for scholarships, it is very simple nowadays because of technology. Fastweb.com is an online resource where students can search and apply for scholarships as well as internships. Other sites with similar features are Unigo.com, Chegg.com and Scholarships.com.

Traditional scholarships applications require students to submit essays, recommendations, transcripts and several other documents. There are those, however, that need few requirements such as a photo you took or a 150-word response to a question provided by the institution.