Financing one’s education can be a frustrating nexus of half and full nelsons. If you’re lucky, you’ll graduate hungover and delivered into the patient, staid lap of Ms. Sallie Mae. But maybe you won’t owe Ms. Mae and her general aegis as much if you can just score one of these unusual scholarships. When I was mired in high school, I never qualified for the ones that were offered to me as an afterthought in my father’s employee benefits manual (i.e. I wasn’t quite callused or left-brained enough for Maritime Academy). Alas. But here are some highlights of FinAid’s weird scholarship index:

• The National Make It Yourself with Wool Competition, which will award prizes of $1 & $2k ”based on the appropriateness to the contestant’s lifestyle, coordination of fabric/yarn with garment style and design, contestant’s presentation, and creativity.”
• The Duck Brand Duct Tape Stuck at Prom Contest, which rewards teens who attend their proms, yes, attired completely in duct tape: “The winning couple will be selected based on a variety of criteria, including originality, workmanship, quantity of Duck Tape used, use of colors, and creative use of accessories.”
• The J.D. Salinger Award, given to an incoming freshman at Ursinus College, J.D.’s alma mater, and: “Candidates must be nominated by a high school teacher or guidance counselor for their ‘quirky brilliance’.” And! “The winner will also get to live in the same dorm room previously occupied by Mr. Salinger.”
• Ok, this one is restricted to the barely-tween set, but it’s funny & the winner gets $10,000: The Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest

Anyone out there a recipient of a fringe scholarship you’d like to share?