Offering free money for college is a fast way to attract links, by promoting your scholarship program or grant to college newspapers, financial aid offices, career centers, and scholarship-search services such as Fastweb.com.
National scholarships and grants that are not tied to attending a specific college can attract an enormous amount of attention. But be warned: Carefully think through the candidate evaluation process in advance. Otherwise, the cost of reviewing the scholarship award applications could far exceed the value of the inbound links.
The Ayn Rand Institute (http://aynrand.org) holds an annual essay contest with thousands of dollars in award money. The student who turns in the best essay not only receives a scholarship but has his paper published on the organization's website.
