You might find this list helpful if you haven’t seen it already. It lists the average merit awards and what % of kids get them so it is a good way to narrow down your college search to include only schools that have the potential (obviously not a guarantee) of making your budget. Merit Aid by Institution – College Transitions
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I think they’ve gotten even lower at Clemson, $12,000 was top my daughter’s freshman year, it might be $10,000 now, around 6 years ago or so I think it was $20,000. UDel has remained the same (but of course tuition increases every year).
As I mentioned before, our guidance office has a list of all available scholarships and their due dates. By younger S’ time, there was actually a newsletter with them. I know my niece in a different part of the state, they have a website with theirs.
The bulk of the money comes from two sources. One is a fund that gives up to $7500/kid per year. I’d say they give maybe 30 of those out? It’s a long list. And while you had to submit a FASFA, I’d say the majority of the kids were doctor’s kids, lawyers kids and even the kids of the person who owns multiple major car dealerships in multiple states. And all going to in-state publics. Younger S was getting $7500 by the end. Older S was lower.
Each kid also won a one time $5000 scholarship from a local manufacturing company. You had to write a 3 page technical paper, so not many applied.
There is another clearinghouse that is the gatekeeper to a few dozen scholarships. That one is a PITA and many of them are need based. We didn’t apply to those specific ones within the clearinghouse. It’s one of those deal where you fill out a long lengthy application and then multiple additional essays for each specific one you want to try for. Older S got one that was renewable maybe in the 2K range. But some of those ranged to $5/yr and renewable and some would completely cover tuition at instate schools.
And then we applied to plenty of regular ones outside of those. The American Legion, wednesday club, a couple of ones that were specific to graduates from my kid’s HS. And a sporting themed one.
And the older S also got a $3K one that was supposed to be renewable; but it only paid money toward tuition after all other scholarships were applied. So he got 0, and we never bothered with it again. That one was $$$ given by tobacco companies to help students in our region go to college. I think now it’s more like a loan where they forgive it if you come back and work in our area for a couple of years. Definitely not worth it in our case.
So while my kids did well, I know others who got a lot more. Especially if you were smart and first gen, or needy for real.
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My girls did somewhat well with private scholarships, but to get $10k for each year is a tall order.
DD’17 applied for some the guidance counselor had and got like $1500. She also applied for a national one we found on Sallie Mae that was specific to her major and they gave out quite a few so there was a better chance. She got $1500 from that one for first year and $1600 the next year as it was renewable. She went to community college and applied for the school’s foundation scholarships every semester, getting $500-$1000 for 4 out of 5 semesters.
By the time DD’19 was a senior I was a little more clued in. In spring 2018 I made a list from the newspaper of all the scholarships at awards night so we wouldn’t miss any. I googled scholarships that were state-wide, or related to her major, or our church body, etc. She put in the work and ended up with $6000 for freshman year (which had no effect on her merit aid- in fact we were able to use some of it toward housing). Some kids at school were a little put out she kept getting called up at awards night, but when she asked if they applied, most said they hadn’t 
She hustled! I regret not getting a Farm Bureau membership for $50 because they announced that there had been no applicants for their $1000 scholarship 
Our area just got a new endowed scholarship that gives out several, and up to $10,000 each for freshman or continuing students. It started the year she graduated college so that was sad for us as I think she would have had an excellent chance lol.
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