Just in case you've been living under a rock for the last six months, the world is in the midst of some scary economic times. You can't pick up a paper in the U.S. without reading about several thousand jobs being cut from some high-profile company -- and that doesn't count the thousands more that are being cut from the collection of smaller companies that don't make the news. And that's just here in the U.S., the largest economy in the world. Just about every country in the world is somewhat dependent on U.S. consumers and our ravenous consumption, and when we're suffering, so is the rest of the world.

So, what happens when the economy tanks like this, and millions of jobs are being lost? Well, we're guessing that lots of folks will do what people have been doing for a good long while when they lose their jobs -- they'll go back to school. But more and more people worldwide are finding it harder to afford to go to college because they're in debt. Many students work full-time, get financial aid and if they are lucky, grants. Even so, they're still in debt, and they can't seem to get out of debt regardless of how hard they try. That's why we created the Recession Relief Scholarship (we used to call it the Get Out of Debt Scholarship, but really -- getting out of debt seems secondary these days to a lot of us. Getting a paycheck in the door and getting food on the table is now Job One).

We give four $500 scholarships annually to help students hampered by debt to continue their studies, and you can apply online now. We created the award in 2003 as a once-a-year award, but based on the number of great applications we've received, we now grant four awards. We also send the check directly to you, not your school. To be eligible for the scholarship, you must be attending or planning to attend a college, trade school, technical institute, vocational program or other post-secondary education program in the 2009-2010 academic year. Before you apply, we recommend you check our scholarship help site, GiveMeScholarships.com. It'll help you avoid mistakes that'll get your application tossed in the trash!

The $500 Recession Relief Scholarships are being offered in honor of all the people around the world who simply need a little help with their higher education bill due to the positively daunting economic situation we're all facing. $500 may or may not keep you out of debt consolidation or credit counseling, but it certainly can't hurt. Good luck to all applicants!