Based on my experience with both attending school myself and now putting my own kids through school, this is what I have found:
* Many states have scholarships that are only for their in state residents going to an in state school.
*Some states have grants that are only for in state residents going to in state schools (ie. California Grant)
* All schools have what I would describe as generic academic scholarships for all students. Some of these are need based. Some are based on GPA and/or SAT scores.
* All schools have department scholarships that are for kids that have a certain major in that department. Some of this scholarship money usually comes from donors or trusts set up for the department from someone who has left money for the school/ department.
* Some schools participate in what is called an "out of state tuition exchange." This is where a student can apply for their out of state tuition to be waved. This scholarship is only available for schools that participate in that program. A lot of schools do not allow "stacking" of scholarships, which means if you get your out of state tuition waved, you do not qualify for other scholarships to stack on top of your out of state tuition being waved.
* There are always local scholarships that can be earned as wall as national scholarships.
I haven't covered everything, but that's a basic rundown. I am sure others can also chime in with what they have experienced.