Decide on the trim size for your poster. A nice size for a poster advertising a scholarship is 18 by 24 inches; this size will fit on most bulletin boards and posting spaces in school offices, but is still large enough to attract attention from the students.
Create your poster design in a graphic-layout program, like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign or Quark XPress. You can also use Microsoft Word or Publisher, but if you want a professional poster that students take seriously, learn and use a professional graphic-design program.
Make the background one solid color--preferably a light shade of gray, white or a soft pastel like salmon or lavender. The color of the background should be fairly light in contrast to the text and images.
Start adding your text to the poster. Type in a headline advertising the existence of the new scholarship opportunity in large, easy-to-read font like Arial (about 60 points or higher). It can be as simple as "New Scholarship Available for Seniors Interested in Engineering."
Discuss the scholarship opportunity in more detail directly under the headline in a slightly smaller, easy-to-read font (about 20 points less than the headline). Identify the organization that is offering the scholarship and the amount of the scholarship. Keep this section to no more than two or three sentences.
Enter a short list of the most important requirements for the scholarship directly after the introduction, such as GPA, intended major and background. This way the student can quickly decide if he should continue reading and gather contact information. Use a standard serifed font (one that has lines on the tips) like Times New Roman, sized about 30 points lower than the headline, for this list and any other text you add to the poster.
List any previous scholarship winners on the poster so that students can see that it's a legitimate program.
Insert a picture of a student studying hard, a hand filling out an application, a college graduate or a similar image related to scholarship. Place it on the right or left side of the middle of the poster and justify your text so that it flows around the image.
Add contact details at the bottom of the poster revealing how the student can apply for the scholarship or get more information. Include a website where the reader can download an application and a phone number. List the name and address of the organization as well at the bottom of the poster so that the student can do research to assure that it's a legitimate program.