The Common Scholarship Application
Students apply to multiple colleges with a single application.
“It can’t be that difficult, can it? To apply for say… 10 or 15 scholarships using a single application? If I can do it with colleges, why not with scholarships, too?” Certainly, there must be a way to offer a simple, quick and convenient way for students to submit a profile that can be used for multiple scholarship applications, but what might that entail?
Of course this is something that has been asked ever since websites such as Scholarships.com began offering the free college scholarship search; a great way to find dozens to hundreds of scholarships upon completing a single profile online. While the process is greatly simplified by using such a service, naturally, it wasn’t long before students, parents and educators began to ask whether it might be possible to simplify the process even further by allowing a student to apply to many scholarships by clicking a single button.
Several years ago, now defunct website ScholarPro set out to accomplish this but found that not all scholarship providers were interested in such an offering, as doing so diminished the work required to apply and there was concern that they might suddenly be overwhelmed with applicants, not all of whom were willing to perform the work necessary to earn an award such as the one they were offering. As far as these scholarship providers are concerned, completing their application is the first step in qualifying to potentially win the award. If a student can’t be bothered to take the time to complete this initial step, they should not be considered for the scholarship. However, that is not necessarily the philosophy of all those offering a scholarship—particularly those larger providers who want to see as many applicants as possible and who have the wherewithal to process such a deluge of requests/applications.
Think of all the scholarships out there being offered by companies such as Coca-Cola, for example; They actually have an entirely separate foundation and program that has provided thousands of students from all over the U.S. assistance paying for their tertiary education since 1989. In addition to offering this type of assistance, they encourage volunteering and community and certainly enjoy a lot of exposure for all they have done over the years and would be unlikely to shy away from being included in a common application, being among those who could likely handle the potential increase in application this would mean and would also enjoy additional exposure as a result.
Naturally, our objective is to serve both those searching and those offering scholarships to the best of our ability, so our position is to offer the opportunity to the many scholarship providers out there who are going to want to be on the cutting edge of technology and convenience with regard to scholarship offerings while still respecting the wishes of those who prefer students complete a one-off application for the opportunity to compete for their scholarship.
Not to worry, though-- we will keep you posted! It won’t be long before you will be able to easily submit several, dozens, or possibly more scholarship applications with the click of a single button! Since 1998, we have been working to be your best asset toward finding the right school for you and paying for that school once you have found it. Keep checking back to see new and improved features as we continue to add tools and opportunities to ensure you have the best chance at attending and paying for the right school for you!