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Top 552 Writing & Essay Scholarships📝 in August 2024

Will Geiger is the co-founder of Scholarships360 and has a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. He is a former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College where he personally reviewed 10,000 admissions applications and essays. Will also managed the Kenyon College merit scholarship program and served on the financial aid appeals committee. He has also worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut. Will earned his master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate degree in history from Wake Forest University.

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Writing is an extremely important part of success in high school, college, and life in general. For some students, writing is also an intricate part of who they are and how they express themselves. If you are someone who loves English class and is genuinely excited about a new creative writing assignment, then you should keep reading! Writing scholarships, creative writing scholarships, and essay scholarships are great ways to put your talent to use.

Whether you are planning on attending community college, a four-year program, or graduate school, we’ve got opportunities for you. Keep on reading to learn about the top scholarships for writers and creative writers including eligibility, award amounts, and deadlines!

Why choose Scholarships360

We helped over 4 million students find scholarships in 2023

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The Scholarships360 Research Team reviews all scholarships individually and strives to exclude any scholarship where any of the below applies:

• The scholarship requires a fee to apply
• The scholarship provider’s privacy policy allows for the misuse of student data
• The scholarship requires paid membership in an organization (with certain exceptions for reputable trade organizations and others)
• Student are required to sign up for a site or service to apply*
• The scholarship seems primarily used for lead generation** or idea harvesting purposes***
• The scholarship website has many grammatical errors and/or advertisements
• The scholarship or scholarship providing organization seem untrustworthy
• There is no evidence the scholarship was previously awarded
• The scholarship has not been awarded in the past 12 months
• There is no available contact information

If you believe a scholarship has been published in error, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll take a look!

* There are certain exceptions to this, for example if the sponsoring organization is a major corporation or nonprofit with its own scholarship application system. ** Lead generation scholarships will require students to sign up for an app or website and require minimal (if any) application requirements. ***Idea harvesting scholarships will require students to submit blog posts or other materials that companies may use for marketing purposes.

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“Gutsy Graduate Student” Essay Scholarship This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

Offered by Scholarships360

Ok, so first question–why is this scholarship named the “Gutsy” Graduate Student Essay Scholarship? If you are enrolled in graduate school (during the 2024-25 academic… Show More

Ok, so first question–why is this scholarship named the “Gutsy” Graduate Student Essay Scholarship? If you are enrolled in graduate school (during the 2024-25 academic year) or have heard stories from those enrolled, you already know! “Gutsy” means courageous and determined, which nearly all successful graduate students are. Why else would one continue on with rigorous academics while often living on a shoestring? The rewards of graduate school are numerous, especially the more focused and advanced level of specialized study in your chosen field. Learning with like-minded people who share your passion is fulfilling, and the networking is awesome. The flipside of graduate school is the costly student loans to fund it. With this in mind, the "Gutsy" Graduate Student Essay Scholarship aims to help out a passionate graduate student who is actively looking for ways to fund their higher education journey. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. Good luck on your educational journey, and we hope to read your application!  Show Less

“College Here I Come” Essay Scholarship for High School Seniors This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

The "College Here I Come" Scholarship for Class of 2025 is open to just who you think: high school seniors graduating in the class of… Show More

The "College Here I Come" Scholarship for Class of 2025 is open to just who you think: high school seniors graduating in the class of 2025! Here at Scholarships360, scholarships are our passion–we know that you can never have enough of them! After all, scholarships are essentially “free money” to help fund your education. We want to help out a lucky high school senior who is just starting out on their higher education journey and actively looking for ways to fund it. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We hope that you apply and look forward to reading your application! Show Less

“Scholar Dollars” Essay Scholarship for Black Students This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

In offering the “Scholar Dollars” Essay Scholarship for Black Students, we want to help offset the cost of attending college for Black students. Open to… Show More

In offering the “Scholar Dollars” Essay Scholarship for Black Students, we want to help offset the cost of attending college for Black students. Open to high school juniors and seniors (graduating class of 2024 and 2025) and undergraduate and graduate students enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year, this scholarship aims to lighten your financial worry and allow you to take fewer loans. Remember, scholarships are essentially “free money” that need not be paid back. This scholarship, specifically, aims to help out a Black student who is passionate about their higher education journey and actively looking for ways to fund it. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application, and wish you much success on your academic journey!  Show Less

“Making Waves” Scholarship for Women This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

Are you a woman in high school, college, or graduate school enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year? If so, let us help you! Our $500… Show More

Are you a woman in high school, college, or graduate school enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year? If so, let us help you! Our $500 “Making Waves” Scholarship for Women aims to help women cover the costs of pursuing their dreams. Whether that dream is starting a business, learning a foreign language, or attending college on the path to fulfilling your dream, the scholarship will cover those costs and make your journey a little easier. No matter your goals, we want to help out a woman who is passionate about their higher education journey and actively looking for ways to fund it. In order to apply, simply write an essay about how the $500 “Making Waves” Scholarship for Women will help you fulfill your dreams. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We encourage you to apply and look forward to reading your essay. Good luck! Show Less

“Tuition Solution” Scholarship for STEM Students This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

Do you like figuring out solutions to difficult problems? Well, if you’re a current or aspiring STEM major, we have one for you! Our $500… Show More

Do you like figuring out solutions to difficult problems? Well, if you’re a current or aspiring STEM major, we have one for you! Our $500 “Tuition Solution” Scholarship is meant for high school juniors and seniors (graduating class of 2024 or 2025), as well as undergraduate and graduate students enrolled during the 2023-24 academic year who are looking for ways to fund their postsecondary education in STEM. In order to apply, you must write an essay about how your passion for STEM started and how the scholarship will help you fulfill your dreams. No matter which STEM field ignites your interest, we look forward to reading your essays. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. Apply today - it’s time to cell-e-brate you! Show Less

“A Helping Hand” Scholarship This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

At Scholarships360, we know how hard it can be to pay off the hefty costs of a college tuition. Oftentimes, this is even more difficult… Show More

At Scholarships360, we know how hard it can be to pay off the hefty costs of a college tuition. Oftentimes, this is even more difficult for students coming from low-income backgrounds or for those who demonstrate financial need. This is where our “A Helping Hand” Scholarship comes in! We're offering a $500 scholarship to help out a low-income student who is passionate about their higher education journey and is actively looking for ways to fund it. This award is open to high school juniors and seniors (graduating class of 2024 and 2025), as well as undergraduate and graduate students enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year. In order to apply, students should submit an essay detailing how winning the scholarship would help you fulfill your dreams. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

“Follow Your Own Path” Essay Scholarship This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

At Scholarships360, our mission is to help students find and fund their postsecondary education. We know that students have a variety of educational and career… Show More

At Scholarships360, our mission is to help students find and fund their postsecondary education. We know that students have a variety of educational and career interests and aspirations. That is why we are offering the “Follow Your Own Path” Essay Scholarship. This scholarship aims to support all current postsecondary students, regardless of the type of education they are pursuing. Thus, no matter your own unique educational path, we hope you apply for this $500 scholarship. In order to apply for the “Follow Your Own Path” Essay Scholarship, students must submit an essay about their career ambitions. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

“Commencing at Community College” Essay Scholarship This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

Community college, also known as two-year college, is a golden opportunity for the right student. These schools offer an affordable education to a diverse range… Show More

Community college, also known as two-year college, is a golden opportunity for the right student. These schools offer an affordable education to a diverse range of students in a wide range of majors. If starting your postsecondary education at a community college is right for you, we have a scholarship just for you! The “Commencing at Community College” Essay Scholarship aims to financially support community college students who are passionate about their higher education journeys and actively looking for ways to fund it. In order to apply for the “Commencing at Community College” Essay Scholarship, students must submit an essay explaining how earning their degree at community college will help them achieve their educational and career goals. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application!  Show Less

“Outstanding Undergraduate” Essay Scholarship This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

The U.S. is home to over 2,000 four-year universities offering bachelor’s degrees. However, attending such universities can sometimes come with hefty costs that can deter… Show More

The U.S. is home to over 2,000 four-year universities offering bachelor’s degrees. However, attending such universities can sometimes come with hefty costs that can deter students from attending. If you’re in a situation similar to this, we may just have the perfect scholarship opportunity for you: the “Outstanding Undergraduate” Essay Scholarship! With this scholarship, we aim to help out a lucky undergraduate student (enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year) who is passionate about their higher education journey and actively looking for ways to fund it. The scholarship is open to any U.S. citizen who is enrolled as an undergraduate at a four-year university in the U.S. during the 2023-24 academic year. In order to apply, submit an essay explaining how earning your bachelor’s degree will help you achieve your educational and career goals. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

“Broad Horizons” Scholarship for High School Juniors This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

This scholarship is open to high school juniors (graduating class of 2026) who are proactive about broadening their horizons. To broaden your horizons means to… Show More

This scholarship is open to high school juniors (graduating class of 2026) who are proactive about broadening their horizons. To broaden your horizons means to expand your range of knowledge and experiences. It means putting yourself out there, trying new things, and meeting new people. To apply for this scholarship, tell us about one thing you have done in the past year to broaden your horizons. Whether you picked up a new hobby, learned a new skill, traveled to a new place, or spent time with different people – we want to know what you’re doing to foster growth in your life. See the “Application Information” section below for details regarding the short answer response. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their response and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

“Moving Mountains” Scholarship for Hispanic Students This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

This scholarship is open to Hispanic/Latino high school juniors and seniors, college, and graduate students who have moved mountains in their life. To move mountains… Show More

This scholarship is open to Hispanic/Latino high school juniors and seniors, college, and graduate students who have moved mountains in their life. To move mountains means to achieve something incredibly difficult. It means overcoming obstacles, persevering in the face of adversity, and achieving success against all the odds. Whether it’s passing a difficult class, completing a rigorous project, or excelling in sports, we all have our own way of moving mountains. We want to know about yours. See the “Application Information” section below for details regarding the essay prompt. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

“Creativity Takes Courage” Scholarship for Art Students This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

This award is open to students studying any form of visual and/or performing arts who write an essay expressing their views on creativity and courage.… Show More

This award is open to students studying any form of visual and/or performing arts who write an essay expressing their views on creativity and courage. The French artist Henri Matisse once said, “another word for creativity is courage.” Artists can be loved and appreciated for their work, but they also have the potential to be criticized and rejected. Releasing art into the world involves overcoming fear and self-doubt. Even the most successful artists grapple with questions like “am I good enough?” or “will people like this?” If you’re a creative student who has ever struggled with these questions, we encourage you to apply for this scholarship! See the “Application Information” section below for details regarding the essay prompt. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

Making the Leap Scholarship for Transfer Students This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

The “Making the Leap” Scholarship is open to undergraduate students who are transferring to another educational institution in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. We know… Show More

The “Making the Leap” Scholarship is open to undergraduate students who are transferring to another educational institution in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. We know that getting from point A to point B isn’t always straightforward, and that sometimes there are twists, turns, and unexpected detours along the way. If you’re a transfer student making the leap to another school, you probably know what we’re talking about. Switching educational institutions can be challenging, which is why we’re offering a $500 scholarship to help one outstanding transfer student. See the “Application Information” section below for details regarding the short answer response. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their response and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

“Pen to Paper” Scholarship for Storytellers This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

Do you fancy yourself a wordsmith? If you value creative writing as a form of communication, we encourage you to apply for the Pen to… Show More

Do you fancy yourself a wordsmith? If you value creative writing as a form of communication, we encourage you to apply for the Pen to Paper Scholarship for Storytellers! This scholarship is open to high school juniors and seniors (graduating class of 2024 or 2025), undergraduate, and graduate students who enjoy crafting stories and expressing ideas through the arrangement of words on paper. Whether you’re interested in poetry, short stories, novels, or screenplays, we want to hear from you. To apply for this scholarship, students must submit a 250-word piece of original creative writing. See the “Application Information” section below for details regarding essay prompts. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. Happy writing! Show Less

“Caretakers on the Climb” Scholarship for Nursing Students This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

In recognition of the invaluable service that nurses provide to our communities, we’re offering a $500 scholarship to one outstanding student pursuing a career in… Show More

In recognition of the invaluable service that nurses provide to our communities, we’re offering a $500 scholarship to one outstanding student pursuing a career in nursing. Nurses are the heart and soul of our medical system. They treat the sick and injured, look after our elderly, and provide much-needed support during public health crises. They are true caretakers. If you’re a “caretaker on the climb” who could use some help paying for school, we encourage you to apply for this scholarship! See the “Application Information” section below for details regarding the essay prompt. Please note that applicants will be reviewed based on both the quality of their essay and quantity of scholarships applied for on the Scholarships360 platform. Scholarships360 users who are more active on the platform will be given higher consideration. We look forward to reading your application! Show Less

Ayn Rand Institute Novel Essay Contest (Atlas Shrugged) This scholarship has been verified by the scholarship providing organization.

Offered by Ayn Rand Institute

Are you a high school, undergraduate, or graduate student with a passion for reading, writing, and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand? If so, we may… Show More

Are you a high school, undergraduate, or graduate student with a passion for reading, writing, and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand? If so, we may just have the perfect opportunity for you: the Ayn Rand Institute Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest! Each year, the contest asks its applicants to write an 800 - 1,600 word essay in which they analyze and make an argument about an aspect or plot point of the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Nine prizes of varying amounts are awarded each year, with a grand prize of $25,000! If you’re familiar with Atlas Shrugged, can make a convincing argument, and want to make some cash, we encourage you to apply! Show Less

Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest

Offered by Regions Bank

Are you a Black, college-bound high school senior or current college student who will be enrolled in an accredited university for this upcoming academic year?… Show More

Are you a Black, college-bound high school senior or current college student who will be enrolled in an accredited university for this upcoming academic year? If so, you may be eligible for the Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest! Each quarter, the contest awards $8,000 to the top four (4) applicants who submit an essay (500 words or less) or a video (3 minutes or less) about how someone they know has (1) inspired them and (2) given them the confidence to achieve their goals. The scholarship is offered four times a year, with deadlines every March, June, September, and December. Bear in mind that applicants must also reside in a state with Regions Bank full-service branches to apply. To find out whether or not your state is eligible, keep on reading. If it is, we encourage you to apply! Show Less

Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship

Offered by Unigo

Are you a big fan of The Walking Dead, or maybe Z Nation? Ever thought about what you would do in the case of a… Show More

Are you a big fan of The Walking Dead, or maybe Z Nation? Ever thought about what you would do in the case of a zombie apocalypse? If so, we may have the perfect opportunity for you: the Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship! Each year, this scholarship awards $2,000 to the applicant who, in 250 words or less, best describes their escape plan if there were a zombie outbreak at their school. The scholarship is offered by Unigo in hopes of helping some creative, zombie-obsessed students pay off some of their postsecondary education. If you’ve been inspired by the zombie shows and movies from the past few decades and have come up with a plan of your own, we encourage you to apply to the Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship! It’s due exactly when you’d expect: on Halloween. Show Less

JFK Profile in Courage Essay Contest

Offered by John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

Are you a U.S. high school student with a love for U.S. history? If so, we may have the perfect opportunity for you: the JFK… Show More

Are you a U.S. high school student with a love for U.S. history? If so, we may have the perfect opportunity for you: the JFK Profile in Courage Essay Contest! Each year, the contest awards up to $10,000 to winning applicants who submit a 700 - 1,000-word essay following the year’s prompt. Each year's prompt relates to U.S. history, with this year’s being: “Describe an act of political courage by a U.S. elected official who served during or after 1917, the year John F. Kennedy was born. Include an analysis of the obstacles, risks, and consequences associated with the act. ” The scholarship is offered by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. If you love U.S. history and want to put your writing skills and history knowledge to the test, we encourage you to apply! Show Less

TLF Undergraduate Scholarships

Offered by The LAGRANT Foundation

The TLF Undergraduate Scholarships are open to minority students studying advertising, marketing, public relations, or a related field. This scholarship is funded by The LAGRANT… Show More

The TLF Undergraduate Scholarships are open to minority students studying advertising, marketing, public relations, or a related field. This scholarship is funded by The LAGRANT Foundation, an organization dedicated to increasing diversity in the above mentioned fields. In order to support this goal, all 30 scholarship winners receive academic support and professional guidance for a year after being given their $2,500 award. If you’re a minority student passionate about advertising, marketing, and/or public relations, we encourage you to apply! Show Less

Top 10 essay scholarships in 2024

Our editors hand-picked the following 10 essay scholarships with an eye for large awards, prestigious organizations, and scholarships that are open to a wide variety of students. Apply with confidence to the following essay scholarships:

• Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship – For high school seniors with financial need, worth up to $55,000 per year
• Questbridge College Match – For high school seniors with financial need, offers a full ride to college
• The Gates Scholarship – For low-income minority high school seniors, offers a full ride to college
• Tylenol Future Care Scholarship – For students enrolling in medical, nursing, or pharmacy school, worth $5,000-$10,000
• Regeneron Science Talent Search – For high school seniors interested in pursuing an individual STEM research project. Worth anywhere between $2,000 and $250,000
• Blacks at Microsoft Scholarship – For high school seniors pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, computer information systems, or a business field. Worth up to $20,000
• Horatio Alger Undergraduate Scholarships – For high school students with high financial need, worth up to $49,000
• Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship – For high school seniors with high financial need who plan to study computer science in college. Worth $10,000 per year
• Ron Brown Scholarship – For Black high school seniors who plan to study global entrepreneurship and/or community engagement. Worth $10,000 per year
• Dream.US Opportunity Scholarship – For undocumented high school seniors and college freshmen with high financial need living in a state where public colleges do not offer in-state tuition to undocumented students. Worth $20,000 per year

Creative writing scholarships

Are you a writer who loves fiction, poetry, and screenplays? If so, you can put those talents to use by applying for creative writing scholarships.

Creative writing scholarships are a subset of writing scholarships that support students who enjoy writing poetry, fictional stories, plays, and generally using their imagination to guide their writing.

Here are the top creative writing college scholarships that you can apply for:

HelpTeaching.com Scholarship

• Eligibility: High school and college students who submit a educational short story or informational article (400-800 words) for young students
• Amount : $1,000
• Deadline: June 1st of every year

Cancer Unwrapped Teen Writing Contest

• Eligibility: Teens aged 9-12 who write about their own cancer journey or a family member in a maximum of 1,500 words.
• Deadline: Late March

YouthPLAYS New Voices One-Act Competition for Young Playwrights

• Eligibility: Students 19 years old or younger who submit an original one-act play between 10-40 minutes in length (10-page minimum). Multiple winners may receive up to $250 and publication by YouthPLAYS.
• Amount: $250 and publication by YouthPLAYS
• Deadline: Early May

National High School Poetry Contest

•   Eligibility:  U.S. high school students who submit a poem 20 lines or less that is unpublished, the sole work of the entrant, and not entered in any other concurrent contest.
• Amount: Up to $500.
• Deadline:  Rolling

The Narrative Prize

• Eligibility: Students who submit a short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction.
• Amount: $4,000
• Deadline:  Mid-June

Also see:  Top writing summer programs for high school students

College-specific creative writing scholarships

Some colleges and universities may also offer specific scholarships and financial aid to students with a talent in creative writing! Check with the colleges on your list for these college-specific creative writing opportunities!

Note that some of these scholarships may have requirements for winning students that stipulate that they take a certain number of creative writing classes when enrolled in the college.

Kenyon Writing Award

High school seniors can apply for this scholarship program at Kenyon College which offers up to $15,000 per year of merit based aid. It is based off of your portfolio and does not take into account financial need, high school GPA , or other factors. Submissions typically have to be in by January of your senior year.

Related:  How to answer scholarship essay questions about your career goals

Barbara Caras Memorial Scholarship for Film Students

The scholarship is open to students in Sarasota or Manatee County, Florida who have completed at least one full year at an accredited Florida College and are majoring in Film, Computer Animation, Creative Writing, Motion Design, or Illustration. Five recipients will earn a $2,000 award. The application deadline is July 31st of the current year.

Lycoming College Creative Writing Scholarship

The scholarship is open to students majoring in Creative Writing at Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA and must submit five poems and/or a short story not to exceed ten pages. Six recipients will be selected and can earn up to $3,000. The scholarship deadline for the Fall 2023 Class is March 1, 2023.  

Arkansas Tech University Gwaltney Scholarship

The scholarship is open to ATU students who submit individual works of fiction to the Department of English. Recipients earn a one-time cash award every year. The deadline to submit your entry is 2 weeks before the end of the spring semester.

Lake Forest College Carnegie English Essay Contest

The contest is open to first-year students of Lake Forest College who plan to study English either through the literature or creative writing track and submit an essay, between 500 and 1,000 words answering a designated prompt. Four winners will be awarded $2,500 annually. Submission deadline is March 1, 2023.

Austin Peay State University Creative Writing Scholarships

The scholarships are open to undergraduate and incoming APSU students who email a 10-20 page manuscript of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction, to Lakota Withrow at [email protected] . Awards are for $600 or $1,200. The deadline to apply is March 18th.

Scholarship essay resources

When it comes to writing and essay scholarships, your writing skills will be put to the test. You’ll have to adapt your writing to specific styles in order to effectively and succinctly communicate your ambitions and potential. We have a host of resources to help you perform well in this arena and stand out from the crowd.

• How to start your scholarship essay (with examples)
• How to write a “why do you deserve this scholarship?” essay
• What’s the best scholarship essay format?
• How to write a 250 word essay
• How to write a 500 word essay
• How to write an essay about yourself

Frequently asked questions about writing scholarships

Do i have to major in english to earn a writing or essay scholarship, where can i get help proofreading my scholarship essays, how much should i write if there is no word limit on the application, can i use ai on my scholarship applications, is there a penalty for using chatgpt on a scholarship essay, explore these other scholarship categories:.

• Scholarships for English majors
• Easy scholarships
• Top scholarships for high school seniors
• Top creative writing scholarships
• Top scholarships for journalism students
• Top short story scholarships

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• How to Write a Scholarship Essay | Template & Example

How to Write a Scholarship Essay | Template & Example

Published on October 11, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.

A good scholarship essay demonstrates the scholarship organization’s values while directly addressing the prompt. If you plan ahead , you can save time by writing one essay for multiple prompts with similar questions.

Table of contents

Apply for a wide variety of scholarships, make a scholarship tracker spreadsheet, tailor your essay to the organization and the prompt, write a focused and relevant personal story, scholarship essay example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Scholarships are a type of student financial aid that don’t require repayment. They are awarded based on various factors, including academic merit, financial need, intended major, personal background, or activities and interests.

Like college applications, scholarship applications often require students to submit their grades, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, and an essay.

A scholarship essay shares your values and qualities in the context of a specific question, such as “How does technology affect your daily life?” or “Who has had the greatest impact on your life?”

Be wary of scholarship scams

While some applications may not require an essay, be wary of scholarship scams that do the following:

• Guarantee you scholarship money for a fee
• Claim scholarship information is exclusive to their company
• Ask for your bank or credit card information to hold the scholarship

Some legitimate companies do charge for releasing comprehensive scholarship lists or creating a tailored list of scholarship opportunities based on your profile.

However, you can always discover scholarship opportunities for free through your school counselor, community network, or an online search.

Many students focus on well-known, large scholarship opportunities, which are usually very competitive. To maximize your chance of success, invest time in applying for a wide variety of scholarships: national and local, as well as big and small award amounts. There are also scholarships for international students .

In addition to charitable foundation and corporate scholarships, you should consider applying for institutional scholarships at your prospective universities, which can award money based on your application’s strength, your financial situation, and your demonstrated interest in the school.

Check with your guidance counselor, local organizations, community network, or prospective schools’ financial aid offices for scholarship opportunities. It’s a good idea to start applying as early as your junior year and continue throughout your senior year.

Choose the right scholarships for you

Choose scholarships with missions and essay topics that match your background, experiences, and interests. If the scholarship topic is meaningful to you, it will be easier for you to write an authentic and compelling essay.

Don’t shy away from applying for local scholarships with small dollar amounts. Even a few hundred dollars can help you pay for books.

Local scholarships may be more tailored to your community, background, and activities, so they’re likely more relevant to you. Fewer students apply for these scholarships, so you have less competition and a higher chance of success.

Some places to look for local scholarships include

• Civic organizations, such as the Rotary Club, Lions Club, etc.
• Your church, mosque, synagogue, or place of worship
• Community groups, such as the YMCA
• Ethnicity-based organizations
• Your local library or local small businesses
• Organizations related to your intended major
• Your city or town
• Your school district
• Unions, such as SEIU, the Teamsters, CWA, etc.
• Your employer or your parents’ employers
• Banks, credit unions, and local financial institutions

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

While researching scholarship opportunities, create a scholarship tracker spreadsheet to keep track of the following:

• Scholarship amounts
• Required application materials

You can use our free Google Sheets template to track your scholarship applications.

Scholarship application tracker template

You can also include scholarship essay prompts in your college essay tracker sheet . By grouping or color-code overlapping essay prompts, you can plan to write a single essay for multiple scholarships. Sometimes, you can also reuse or adapt your main college essay .

Even if you’re adapting another essay, it’s important to make sure your essay directly addresses the prompt, stays within the word count limit , and demonstrates the organization’s values. The scholarship committee will be able to tell if you reuse an essay that doesn’t quite respond to the prompt, so be sure to tailor it to the questions asked.

Research each organization

Before writing, research the scholarship organization’s mission and reason for awarding the scholarship. Learning more about the organization can help you select an appropriate topic and relevant story.

While you should tailor your essay to the organization’s values, maintain your authentic voice. Never use false or exaggerated stories. If the organization’s values don’t align with yours or you can’t brainstorm a relevant story for the scholarship, continue searching for other scholarship opportunities to find a more appropriate one for you.

After researching the organization, identify a specific personal experience that embodies its values and exemplifies why you will be a successful student.

Choose a story with the following criteria:

• Responds to the prompt
• Demonstrates the organization’s values
• Includes an authentic story
• Focuses on you and your experience, not someone else’s

A good scholarship essay is not

• A resume of your achievements
• A lengthy opinion piece about the essay topic
• An essay featuring a negative tone that puts down others

If appropriate, you can briefly address how the scholarship money will help you achieve your educational goals. You should also end with a brief thank-you.

Take a look at the full essay example below. Hover over the underlined parts to read explanations of why they work.

Prompt: Describe how working for Chelsea’s Chicken restaurant has developed leadership skills that will help you succeed in college. Give specific examples of leadership characteristics that you have exhibited during your employment with us.

As a nervous 16-year-old, I walked into Chelsea’s Chicken for my first day of work determined to make enough money to put gas in my car and buy pizza on the weekends. My only previous job was mowing my neighbors’ lawns when they were on vacation, so I had no idea what to expect. I was a bit intimidated by my new responsibilities, especially handling money and helping disgruntled customers.

However, it didn’t take me long to learn my way around the cash register and successfully address customer complaints. One day, Roger, the store manager, asked me if I wanted to join Chelsea’s Chicken Leadership Training Initiative. He said he saw leadership potential in me because of my attitude with the customers and my enthusiasm for learning new job responsibilities. It surprised me because I had never thought of myself as a leader, but I quickly agreed, and Roger handed me a three-ring binder that was thicker than my math and science textbooks put together! He told me to take it home and read over it during the following week.

In that binder, I discovered that being a leader means taking the initiative, especially when the job is undesirable. One week later, I got to practice that idea when a little kid threw up in the bathroom and missed the toilet. It smelled terrible, but I stepped forward and told Roger that I would clean it up. My coworkers thought I was crazy, but I started to believe in my leadership potential.

That night as we closed the store, Roger pulled me aside in the parking lot and told me that he could tell that I had been studying the manual. He wanted to give me more responsibility, along with a dollar-per-hour pay raise. I was surprised because I had been working there for only a couple of months, but his encouragement helped me make a connection: good leadership helps other people, and it often is rewarded. I was determined to experience more of both.

Within a month, I was ready to take the Team Leader exam, which mattered because I would receive a promotion and a much bigger raise if I passed. But, when I got to work, two of the scheduled team members had called in sick. We were noticeably short-handed, and our customers weren’t happy about it.

I walked back to the lockers, put on my vest and hat, and took my place behind an open register. Customers immediately moved into my line to place their orders. Roger looked at me with surprise and asked, “Did you forget that you’re testing tonight?” I responded, “No, sir—but what’s the use of taking a leadership test if you aren’t going to lead in real life?” Roger smiled at me and nodded.

He stayed late that night after we closed so that I could leave early and still take the test. I noticed that Roger was always staying late, helping employees learn new skills. His example taught me that leaders take the initiative to develop other leaders. He gave me a clear picture of what shared leadership looks like, making room for others to grow and excel. When I asked him where he learned to do that, he said, “From the same leadership manual I gave you!”

Chelsea’s Chicken has offered me so much more than a paycheck. Because of Roger’s example, I have learned to take the initiative to care for my family and friends, such as being the first to do the dishes without my mom asking or volunteering to pick up my friend for our SAT prep course. Now, as I prepare to enter college, I have confidence in my leadership ability. I know I’m signing up for a challenging major—Biology, Pre-Med—yet I also know that Chelsea’s Chicken has helped me to develop the perseverance required to complete my studies successfully.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

A scholarship essay requires you to demonstrate your values and qualities while answering the prompt’s specific question.

After researching the scholarship organization, identify a personal experience that embodies its values and exemplifies how you will be a successful student.

Invest time in applying for various scholarships , especially local ones with small dollar amounts, which are likely easier to win and more reflective of your background and interests. It will be easier for you to write an authentic and compelling essay if the scholarship topic is meaningful to you.

You can find scholarships through your school counselor, community network, or an internet search.

You can start applying for scholarships as early as your junior year. Continue applying throughout your senior year.

Yes, but make sure your essay directly addresses the prompt, respects the word count , and demonstrates the organization’s values.

If you plan ahead, you can save time by writing one scholarship essay for multiple prompts with similar questions. In a scholarship tracker spreadsheet, you can group or color-code overlapping essay prompts; then, write a single essay for multiple scholarships. Sometimes, you can even reuse or adapt your main college essay .

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How to Write Winning Scholarship Essays

Scholarships & Financial Aid

Updated on November 24th, 2021

The vast majority of legitimate and reputable scholarships are going to require an essay as part of the application process, which means your student needs to know how to write winning scholarship essays. Otherwise, they may miss out on exciting opportunities for free money to help pay for college, increasing the odds that they’ll need student loans to make ends meet.

While “no essay” scholarships do exist, most of these are no more than sweepstakes, and some of them are incredibly sketchy. If you want to know more about no-essay scholarships, check out this article: What You Need to Know About No Essay Scholarships

Writing winning scholarship essays isn’t as challenging as it sounds, as long as your student knows the best approach. To help them get started, here is an in-depth guide on how to write a scholarship essay that will grab the attention of the committee for all of the right reasons.

If you and your student would like to learn more about  how to find scholarships  that can help pay for college, sign up for our  free college scholarship webinar ! We cover how to spot the scams so you can make sure your student is applying to scholarships that are actually worth their time. Join the next free training here:  www.thescholarshipsystem.com/freewebinar.

• 1 Read All of the Instructions to Write Winning Scholarship Essays
• 2 Define the Audience for the Scholarship Essay
• 3 Brainstorm Before Writing Scholarship Essays
• 4 Choose the Right Topic to Cover
• 5.1 Writing the Scholarship Essay First Draft
• 5.2 Refining First Drafts into Winning Scholarship Essays
• 6 Get an Outside Opinion
• 7 Finalize and Submit the Essay

Read All of the Instructions to Write Winning Scholarship Essays

While this may seem like common sense, many students rush through the instructions section before they start writing their scholarship essay. Why? Because reading instructions isn’t fun and many students are fairly pressed for time.

Ultimately, winning scholarship essays always adhere to the instructions. If your student misses a requirement, their essay may be automatically discarded, meaning they spent all of that time writing for no gain.

Have your student examine the instructions to look for details that outline the process including these:

• The topic they must cover
• Formatting requirements
• Sourcing requirements

Only after this step is complete should they move forward.

Define the Audience for the Scholarship Essay

The audience of a scholarship essay is whoever will be reading it, and catering the content to those groups of people helps create winning scholarship essays.

While you likely won’t know exactly who is going to review their essay, they can infer a lot of information based on the organization or business that is providing the funds. For example, if your student can discuss a topic that relates to a company’s products, services, values, or mission, it may be easier to connect with the reader on a meaningful level.

Typically, you can figure out the audience’s priorities by reviewing the organization’s website. Read through the product or service descriptions, About Us section, as well as any mission statements to get insight into the group’s values.

Brainstorm Before Writing Scholarship Essays

In many cases, scholarship essay topics give your student a lot of leeway regarding what they can write. In fact, they may be able to choose from multiple prompts, something that may make it harder to figure out what winning scholarship essays for this organization entail.

When writing a great scholarship essay, brainstorming is an important part of the process. They should grab a sheet of paper, list every topic or prompt, and jot down notes of examples that apply to each one. With our students in The Scholarship System , we teach them mind-mapping for this step, a powerful tool to uncover creative essay ideas.

Usually, brainstorming only takes a few minutes, but it can make a world of difference when writing winning scholarship essays. It allows them to organize their thoughts and identify ideas that excite them.

Choose the Right Topic to Cover

After your student brainstorms, they should focus on topics that ignite their passion. If they are excited about the idea, it’s often easier to write about it. Plus, their enthusiasm will shine through.

Review the list of ideas and choose an option that peaks interest and fits the prompt. This makes writing winning scholarship essays feel like less of a burden, which can go a long way when your student wants to apply to a long list of scholarships.

Some key aspects to look for when selecting a topic include:

• One that speaks to core values
• Why the investment (the scholarship) is worth it
• How it led them to their degree choice or career path

Ideally, the topic should relate back to at least one of the points above, creating a connection between the content of the scholarship essay and your student’s future.

Structuring Winning Scholarship Essays

Winning scholarship essays are always well-structured, so creating an outline is a smart move. Most high school students are familiar with essay outlines, so your student should be able to handle this with relative ease.

Scholarship Essay Introduction

Begin by structuring the introduction. Usually, your student will want to have an attention-grabbing first sentence followed by a short explanation of what will be discussed and a thesis statement that directly addresses the prompt. Students can get creative here but any story, question, or attention-grabbing beginning should clearly tie into the rest of the essay and of course, relate to the prompt.

Scholarship Essay Body

Ideally, each body paragraph should discuss a single point that relates to the topic, usually in a few sentences. If possible, it’s a great idea to make the point through a mini-story or example. This keeps the essay interesting for the reader and helps them understand the writer even better. For example, rather than saying “I initially decided I wanted to be a lawyer in 9 th grade…,” a student can instead share a quick story or example and sum it up with “That is when I first discovered my passion for law.”

Transitions

Having quality transitions between paragraphs is also essential as it improves the flow of the essay. To structure this portion, your student can write each point they want to cover and arrange them in an order that promotes readability and logical segues.

Scholarship Essay Conclusion

The conclusion should wrap everything up by reemphasizing how the prompt was addressed, discussing lessons learned, and even speaking to the core values of the audience. Depending on the essay prompt, students can stress how this essay shows they are a great candidate for the scholarship. Again, a few sentences will usually suffice.

After writing the outline, review it to make sure that it adheres to every requirement in the instructions and that every component provides value to the reader. Remember, winning scholarship essays always meet the requirements, so it’s wise to review this before the writing phase begins.

Related articles:

• 8 Best Websites to Find College Scholarships
• How to Win Scholarships with the Right Scholarship Essay Format
• How to Find Local Scholarships for Your Teen’s College Education

Writing the Scholarship Essay First Draft

With the outline in hand, your student now has a guide for writing a high-quality first draft of their scholarship essay. How they decide to approach this phase may depend on their personal style.

Some students like to begin with the introduction, move through the body, and then create a conclusion. However, others may prefer to write the body first and then craft the introduction and conclusion after. Both approaches are perfectly acceptable as long as the final paper flows logically.

First drafts are allowed to be rough, so it’s fine if your student just lets their ideas run rampant while they create. Let their passion guide them as they get their thoughts down on paper.

It’s also okay to ignore spelling or grammar errors as they write as these can be cleaned up during editing. Writing the first draft is more about getting all of their ideas on paper than anything else, so a degree of sloppiness isn’t inherently a problem.

Refining First Drafts into Winning Scholarship Essays

Once everything is written, now is the time to refine the content. First, your student should correct any mechanical issues, like spelling or grammar mistakes. There are a variety of tools that can help them do that, but it’s also important to not rely on technology entirely.

A great approach for finding errors is to read the essay out loud. This allows your student to potentially hear problems, which can be easier than spotting them with their eyes. In some cases, using a text-to-speech program can work too, allowing your student to listen for issues.

In the vast majority of cases, winning scholarship essays are error-free, so finding mistakes and correcting them is critical for your student’s success.

Once the errors are corrected, the draft can be reviewed for flow. Ideally, each paragraph should shift naturally into the next, following a logical thought pattern or progression through an event. If a transition feels awkward or a detail feels out of place or unnecessary, then edits should be made.

After that is complete, your student should recheck it a final time to ensure that all of the requirements set forth in the instructions are met. This includes everything from properly covering the topic to meeting word count minimums and not going over maximums. Similarly, they should take a look at the formatting to make sure they used the proper font and size, margins, spacing, and anything else listed in the instructions.

Related Video:

• 7 College Scholarship Essay Ideas to Win More Funding

Get an Outside Opinion

After the draft is refined, it could be time to get a second opinion. Often, it will be difficult for your student to review their essay objectively, so having someone else take a look is smart.

Who they choose is up to them, but some options worth exploring include trusted teachers and tutors. Parents can also make a good choice if their writing skills are strong, but some students won’t be comfortable with their parents reading what they wrote, depending on the topic. In those cases, selecting someone else is a better option than trying to force the issue.

Finalize and Submit the Essay

After the essay is reviewed by someone else, your student should make any final edits based on the feedback they receive. Then, once it is ready, it’s time to submit the scholarship application and essay for consideration.

By following the steps above, your student can increase their odds of writing winning scholarship essays that help them find free money for college. After they use the process a few times, it will likely begin to feel like second nature, making each essay easier to complete than the last.

Want even more help on writing scholarship essays? Grab a copy of our Free 3-Step Scholarship Essay Writing Guide where you learn the exact 3 steps we teach our students. This 3-Step Method helps even those students who hate writing!

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January 28, 2020 at 6:56 am

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How to write a scholarship essay

With the increased cost of college tuition, students often need to apply for grants and scholarships in order to pay their way through school.

There are scholarships and grants for everyone from recent graduates to first-generation college students – even if you’re still a high school student.

Most scholarships require more than just good test scores. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to win one of these awards, read on. The scholarship application process usually includes an essay question that the scholarship provider’s own committee will ask you to answer.

Scholarship applications can be stressful for students – especially international students. The worst part is that applicants don’t always know what they are doing wrong and how to fix it. This takes skill and preparation (and some good luck!).

Read this blog before you start writing – it will give you lots of tips that will help you write a great essay, so that your chances of winning the scholarship to attend college will increase dramatically!

Writing a Winning College Scholarship Essay

Great scholarship essays show the real person behind the application and this could be what gives you the edge over the competition (as long as you meet the other criteria for the scholarship).

Scholarship Essays

Scholarship essays are like college admission essays. They have a lot in common and they are similar in the way that you write them. Prospective students applying for scholarships are in competition with each other, as many will have good grades and great prospects. Your essay is a great chance to distinguish yourself from other applicants.

When applying for a scholarship, it is important to write an essay that the committee will notice. The committee will receive many, many versions of the same essay. All of these similar essays will blend together – in other words, you need to stand out by writing an attention-grabbing story in a unique voice.

These are some tips to think about when writing your essay:

Scholarships are not always based purely on grades, so it is important to mention what makes you strong outside of academics.

It is best to find a scholarship related to your academic or future career goals.

One way to make sure your essay meets the requirements of each scholarship competition is to do some research on which type of essay it requires.

How to write a winning scholarship essay – scholarship essay tips

It’s not enough just to know what you want to write about. You also need to meet any given requirements and develop a plan for researching the topic before starting on your essay.

Scholarship Essay Instructions

Before you start working on your essay, make sure to take a moment to read the instructions and fully comprehend what is required of you. If it’s not clear, then look over them one more time until you have all of the information that you need. Do not start writing until everything is clear in your mind. If you have any questions about the scholarship essay prompts, contact the scholarship committee and ask for instructions. This shows that you are serious about the essay prompt and will not make you look worse than if you did nothing at all.

Pay attention to the prompt and be sure you maintain focus on that

When reading the prompt, make sure to read it carefully several times and try to understand what is being asked. Scholarship essay prompts will typically ask a variety of similar themes, such as how receiving the scholarship or gaining your degree will change your life. A good way to start the essay would be figuring out which specific question the prompt is asking you.

You should also avoid adding anything unrelated to the prompt. You should be able to talk about the specific topic in-depth. Stay focused on the prompt when writing your essay.

If you can, choose a topic that you are interested in

You’ll create better work and be more expressive if you care about what you’re writing. You may get to choose the topic of your scholarship essay for some applications.

So if you have a choice, choose a topic that you are passionate about. This should make it easier to write your scholarship essay without having to do more work.

If the prompt is asking for your past, present or future goals and aspirations (or something else), it’s best to tie those into how receiving this scholarship will change what you’re able to do.

If you make your writing from your heart, it will be more meaningful.

Avoid Negative Topics

Don’t do essays that are about negative things. That’s not good to read or write.

Scholarship program administrators are most impressed with essays that inspire and give hope, shed light on overlooked problems, or tell stories of overcoming great obstacles.

Don’t be shy

Who are you? What makes you special? This is your chance to talk about what you want to say that you couldn’t say in other parts of the scholarship application essays. When you tell the story of your own life in a scholarship application or essay, it will seem more real to the people reading it.

Spelling and grammar are important

People notice mistakes in grammar. Even small mistakes can distract a reader from your message, and nailing the spelling and grammar in your scholarship essay shows your writing ability and attention to detail. This includes good sentence structure and a wide vocabulary throughout your entire essay.

Proofreading your essay is crucial to submitting an application that will be in with a chance of winning.

Stick to the word count

When you write a scholarship essay, the prompts usually tell you how many words (or characters) to use, so follow instructions and stick to the rules. You would be surprised how many applicants go over the word count, and despite submitting a well written scholarship essay, they make a bad first impression by sending something in that doesn’t meet the scholarship requirements.

You may not know what 250 words looks like. It’s hard to tell. As a general guide, you need to write 250 words for one typed page (double spaced). That means you need to write 500 words for two pages and so on. Microsoft Word and Google Docs both have functions to show you your word count.

You can’t go over the word or character limit. If you do, you may be disqualified. You do not need to write an essay that exactly hits the limit, but it is good to come close.

It’s easy to think that when you write more than the word limit, people will think you are working harder, have put in extra effort, and are therefore more deserving of the scholarship money. In truth, the people reading your essay care about how well you follow directions as much as they care about a well written essay.

For a great scholarship essay, do some research

What do you know about the organization awarding this scholarship? Look them up online. Learn about why they are offering the scholarship and their mission statement.

Learn about the award or scholarship provider’s mission and objectives. As you write your scholarship essay, think about the point of the company’s mission and what it is they are looking for in a successful candidate. Then share a story from your life that demonstrates how passionate you are for the organization or cause.

Many scholarship providers also showcase previous winning scholarship essays on their websites. You can see what a winning essay looks like and learn from their experience. Studying other scholarship essay examples will give you many ideas about what to write in your personal statement, how to create your essay’s introduction and a really good understanding of the scholarship essay format you should use.

Start the essay writing process early

Time management is key when applying for scholarships. Plan ahead to ensure you have the proper time available and be sure to check deadlines and requirements.

Give yourself plenty of time to come up with a thought-provoking essay. Take the time to brainstorm ideas, compile an outline, and edit your entry thoroughly just like you would for any assignment.

It is best to do your work before the deadline. That way you have time to make sure that it is good and you can fix anything if it needs to be fixed. When you finish writing the essay, leave a few days before you edit it. You’ll have a better chance of finding errors and places for improvement if you do not edit it right away.

Here are some scholarship essay tips:

Introduce the essay with a strong introduction or “hook.” Try to make your first sentence engaging enough to grab your reader’s attention.

Introduction, body, conclusion – a classic framework. Start with an introduction. The introduction should tell the readers what you are going to say in your essay. Write a body that tells about the main idea of your essay. The body should have many details, sentences, and paragraphs to support your argument. Finish by writing a conclusion that tells the reader what you talked about in the body of your

New ideas should always start new paragraphs. Paragraphs should be short and concise for easy reading!

Try to tie up any open threads and bring your essay to a conclusion with a personal statement.

Be truthful

The most memorable essays are written with the utmost authenticity and are often built around a series of events that detail how these experiences have impacted your life. Remember, you do not need to embellish or make up details to try to seem more deserving for the scholarship money.

Show, don’t tell

This is the most important tip for writing an essay. Instead of just explaining how you feel, try to paint a vivid picture through your words. For example: instead of saying that I’m really stressed at work and school, illustrate what stress looks like to you – late nights studying and forgetting to shower for days?

Keep it concise

Clear, specific and concise writing is one of the best tips for a solid scholarship essay. 

Providing a compelling and concise essay is challenging, but necessary. Employing simple language with specifics and vivid imagery will help you do just that.

Write about resilience

Scholarship essays are rigorous and require a lot of thought. Often, the essay will ask you to write about an important issue in your life that required you to be very resourceful when solving it, or a specific hardship you have overcome.

Many applicants make the mistake of writing more about their struggles with overcoming obstacles and not giving much insight into how they actually accomplished it.

One of the most important components for crafting a worthy scholarship essay is to focus on one event that has influenced or had an impact on your life. If you have experienced many different adversities throughout your life, it can be hard to narrow down which one to focus on.

However, by choosing a central theme you will be able to provide a more concise, coherent essay and will be able to tell the story of overcoming your obstacles in greater depth.

Use a professional tone, but also show who you really are

Instead of using overly colloquial language, focus on professionalism. But don’t be too formal – this is still your essay! Just keep readers interested by being yourself and sounding like you instead of trying to sound stuffy or formal.

Balance humility and pride

Your scholarship essay is the place to share your accomplishments and backstory, but don’t just list all of your virtues in an effort to prove that you deserve a scholarship. It’s important to strike a balance between being humble and proud of what you’ve accomplished.

Avoid these common errors

Now that you have a general sense of how to approach your essay, let’s review what we should avoid mentioning.

Generic inspirational quotes

By all means put quotes on social media. Or on your desk. But for a scholarship essay, you should not use them.

Instead, include advice or wisdom you’ve been given from the people who are important to you. Doing this will add a personal touch and give readers insight into what motivates you.

Platitudes, cliches and meaningless phrases

Be original. Don’t paint the same picture as everyone else when you’re applying for scholarships.

Platitudes are common phrases that people use all the time. For example, “Good things come to those who wait.”

Try not to use them in scholarship essays because you will sound like everyone else if you do.

Cliches are overused phrases or stories that no longer have any power or meaning. If you want to write a great scholarship essay, don’t use any clichés.

Swearing 

Sounds obvious, right? You’d never even think of doing this in a scholarship essay, would you? You’d be surprised at how many people actually do – and it can cost them the scholarship! 

Try to avoid any swear or curse words, even if you hear others use them frequently in mainstream media or TV shows. 

It’s unlikely that you will offend anyone, but be safe rather than sorry.

Use a thesaurus to find new exciting words and paint vivid imagery of your experience.

Txt spk and emoji

While you may be accustomed to using abbreviations and acronyms in daily conversations, keep them out of your scholarship essays.

The scholarship essay is one of the best places to showcase your writing skills, so it’s important that you write in a formal style unless otherwise directed.

Avoid using slang and informal language in your essay. Keep it professional and academic but also personal. A scholarship committee is looking for a special person with unique qualities.

The same goes for emoji. Keep them out of your scholarship essay! ;p

Trending topics

Don’t address a currently trend, controversial topic unless the essay prompt asks you to. A winning scholarship essay will be about you and your experience, not the latest trending topics. 

It’s ok if you touch on these ideas as part of your essay, but not as the main theme.

The most compelling essays often deal with personal subject matter rather than popular topics.

DO take a strong stance on causes that you care about and show how winning this scholarship award will help you continue fighting for them if appropriate, though. A critical thinker will stand behind something they can argue for convincingly.

Writing scholarship essays requires following the prompt and avoiding unrelated points. 

Photos, and fonts

Don’t make your scholarship essay a visual project. Keep it professional. You want people to read it without getting lost in all the pictures and fonts.

If you there are no formatting instructions, when uploading your essay to an application, use Times New Roman font and size 12.

If you copy-paste your essay into the text box on an application site, this will format your content for you.

Ensure that your writing follows all formatting requirements for headers and footers, margins, and single- or double-spacing.

Extreme statements

Scholarship essays should not only consist of extreme perspectives. Avoid unnecessary pessimism about the future and strong stances on irrelevant issues. 

If the prompt asks you about a problem facing the world today, you can answer by focusing on the hope for the future and the possibilities to overcome the issue. Many scholarship essays focus too much on the problem and not enough on the solution.

Criticism of other applicants

It is not okay to say that someone else – like another applicant – is less deserving of financial aid than you are. Scholarship committees really frown on this as a practice. You can tell the committee why you are deserving of the scholarship money without putting any other applicant down.

Your life story

Every scholarship essay needs to be focused and concise, so it is important to remember that you only have limited space. It can be tempting to write a lot about your life, but stay focused on the prompt given.

So while the story of your life may well be worth writing about, you probably can’t do it within the word limit set, and it almost certainly won’t meet the brief in full.  

You can choose to focus on one period of time, or one important event in your life that will allow you to write your essay and show a different perspective from all the other applicants. 

Essay Writing Process

Understanding how to write a scholarship essay can be difficult, but we’re here to give you some help.

Idea generation or brainstorming

Many students just dive straight into writing their essay. But if you want yours to really stand out, you should start thinking, planning and generating ideas before you begin writing.

Think about the essay prompt. Start to think of what you want to write about to address it fully.

To ensure that your idea fits with the prompt and communicates what you are trying to say, brainstorming is necessary. As you think of ideas, write them down as bullet points or notes on paper.

An outline is a useful tool to help you avoid structural mistakes, omission, repetition and fluff in your scholarship essay.

Your outline is like a complete answer to the essay prompt but without any of the detail.

As you write the full version of your essay you will have all the space you need to expand on what you’ve decided on in your outline.

The outline can help you structure your scholarship essay properly.

Your outline should allow you to see that you have answered the prompt, and done so in a logical order such as:

An introduction that sets out your ideas for the essay

Explanations that support the ideas you raised

A conclusion that summarises your points and wraps up the essay

Once you’ve drafted your article and outlined its key points, you can begin writing the piece for real. Be sure to follow your outline and check it for anything you may have missed while drafting.

Try to be succinct, avoid rambling on about unrelated topics and make your point quickly and clearly.

If the scholarship doesn’t mention a maximum essay length, a good rule of thumb is that your essay should be around one full page long.

Take 5 (or longer)

When you’ve completed a first draft of your essay, stop for a little while. Take a break by getting outside for some fresh air or going for a short walk. This will give you time to take in your own work and get some perspective on it.

When you return from your break, the essay will seem clearer in your mind than before. If possible, wait until the next day to come back to your essay. Continuing to edit it fresh in your mind will help you make any final revisions.

With a fresh set of eyes on your scholarship application essay you may notice things that you want to change, add or remove. Is there a better way to say something? Do you need to elaborate more on a certain part? Is there something that doesn’t make sense?

You also need to look out for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and typos.

When revising your essay, you should always ask yourself if there is a better way to express what you want to say. Are any of the sentences not necessary? Could they be shortened or rewritten? Is it clear how this section connects with another?

If you find that you’ve repeated the same words too often, you try to vary your language. It will make reading and understanding your essay easier for a reader who is not familiar with what you’re trying to say.

Tools such as Grammarly can help find errors in writing, so it’s a good idea to check your work there before submitting anything or sending off your application.

Once you’re happy with the content it’s time to format your essay by following the instructions provided in the brief.

If no specific instructions are given, then our advice is to use a standard 12 point font like Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Courier, or Georgia font.

Double spacing is a standard requirement for many scholarships.

It is also important to use a ‘Title Page’ and include the following information: name, address, year of study, current course(s), email address.

Ask someone to read your essay

It can be hard to be objective when reviewing your own work. That’s why you should ask someone else to read through it before you submit.

Ask them what they think about your writing, and if the essay presents all of the main points that were requested in a clear way.

If there are any gaps then ask them for ideas so that everything is well-balanced.

Ideally someone who has experience with reading essays would be the best person – someone like a teacher or counsellor. But really anyone like a friend or family member will do here because their perspective will be different than yours.

Take their advice and update your essay not submit your essay until you have made the requested changes.

This will give you an edge and help ensure greater success!

Don’t quit!

If you get tired, rest but don’t give up. Writing a scholarship essay is not an easy task, but if you break it down it is manageable. If you need more money to be able to afford to study abroad then winning some extra financial aid in the form of scholarships could make all the difference to your financial stability in college.

We hope that you’ve learned something new about how to write a scholarship essay in our article. Now it’s over to you…

Do you have any other scholarship essay tips? Let us know in the comments below!

Find your scholarship here .

Other useful posts:

How to write a scholarship application

Medicine scholarships: Medical scholarships for medical students

Posted in International Education , International Scholarships

When I was a kid. A drunk driver hit the bus me with my family and other passenger’s was making journey with, while’ I was in the backseat. I have very few memories of the incident, but I do faintly recall seriously, but calming face as if I was gently lifted out of the vehicle. The paramedic held my hand as I was rushed to the hospital. I was in the hospital for several weeks, and that same paramedic came to visit me almost every day. During my stay, I also got to know the various doctors and nurses in the hospital on a personal level. I remember feeling anxiety about my condition, but not sadness or even fear. It seemed to me that those around me, particularly my family, were more fearful of what might happen to me than I was. I don’t believe it was innocence or ignorance, rather I trust in God and abilities of my doctors. It was as if my doctors and I had a silent bond. Now that I’m older, I fear death and sickness in a more intense way than I remember experiencing it as a child. My experience as a child sparked a keen interest in how we approach pediatric care, especially as it relates to our psychological and emotional support of children facing serious medical conditions. It was here that I experienced first-hand the power and compassion of medicine, not only in healing but also in bringing unlikely individuals together, such as adults and children in uncommon yet profound ways. And it was here that I began to developed interest of becoming a doctor. My interest sparked more even now I was recently admitted into university, I remember days back when I was asked to assist in a study one of my teacher during senior secondary school days, he was conducting on how children experience and process fear and the prospect of death. This teacher was not in the medical field; rather, his background is in cultural anthropology. I was very honored to be part of this project at such an early stage of my life. During the study, I discovered that children face death in extremely different ways than adults do. I found that children facing fatal illnesses are very aware of their condition, even when it hasn’t been fully explained to me, and on the whole I’m willing to fight the illnesses, but also more accepting of their potential fate than many adults facing similar diagnoses. I concluded our study by asking whether and to what extent this discovery should impact the type of care given to children in contrast to adults. I am eager to continue this sort of research as I pursue my medical career. The intersection of medicine, psychology and socialization or culture. (in this case, the social variables differentiating adults from children) is quite fascinating and is a field that is in need of better research. Although much headway has been made in this area in the past many years ago, I feel there is still a tendency in medicine to treat diseases the same way no matter who the patient is. I’m slowly learning that procedures and drugs are not always universally effective. Not only must we alter our care of patients depending upon these cultural and social factors, we may also need to alter our entire emotional and psychological approach to them as well. It is for this reason that I applied to All Saints University College of Medicine, as they has top programs for medicine and surgery in the academic subjects, as well as several renowned researchers delving into the social, generational and cultural questions in which I’m interested. My approach to medicine will be multidisciplinary, which is evidenced by the fact that I’m already prepared and decided from early childhood psychology and pre-med, with a minor in cultural anthropology. This is the type of extraordinary care that I received as a child—care that seemed to approach injuries with a much larger and deeper picture than that which pure medicine cannot offer, and it is this sort of care I want to provide for my future patients. But financial inadequate is becoming an impediment to the desire I have for society, I turned what might have been a debilitating event in my life and devastating motor accident—into the inspiration that has shaped my life since. I am careful and passionate. And while I know that the medical studies at All Saints University will likely be the second biggest challenge I will face in my life, I know that I am up for it. I am ready to be challenged and prove to myself what I’ve been telling myself since my Secondary School Days: I will be a medical doctor.

Good luck with everything!

Thanks a lot for helping me. This can prove to be so important for my career. I have been making these mistakes like using extreme statements and all and even used it in my last essay. Now, I got to know that these are wrong. I can’t be more thankful to you for such in-depth information.

Glad you found it useful, Blaze.

What would be the best study university to study Early Childhood Education Curriculum development?

That would depend based on various factors. Unfortunately we cannot provide personalized advice.

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10 Winning Scholarship Essay Examples From Real Students

Make your application shine.

Writing a scholarship essay can be intimidating. The competition is fierce and the stakes are high, so students are bound to feel the pressure. It may be helpful, therefore, to look at essays that were successful. What did those students do to impress the committee? These scholarship essay examples will give you a better idea of how to make an application shine! 

Tips for Writing a Scholarship Essay

We’ve put together a whole guide for how to write a scholarship essay , so if you haven’t read it already, definitely give it a look! In addition, here are some quick tips to help students get started. 

Carefully read the rules

The last thing you need is to be disqualified from winning a scholarship because you didn’t do the right thing. 

Start early

Don’t wait until the last minute to start researching and applying for scholarships. Give yourself plenty of time to work through the process. 

Get to know the provider

Think of the scholarship provider as your target audience. You want to tailor your essay to impress them, so do your research. What kinds of candidates are they looking for? What causes do they support? Dig deep for the information you need!

Think about who you are, what you want to say, and how to appeal to the scholarship committee. Write everything down and then choose the best ideas. 

The scholarship committee will be reviewing many applications. How can you make yours unforgettable? Highlight your strongest assets, share hard lessons if they showcase your growth as a person and/or student, and be honest. Never lie in a scholarship essay!

Be professional

Consider this the most important academic paper you’ve ever written. Don’t use slang or casual language. Submit a properly formatted essay that’s been well-edited and proofread by multiple people.

One last tip

Don’t reuse scholarship essays! Yes, it’s time-consuming, but students need to put the same effort into every application. Use the same process and it will get faster and easier every time!

Scholarship Essay Examples

Afc visionary scholarship essay by nicole kuznetsov.

Award Amount: $5,000

Essay prompt: Why do you want to go to college? Why is it important to you?

Why it was successful: The  beauty of this essay is that it’s well-organized and simple. Nicole Kuznetsov chose to outline her story by using chronology and provided a clean, concise story following a linear path.

North Coast Section Foundation Scholarship Essay by Christine Fung

Award Amount: $1,000

Why it was successful: Christine Fung masterfully shared how her upbringing instilled strong values, a love for education, and a passion for medicine .

The Bill Browning Scholarship Essay by Gabby DeMott

Award Amount: $10,000

Essay prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Why it was successful: Gabby DeMott shared her experiences with personal growth and overcoming fears in Germany. She also appealed to the very human feeling of wanting to belong in a way that was inspiring. 

Life Happens Scholarship Essay by Emily Trader

Award Amount: $15,000

Essay prompt: How has the death of a parent or guardian impacted your life financially and emotionally? Be sure to describe how the loss of your parent/guardian impacted your college plans, and explain how the lack of adequate (or any) life insurance coverage has impacted your family’s financial situation.

Why it was successful: Emily Trader fully addressed the prompt in honest, beautiful detail. She knew her audience and tailored her essay to appeal to them while telling her compelling story. 

Change a Life Foundation Scholarship Essay by Isabella Mendez-Figueroa

Essay prompt: Please explain how your experience volunteering and participating in community service has shaped your perspective on humanity. Elaborate on how these experiences have influenced your future ambitions and career choice.

Why it was successful: Isabella Mendez-Figueroa shared an empowering story about her parents overcoming financial adversity so that she and her sister could be the first in their family to go to college. 

Giva Scholarship Essay by Joseph Lee

Essay prompt: Who is (or what makes) a good doctor?

Why it was successful: Joseph Lee offered a captivating , personal story that was essentially a list of things that make someone a good doctor without it feeling boring or calculated. 

New York University College of Arts and Science Scholarship by Ana

Award amount: $39,500 

Essay prompt: Explain something that made a big impact in your life.

Why it was successful: Ana discussed how early experiences w ith learning difficult things has contributed to her passion for teaching and supporting students. 

The Fund for Education Abroad Rainbow Scholarship Essay  by Steven Fisher

Award amount: $7,500

Essay prompt: The Fund for Education Abroad is committed to diversifying education abroad by providing funding to students who are typically under-represented in study abroad. Please describe how you and/or your plans for study abroad could be viewed as under-represented.

Why it was successful: Steven Fisher’s powerful essay   connected his realizations about his own sexual identity with embracing the beautiful diversity found all around the world. 

Women’s World Banking Founder’s Scholarship Essay by Rosaisha Ozoria

Essay prompt: Write about your hopes for the future of women and girls worldwide.

Why it was successful: Rosaisha Ozoria   focused on a very specific topic , financial literacy for Hispanic women, and emphasized its importance and relevance to her own life. 

The Millennium Gates Last Dollar Scholarship Essay by Famyrah Lafortune

Award amount: $3,500

Essay prompt: Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” —Nelson Mandela Describe a change you would like to make in the world. Tell us about how you would plan to make that change, and what obstacles you might encounter along the way.

Why it was successful: Famyrah Lafortune starts with a strong statement about ending racial inequality and then details the steps she’ll take to make it happen. 

Do you have any great scholarship essay examples? Share them below!

Plus, check out  the ultimate guide to college scholarships, want more suggestions be sure to subscribe to our newsletters ..

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9 Best Scholarship Websites And Search Engines

Updated: Apr 7, 2022, 7:21am

Scholarships are as close as you can get to free money. The funds you receive from a scholarship can be applied directly to your tuition and other college expenses. Scholarship awards don’t need to be paid back, which means you can pay for school without taking on as much student debt.

But even if you’re already sold on the value of scholarships, it can be difficult to actually find them. Here are some of the best resources to find scholarships that fit your talents and interests so you can get a leg up on funding your education.

What the Best Scholarship Websites Offer

The best scholarship search engines will list a wide range of scholarships, including niche awards, sweepstakes and large national prizes. Most sites also let you create a profile where you can save scholarship applications for later or receive notifications when a scholarship matching your skillset is posted.

Scholarship sites should also let you filter awards by specific categories and characteristics, such as your location, grade point average (GPA) or ethnicity. Narrowing down scholarships is crucial to your success because you’re more likely to win awards that pertain to your unique talents and interests.

9 Scholarship Websites to Help You Find Awards

We reviewed popular scholarship websites and compared them based on factors like the ability to filter and sort listings, save information to your profile, the sites’ ease of use and added tools such as auto-match functionality. Here are the best websites for scholarships you can use to find awards you’re eligible for:

1. Scholarships.com

Scholarships.com divides scholarships by a variety of unique categories, including GPA, military affiliation, ethnicity, artistic ability, ACT or SAT score and residing state. And when you select one of these categories, you’ll likely see a large list of subcategories, where you can then view all eligible scholarships. This system helps students find niche awards with smaller applicant pools that they’re more likely to win.

Fastweb aggregates awards from both large and small directories. You have to make a profile to search for scholarships, which is similar to other sites. But after the initial sign-up process, you can easily search for scholarships and filter your results based on several data points. Fastweb will also notify you when a new scholarship matching your description is posted and when you have upcoming deadlines.

3. College Board

You’re probably familiar with the College Board if you’ve taken the SAT, AP tests or other college entry exams. But the College Board can help you after you’ve been accepted into a school—its scholarship search helps you find awards to help you pay for college.

After you create an account, you can filter awards by your interests, field of study, club affiliations or specific situations, like if your parents are divorced. College Board will also automatically match you with eligible scholarships based on the information in your profile. There is also an autofill function, which allows you to reuse information from other scholarship applications, saving you time and helping you apply for more awards.

4. Going Merry

Applying to scholarships can feel repetitive; that’s why Going Merry lets students type in information once and apply for multiple scholarships at the same time. If you’re in a time crunch, look for awards on Going Merry before checking out the other major sites.

The site also prides itself on including local awards, which are less competitive and may be easier to win than big national scholarships.

5. ScholarshipOwl

ScholarshipOwl is a popular scholarship website that compiles awards and organizes them by amount, types of requirements, number of winners and length of time until the application is due.

ScholarshipOwl will automatically resubmit your application to recurring scholarships that don’t require anything beyond your basic information. This leaves you more time to focus on awards that require essays and recommendation letters.

6. Bold.org

While many scholarship sites are difficult to navigate, Bold.org has one of the cleanest interfaces. It’s easy to search and find different scholarships you may be eligible for and you can filter by your education level, award category, award amount and deadline. You can even toggle on the “no-essay” button to find scholarships that don’t require a written essay.

Cappex claims to be the biggest online scholarship database, so it could pay to check the site for possible leads. Like other sites, you have to create an account to see all the scholarships you might qualify for. Their filter system lets you sort awards by year in school, scholarship amount, gender, ethnicity and award deadline. You can also search for renewable scholarships, which offer college funding for multiple years.

When you fill out a profile on Scholly , their algorithm will comb through available scholarships and create a list of eligible awards. Each scholarship will have a Scholly score, which ranks how good of a fit it is for your background and experience. The higher the Scholly score, the stronger match you are with the scholarship’s requirements.

9. CareerOneStop

The U.S. Department of Labor has its own scholarship website through the CareerOneStop portal. There are more than 8,000 scholarships listed, and you can filter awards by keyword or sort them by amount, deadline, residing state and state where you’ll be studying.

There are scholarships available for students enrolled in a vocational school or working toward an associate’s degree, as well as for undergraduate and graduate students.

Additional Resources

College financial aid website.

The official financial aid website from your college may have a list of internal scholarships and grants you can apply to. It may also offer suggestions on how to find more scholarships, like applying through a certain department or applying to local institutions that give out awards to students.

Local Organizations

Don’t forget about your local network. Look for scholarship opportunities with nearby community foundations, rotary clubs, women’s clubs and more. Do a Google search for these kinds of organizations in your community and see if they have a list of scholarships on their website.

You should also search online through your state’s Department of Education or higher education agency, which may also list local awards and grants. Remember, local awards are often easier to win than national scholarships, since the applicant pool is likely smaller.

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Bottom line.

Applying to scholarships can seem like an exercise in futility if you don’t have a 4.0 GPA or an impressive extracurricular record. But winning scholarships is more about your attitude than your accolades. If you’re persistent and apply to scholarships you qualify for, you’ll have a much better chance than if you phone it in.

Set aside time every week to look over these resources and find scholarships that you may be eligible for. Every dollar you earn in scholarships is a dollar you won’t have to borrow in student loans.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do i write a scholarship essay.

To write a scholarship essay , make sure to read the essay requirements and stick to answering the prompt. As you’re writing, organize your ideas using a clear essay structure with an introduction, body and conclusion. Let your personality shine through, and when appropriate, share personal stories to help you stand out.

Always proofread your essay to spot typos and grammatical errors. It’s often helpful to have a trusted family member, mentor or friend read your essay to point out areas that are unclear.

How do scholarships work?

Scholarships are a type of gift-based financial aid that’s offered to students. They’re offered by different organizations and nonprofits which set eligibility guidelines for scholarship applicants. Examples of eligibility criteria might include having a certain talent, trait, special interest, or academic or professional pursuit.

If you’re selected for a scholarship award, you’ll receive money that doesn’t need to be paid back, and can be used toward your education.

What scholarship can I get?

The type of scholarship you can get varies depending on your unique interests, talents and other factors. Some scholarships are need-based while others are merit-based. Consider the attributes and skills that make you unique, and use a scholarship search website to find awards that you’re eligible for. You can also ask your school’s financial aid office for scholarship opportunities that are a good fit for you.

How is a student loan different from a scholarship?

A student loan is financial aid that you’ll eventually need to repay in full, plus interest. Student loans are offered by the federal government, private lenders or your school.

A scholarship, on the other hand, is considered gift aid that doesn’t need to be repaid. Scholarships can be found through your school, private companies, nonprofits, community and social organizations, and professional associations.

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Zina Kumok is a freelance personal finance writer based in Indianapolis. She paid off her own student loans in three years. She also offers one-on-one financial coaching sessions at ConsciousCoins.com.

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The 10 Easiest Scholarships to Apply For

Financial Aid

Scholarships are awesome resources if you're checking out different ways to pay for college. It's free money after all—what's not to love?

As it turns out, most scholarship programs have application processes that aren't exactly lovable. Students generally have to submit a lot of information about themselves: transcripts, GPAs, test scores, resumes, community service activities, and so on. There might even be a few essays and grade requirements thrown in as well. You don't want to complain—because, again, free money—but these applications sure are tedious when you're working on college apps, high school courses, and financial aid applications all at the same time.

The following easy scholarships have application processes that are a bit more manageable. Some ask you to write short essays, while others don't require any essays at all! The awards might not be as large as some other scholarships out there, but when the application process is so easy, you really don't have much to lose. I'll start off with some words of warning before getting into the good stuff: essay and no-essay scholarships that are so easy to apply for, you might end up applying to all of them!

Caveat: If a Scholarship Seems Too Good to Be True ...

Unfortunately, there aren't too many legitimate "easy" scholarships out there. If a scholarship application sounds too good to be true, be cautious—you don't want to fall victim to a scholarship scam!

Here are some things to look out for:

• A scholarship application that asks for personal information that isn't relevant to the award: Many top scholarship programs ask for personal information (transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, and even financial information for need-based scholarships); however, this info is all relevant to candidate evaluation. If you're ever uncomfortable providing personal info for a scholarship program, dig deeper. Can you verify that the program is legitimate? Does it have its own website, or can you only find info about it through a third party? Try Googling "[award name] scam" to see whether anything suspicious pops up.
• A scholarship that asks you to make payments to enter or win: Scholarship programs are in the business of giving money to students, not taking it. A scholarship program is likely just a scam if the application asks you to make a payment—especially if it asks you to enter credit card information.

Now that we've got that out of the way, it's time to get to the good stuff: all the best easy essay and non-essay scholarships and how to win them!

Essay Scholarships

The scholarships in this section ask students to submit short essays with their applications. Even though you'll have to write an essay, the rest of the application (and the essay itself) should be easy and manageable for all these awards. In fact, most of these applications shouldn't take more than one to two hours to complete.

Bachus & Schanker, LLC Scholarship

This scholarship program is a bit different from most of the other awards included in this post—it's funded by a private law firm in Colorado. Students compete for a $2,000 award by writing an essay (at least 800 words) about the 7th Amendment and how it affects their lives. Scholarships are awarded twice a year, to be paid toward tuition for the upcoming semester.

• Eligibility: High school seniors who have been accepted to a four-year university and university students with a minimum 3.0 GPA
• Deadline:  July 30 (to win a scholarship for the fall semester) and November 30 (to win a scholarship for the spring semester)

Courage to Grow Scholarship

This $500 award is given out to one lucky student every month. To compete for the award, applicants must explain in 250 words why they think they deserve the scholarship, intended to support students who found “courage to forge ahead when sometimes it would be easier to give up.” Past recipients’ essays have discussed overcoming obstacles from bullying to breast cancer.

• Eligibility: US high school juniors and seniors and college students with a minimum 2.5 GPA
• Deadline: Last day of every month 

Odenza Marketing Group Scholarship

Odenza Marketing Group gives away two $500 scholarships each year, once in the spring and again in the fall. To compete for this award, applicants must like the Odenza Facebook page and write two short essays of about 500 words each. Each scholarship must have a clear thesis statement, offer supporting evidence in paragraph format, and be grammatically correct. In other words, these essays should follow the argumentative essay format you've learned in English class.

• Eligibility: Current high school students (US or Canadian citizens) aged 16-25 or students who have at least one year of college remaining. Applicants must also have a minimum 2.5 GPA.
• Deadline March 30 for spring, November 15 for fall

Some of these applications won't take you longer than a few minutes.

No-Essay Scholarships

When it comes to easy applications, you can't get much easier than the following scholarship programs. You'll still have to submit some information about yourself (and, in some instances, complete some brief activities or tasks), but you won't have to write any essays to qualify.

AFSA High School Scholarship

For this scholarship, all you need to do is complete an entry form and answer an eight-question quiz. Five $1 ,000 awards are given out each year. Winners are randomly selected by a computer-generated drawing. Your odds of winning are based on the total number of entries received. Essentially, it’s a scholarship raffle, and you get one ticket per “draw.”

• Eligibility: Current high school seniors (US citizens or legal residents)
• Deadline: June 30, 2023

Too Cool to Pay for School Scholarship

This scholarship has one of the easiest applications out there: just fill out a few questions, and you're done! A $1,000 scholarship is awarded every three months. Winners are selected randomly.

• Eligibility: Current high school, college, and graduate students studying in the US
• Deadline: The last day of every March, June, September, and December

The Annual Haiku Society of America Haiku Award in honor of Harold G. Henderson

This scholarship program gives out three prizes of $200, $150, and $100 , but the application process is fun and easy. Students qualify by simply writing and submitting up to five original haikus. If you win, your haiku also gets published in an anthology and on the HSA website! Note: There is a small fee to apply, but the site is indeed reputable.

• Eligibility: All students in grades 7-12
• Deadline: Open June 1 - July 31

"No Essay" College Scholarship

This $2,000 award is given out monthly. To apply for this scholarship, submit an application that includes basic identifying information, your GPA, and your SAT/ACT scores. Winners are randomly selected, and you can submit a new application every month.

• Eligibility: High school students, adults heading back to school, current college students, and anyone else looking to attend college or graduate school within the next year

Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest

Do you have a creative side and an eye for fashion? Students can compete for the grand prize of $10,000 (one each for the dress and tux categories) by designing and wearing prom outfits made out of duct tape. Check out the website for fun pictures of past winners!

Eight $500 prizes are given to runners-up (four for dresses and four for tuxes).  Applicants can enter as individuals or as part of a couple. Submissions that get the most votes win prizes, so be sure to recruit your friends to vote for you!

• Eligibility: High school students in the US and Canada (excluding certain states and territories—refer to the official rules for details)
• Deadline: The submission window is generally open from March through June, and winners are announced in July. Check the website for exact dates. 

U.S. Bank Student Union Scholarship

Multiple awards are available through this scholarship. To qualify, you'll need to create an account and complete learning modules about financial education. The more modules you complete, the more money you're eligible to earn. 

One first prize winner and one second prize winner are randomly selected during each of two entry periods. Winners can receive up to $20,000 , depending on how many learning modules they complete 

• Eligibility: Current US undergraduate students
• Deadline: Spring and fall of each year. Check website for more details.

Because College is Expensive Scholarship

This $500 scholarship is awarded to one student four times a year (March, June, September, and December) .If you want to enter, all you have to do is fill out the form on the Cedar Lending website.

• Eligibility : High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors; current college students; anyone else looking to attend college or grad school
• Deadline : March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 31st. One winner is selected by the 15th of each month. 

3 Tips for Winning Easy Scholarships

Just because a scholarship is easy to apply for, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to win. Since these scholarship applications are so simple to complete, you'll probably have a lot of competition. Here are some strategies to help you submit your best applications possible:

#1: If you have to write an essay, you'll have a better shot at success if your views align with those of the organization awarding the scholarship. To prepare, do some research about the company or charity's mission statement. For instance, don't write an essay about how much you love fossil fuels if the scholarship is offered by an environmental organization! 

#2: Make sure your application is polished. You won't have the opportunity to make more than a first impression (remember, these apps are short and sweet!), so double-check for any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.

#3: Last but not least, be sure that your application is complete and on time!

What's Next?

These scholarships are excellent options if you want to churn out as many applications as possible. As you might've noticed, though, the award amounts are a bit underwhelming (though keep in mind that several smaller awards can be just as helpful as one big award!). Larger scholarships and grants are often available through colleges directly and applying for financial aid using the FAFSA .

You'll have to spend more time on your applications if you're gunning for a top scholarship, but the payoff can be more than worth it. To learn more about some of the best scholarships out there, check out our guides to the top scholarships for high school juniors and seniors .

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Francesca graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and scored in the 99th percentile on the SATs. She's worked with many students on SAT prep and college counseling, and loves helping students capitalize on their strengths.

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34 No Essay Scholarships to Save Thousands on College

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What’s Covered:

Are “no-essay” scholarships worth it, where to focus your scholarship search.

• 34 No-Essay Scholarships  

Scholarships play a large role in many students’ plans for how to pay for college, but completing the applications for some scholarships is time-consuming—especially for students who are busy taking challenging courses and involved with extracurricular activities. Luckily, some scholarships are easier to apply for than others, like the no-essay scholarships listed below. 

No-essay scholarships are easier to apply for than other, more involved scholarships, so it doesn’t cost you much in time or effort to apply. However, because they’re easy to apply for, they receive a lot of applications, which means more competition and lower odds of winning. It is also less clear how no-essay scholarship recipients are selected without an essay to set your application apart.  

If you choose to apply for no-essay scholarships, just know that they are just a part of a strategy for winning awards to college and are best-suited as a supplement to local and more niche scholarships. If you don’t like the idea of writing an essay, look for a scholarship with an equivalent task, like making a video or creating a piece of art instead. 

Outside scholarships garner a lot of attention, but colleges and universities are actually the best place to look for scholarships—schools themselves grant $175 billion in scholarship money annually! It’s also worth noting that college awards are often larger than outside awards; 80% of external scholarships are less than $2,000, which looks great on paper but will only put a small dent in the cost of most colleges. 

You have the best chance of winning a merit-based scholarship from a college or university. While super-selective schools with applicants fighting for admission often don’t offer merit-based scholarships—for example, none of the Ivy League colleges do—less selective colleges are often anxious to attract strong applicants. This makes applying to a college where your profile is particularly strong a smart strategy for getting a merit scholarship .

34 No-Essay Scholarships 

1. “be bold” no-essay scholarship.

Amount: $25,000

Deadline: December 31 

Eligibility: Students of any education level, school, field of study, and GPA considered

This scholarship is for bold students who are determined to change the world one step at a time. No essay is required to win this eye-popping award. Instead, create a bold profile highlighting your earnestness, determination, and how you’re moving toward your goals for a chance to win.

2. Scholarships360 No-Essay Scholarship

Amount: $1,000

Deadline: September 30 

Eligibility: All students—including high school students, community college students, undergraduates, and graduate students

No essay is required to win this generous award. Simply sign up for Scholarship360—a scholarship newsletter—for your chance at $1,000 for college. 

3. $2,000 “No-Essay” College Scholarship

Amount: $2,000

Deadline: Monthly  

Eligibility: All high school and college students

The name says it all: no essay is required to receive this $2,000 college scholarship. Simply create an account for a chance to win this substantial award. A winner is chosen monthly and the money can be used to cover tuition, housing, books, or any other education-related expenses.

4. $2,000 Nitro Scholarship

Deadline: Monthly 

Eligibility: 

• Age 17 or older
• A parent with a child enrolled in an accredited college or university in the U.S. 
• A student enrolled in an accredited college or university in the U.S. 
• A parent with a high school senior in the U.S.
• A high school senior located with the U.S. 
• A student or a parent who has graduated from an accredited undergraduate school and is paying back debt from educational expenses

No essay is needed to win a $2,000 Nitro Scholarship. Applicants only need to complete a short application for this chance to win this award and to take a step to control the cost of college. 

5. The Student Loan Hero Smart Money Giveaway

Eligibility: Legal U.S. residents in the contiguous U.S. and Washington, D.C., 18 years of age and older

This scholarship wants you to take control of your college finances so you can focus on your future. Entry is easy—just fill out a short online application. 

6. College Board “Complete Your FAFSA” Scholarships

Amount:   $500

Deadline: October through February 

Eligibility: Current high school seniors in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories

The College Board—the organization that administers the SAT—provides scholarships to students for simply filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The College Board will give out 500 awards every month from October through December and 100 awards in both January and February.

7. College Board “Complete Your Journey” Scholarships

Amount: $40,000

Deadline: February 

Complete the College Board’s six steps of college planning for your chance at one of 25 $40,000 scholarship opportunities. The program is open to students from all financial backgrounds, however, at least half of the scholarships will go to students from families who earn less than $60,000 annually. 

8. ScholarshipPoints Scholarship Program

Amount: $10,000

Deadline: Quarterly 

Eligibility:   

• Age 13 or older
• U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident 
• Attending or planning to attend college in the U.S.

No GPA, no essay, and no hassle! To enter for an opportunity to win one of these impressive awards, simply fill out an online application. In addition to the quarterly $10,000 scholarships, ScholarshipPoints also draws three $1,000 scholarships monthly.

9. Christian Connector Scholarship

Amount: $2,500

Deadline: May 31

Eligibility:  

• Age 13 or older 
• Must enroll for the first time as a full-time student at a Christ-centered Christian college, university, or Bible college

Sign up to receive information about Christian colleges—and for a chance at winning this handsome scholarship award for college. The scholarship is only open to students planning to attend a Christ-centered Christian college, university, or Bible college. The funds are sent directly to the winner’s school of choice. 

10. No Essay ‘You Deserve It’ Scholarship

Amount: $2,222

Deadline: December 29

• Age 16 or older 
• Legal resident of the U.S. or its territories (Rhode Island and Michigan applicants are ineligible)
• Enrolled in a qualified high school, college, or university in the U.S.

Sign up for ScholarshipOwl (a scholarship service) and you’re simultaneously registered for a chance to win a $2,222 award. Your odds of winning are about 1 in 140,000—not too bad considering there is no essay required and sign up is quick. 

11. CollegeXpress $10,000 Scholarship Contest

• Legal U.S. resident 
• Must enter a CollegeXpress member college as a full-time freshman, transfer, or graduate student for the fall term 

Just create a CollegeXpress profile for a chance at $10,000 to use at a CollegeXpress member college . Winners of this no-essay scholarship are selected at random. 

12. Annual Catholic College Scholarship

Amount: $1,500

• Must enroll for the first time as a full-time student at a Catholic college

Sign up to receive information about Catholic colleges—and for a chance at winning this handsome scholarship award for college. The scholarship is only open to students planning to attend a Catholic college, university, or Bible college. The funds are sent directly to the winner’s school of choice. 

13. Discover Student Loans Scholarship Award 

Amount: $5,000

• Resident of the U.S. or its territories
• High school seniors, college students, students who’ve earned a General Education Development (GED), or parent/guardian of an aforementioned person

Sign up to receive emails that provide helpful college tips and useful resources and get entered to win one of 12 annual $5,000 awards. Complete a survey after registering for emails for an additional entry for the scholarship. 

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14. Lounge Lizard Web Design Scholarship  

Deadline: Semi-annually (spring and fall)

Eligibility: Attending an accredited school in the U.S. or accepted to an accredited school and set to begin within six months of application

Show off your creativity for a chance to win this no-essay scholarship. To enter, fill out a short application and either submit a web design or attach a link to a webpage. In addition to a scholarship, winners also receive a critique session with Lounge Lizard’s founder and CCO. 

15. Create-a-Greeting-Card Scholarship

Deadline: March 3

• Age 14 or older 
• Legal U.S. resident or international student with a student visa 
• High school, college, or university student 

While you don’t need an essay to win this generous scholarship, you are required to submit an original photo, artwork, or computer graphic for use on the front of a greeting card. Entries are limited to one per person, so send in your best work! 

16. Frame My Future Scholarship Contest 

Amount: $6,000

Deadline: April 1

• Legal U.S.resident
• Planning to enroll at a U.S. college or university in the fall

Show how you frame your future through photography, illustration, painting, or mixed media art for a chance at this ample award. Although no essay is required, applicants are asked to submit a brief overview of their piece (no more than 500 characters). 

17. Annual Faith-Based College Scholarship

• Must enroll for the first time as a full-time student at a faith-based college

Sign up to receive information about faith-based colleges and for a chance at winning this handsome scholarship award for college. The scholarship is only open to students planning to attend a faith-based college, university, or Bible college. The funds are sent directly to the winner’s school of choice. 

18. Sallie Mae $5,432 Sweepstakes

Amount: $5,432

Deadline: December 31

Entering for this scholarship is easy, all you need to do is complete an online registration for your chance at this $5,432 award. 

19. Ascent Scholarships 

Amount: Varies 

• Age 18 or older 
• Legal U.S. resident or DACA student
• Enrolled at least half-time in a degree program or technical skills training program 

Ascent Scholarship giveaways are designed to help students cover school-related expenses such as tuition, books, rent, groceries, parking, and transportation. No essay is required, all you need to do is register for a chance to win one of these awards. 

20. The “No Sweat” Scholarship

• Between 8th and 12th grade 

Create an account and complete a portfolio for your chance at this super scholarship which you can use for any educational purpose—from books to summer camp. The more complete your profile is, the better your odds of winning are. 

21. Too Cool to Pay for School Scholarship

• U.S. residents, DACA and undocumented students, and international students currently studying in the U.S.
• Current high school, college, and graduate students

Paying for school is stressful which is why this scholarship is intentionally low pressure. Complete the online registration to enter. Follow Access Scholarships on Instagram for an extra entry. You can use the scholarship for any educational expense—including tuition, textbooks, housing, and technology. 

22. Cappex Easy Money Scholarship

Eligibility: Current high school or college student 

No need to stress about your GPA or an essay when entering this scholarship contest. Simply answer a few simple questions for your chance at one of these awards. 

23. Scholarships4Moms 

Deadline: December 15

• Age 18 or older
• U.S. legal resident
• Mother or expectant mother 
• Enrolled in a college or university in the U.S. or will enroll in one within three months 

The Scholarships4Moms award is designed to help mothers meet their educational goals. Founded by a group of moms, who understand how busy moms are, signing up is quick and easy. All you need to do is complete a short entry form. 

24. College Survey Scholarship

Eligibility: College undergraduate or graduate student and undergraduate or graduate alumni who graduated within the last four years

All it takes to enter this running for this scholarship is to fill out a college survey on Niche, a ranking, and review website. Your responses are anonymous and are displayed on Niche to help other students to find the right college for them. 

25. Easy Scholarships

• Age 25 years or younger
• Living in the U.S. or Canada (or a citizen of either country but living abroad)

No GPA requirements or essays are required to participate in this scholarship contest. For a chance to win, you simply must sign up for a campaign, complete it, and take a photo to document your participation. Campaigns are quick and completed in under five minutes!  

26. SuperCollege Scholarship

Eligibility: High school, college, or graduate student, or adult planning to go back to school

Just fill out the application and answer a few simple questions about your college plans for the opportunity to win this award. You can use the scholarship to pay for any education-related expenses. For example, tuition, books, computers, or room and board.

27. Debt.com Scholarship For Aggressive Scholarship Applicants

Amount: $500

Deadline: Every other month 

Eligibility: Actively applying for scholarships

This scholarship rewards students with the drive to earn scholarships and the willingness to fight for financial independence. In order to win, you need to send confirmations from all of the scholarships you’ve applied to. Also, while there is no essay, you are required to submit a short biographical letter.

28. MyMozaic Monthly Scholarship Contest

Deadline: Every month 

Eligibility:

• U.S. citizen or legal resident
• Enrolled in high school or college in the U.S.

Simply create a profile at MyMozaic.com and answer a few simple questions—like your graduation year, your GPA, and the major(s) you’re interested in—for the opportunity to win one of these monthly, no-essay scholarships. 

29. WayUp Dream Job No-Essay Scholarship

Deadline: Jun 1 

Eligibility: Current college student

Create a profile at WayUp—a jobsite for college students and recent college graduates—for a  chance of winning a $1,000 scholarship. The stronger your profile and the more internships and jobs you apply for, the better your odds are to receive an award.  

30. College Ave Scholarship Monthly Sweepstakes

• U.S. citizen or permanent resident 
• Enrolled in high school or a post-secondary educational institution or are the parent or legal guardian of a person enrolled in a high school or a post-secondary educational institution 

Earning this $1,000 simply requires filling out a very short entry and a little luck. Winners are chosen monthly!  

31. Give Me Liberty Easy Scholarship

• U.S. citizen 
• High school senior or enrolled in an accredited institution in the U.S.

The intention of this scholarship is to provide every student with an equal opportunity to experience freedom from the burden of tuition and loans. Recipients are selected through a lottery which gives every applicant the same chance of winning—regardless of their academic performance, extracurricular achievements, and essay writing skills. 

32. Because College is Expensive Scholarship

Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors, along with current college students and anyone else looking to attend college or graduate school

If you’re planning to attend college you’ll want to look into this scholarship—all it takes is completing a short application to enter for a chance to win. Only one entry per quarter is allowed. 

33. Return 2 College Scholarship Program

Deadline: January 31

• U.S. citizen or legal resident 
• Starting a program of higher education—either undergraduate or graduate—within the next 12 months or are currently full or part-time students 

While this scholarship doesn’t require an essay it does ask you to compose three sentences answering the question why are you getting your degree? Have a lot to say? Perfect, more than one entry is allowed, but more than a dozen are discouraged. 

34. Project Yellow Light Create a Billboard Scholarship   

Deadline: March 1

• Legal U.S. residents 
• High school juniors and seniors, along with undergraduate and graduate students 

Design a billboard to promote safe driving to a broad audience and draw attention to this important topic. In addition to a scholarship, winners may see their design grace a billboard or used on the web and other digital platforms. 

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

18 Essay-Free Scholarships to Apply for in 2024

Scholarships are a fantastic way to save money on your college tuition and avoid taking on too much student debt. But, let’s face it, the process of applying for scholarships can be time-consuming and, sometimes you just want something a little easier.

The good news is that easy scholarships – in particular, scholarships without essays – do exist. Some require as little effort as simply entering your name and email address (a scholarship “sweepstakes”), while other scholarships without essays require you to submit something else (like a short video, social media post, or illustration) rather than an essay. These second group of scholarships rewards effort and creativity. 

Avoiding Scholarship Scams

5 sweepstakes-style scholarships with no essays, 3 easy scholarships with short answers.

• 10 Creative, essay-free scholarships

Ready to apply for your own scholarships without essays?

It’s important to keep in mind two things about the easiest scholarships without essays:.

• Your chances of winning a scholarship award are much lower than with traditional scholarships. This is because more people usually apply for these easier scholarships. 
• You run the risk of being spammed with loads of emails. In fact, many scholarship sweepstakes are created with the sole idea of getting your email address in mind. We therefore recommend using easy scholarship sweepstakes as a secondary option for paying for college. Consider using the majority of your time applying for scholarships with essays that you find on reputable scholarship sites.

And if you’re mostly worried about saving time, consider using Going Merry to apply for scholarship bundles , which combine multiple scholarships with the same essay prompts into one application. Sign up for Going Merry today to begin applying.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some easy, no-essay scholarships are actually scams.  Follow the tips below to avoid getting scammed.

Scam Tip #1: Say “No” to Upfront Fees!

A scholarship shouldn’t cost anything at all to apply for (except postage). Be wary of any company or scholarship provider who requires you to pay an upfront fee in order to apply. Chances are they have nothing to offer you!

Scam Tip #2: Do The Paperwork Yourself

Some scammers will try and lure you in by telling you that they’ll take care of all the scholarship paperwork for you, including answering all the questions. You can just sit back, relax, and wait for the money to start rolling in. It almost seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? We hate to break it to you, but that’s because it is. Doing your own applications will save you loads of trouble!

(Psst – You can, however, save on some of the paperwork and the repetitive form filling by using Going Merry , which auto-fills your scholarship forms with information from your profile. You’ll still need to answer any scholarship application-specific questions yourself though!)

Scam Tip #3: Guaranteed Scholarships Don’t Exist

If scholarships were guaranteed, student loans would be a thing of the past. Avoid any company claiming to offer you a guaranteed scholarship. It’s a guaranteed scam.

Scam Tip #4: Avoid Dodgy Offers

If you receive an email from an unknown and unprofessional-looking company claiming to offer an amazing scholarship if you enter personal information on their site, it’s best to avoid it. If you’re unsure, simply do a quick Google Search and see if others have reported it as a scam before , and talk to your guidance counselor to see if he or she has information or experience working with the company.

Scam Tip #5: Do Your Research!

Doing a quick search (on Google or snopes.com ) can save you tons of trouble in the end.  Unfortunately, easy scholarships are too good to be true a lot of the time.

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Match me to scholarships

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s our list of scholarships without essays:

These are scholarships that require almost no effort.

1. Going Merry Seasonal Scholarships (Spring, Summer)

Amount: $1000 per year (one $250 winner each season)

Provider : Going Merry

When you create a free profile on Going Merry, you’re automatically matched with thousands of scholarship opportunities, including the Going Merry No Essay Scholarship, offered four times a year in the Spring , Summer , Fall , and Winter . Simply click “Start application,” and then “Submit application” to apply. It’s that easy!

Bonus: When you first register, we’ll prompt you to apply for our bundle of four no-essay, seasonal scholarships for the next year. This way, you won’t even have to think about submitting a new application each season. It’s our way of welcoming you to our platform! Sign up today to take advantage.

2. Christian College Scholarship

Amount: $2,500

Provider: The Christian Connector IncIf you’re planning on attending a two- or four-year Christian college, you’re eligible to enter the drawing for this $2,500 Christian College Scholarship . Simply fill out a short online survey and you’re good to go!

Loving these scholarships, but need help applying for your government financial aid? We can help you fill out your FAFSA and state aid.

3. Citizens Scholarship

Amount: $15,000

Provider: Citizens Bank

Citizens wants to honor the dedication of students and families pursuing higher learning! We are offering a Citizens Grand Prize Scholarship of $15,000 to use towards school expenses. We will also be offering a $2,500 Scholarship monthly.

4. AFSA Second Chance Scholarship

Amount: $1,000

Provider: AFSA Scholarships

If you didn’t have the luck of winning the AFSA High School Senior Contest, try your luck again after graduation with the AFSA Second Chance Scholarship . This $1,000 award is awarded to five high school graduates during the summer months. Deadlines change on a yearly basis, so check out the scholarship website for the most up-to-date information.

5. Scholarship4Moms

Amount: $10,000

Provider: Scholarships4MomsThe Scholarship4Moms scholarship and its organization was created by a group of mothers who wanted to help bring financial relief to moms who are seeking to further their education. Simply register with your first name, last name, and phone number, and you’ll be entered to win!

Want more scholarships? Get 20 new scholarships delivered to your inbox each week.

These are scholarships that don’t require essays (you know, those longer 500-word type ordeals), but do require you to answer a few questions or to write a short piece (e.g. letter, caption, tweet).

6. Aspire Scholarship

Provider: Access Scholarships Foundation

The Aspire Scholarship , hosted by Access Scholarships and CollegeVine, is yet another one of our easy scholarship opportunities created to give back to a deserving student who is applying for scholarships to help pay for college. In just five sentences or less, this scholarship asks you to answer the following prompt: “Tell us what you aspire to achieve and how you believe a college degree can help you to accomplish it.”

7. E-waste Scholarship

Provider: Digital Responsibility

Each year, 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are discarded in the world. According to the EPA, recycling e-waste allows more than 100 million pounds of materials to be reused annually. The purpose of the E-waste scholarship is to help you understand the impact of e-waste and what can be done to reduce e-waste. This scholarship just requests a short statement that completes this sentence: “The most important reason to care about e-waste is…”

8. The Customized Girl Annual Scholarship

Amount: $500

Provider: Customized GirlCustomized Girl prints bold statements on customized shirts. Naturally, they know an eye-catching quote when they see one. To apply to the Customized Girl Annual Scholarship , post your statement as a caption on Instagram to be chosen as one of two winners, and your statement may be featured on a customized shirt! Check out past winners on the scholarship page for inspiration.

10 Creative, essay-free scholarship s

These are scholarships that require you to submit videos, drawings, business plans, etc. instead of essays. Get creative!

9. Two Ten Higher Education Footwear Design Scholarship

Provider: Two Ten Footwear Foundation

Amount: Up to $3,000

Submit: Three design drawings

Sneakerheads can show-off their inner hypebeast/hypebae for the Two Ten Higher Education Footwear Design Scholarship ! Students studying design with a focus on footwear are encouraged to apply. Provide three design drawings from your portfolio for consideration.

10. Illustrators of the Future Contest

Provider: L. Ron Hubbard

Submit: Illustrations

L. Ron Hubbard’s Illustrators of the Future Contest is an opportunity for new science fiction and fantasy artists worldwide to have their work judged by some of the masters in the field and discovered by a wide audience.

11. Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship

Provider: The Gallery Collection

Amount: $10,000 (+$1,000 prize for the school)

Submit: An original photo, art, work, or graphic design

If you have a knack for art and sentiment, apply for the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship with your original art. You can use all art forms. Just upload an example as a JPEG (.jpg) for the application. Students 14 years or older are eligible to send their ideas.

12. Build A Better Future Scholarship

Provider: Honors Graduation

Submit: Short video

Ever wondered just how much of a difference high school students can make in their communities? The winners from previous years have proven it can be profound. That’s why the Annual Design a Better Future scholarship continues to be a design-thinking, community-improvement project.

Each year, Honors Graduation funds up to five $10,000 tuition awards, with the top project receiving up to $5,000 to keep the project going.

13. #YouAreWelcomeHere Scholarship

Provider: U.S. Higher Education (Led by Temple University)

Amount: At least 50% of tuition

Submit: A video or an essay

First-year international students at participating American universities can cut down the cost of education with the #YouAreWelcomeHere Scholarship . The #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign gained nationwide support in creating a scholarship awarding two students per university. The video submission must express ideas of advancing intercultural learning. Check the list of participating universities on the campaign’s scholarship page .

14. “Create Real Impact” Contest

Provider: Impact Teen Drivers

Amount: $500- $1,500

Submit: A video, music, creative writing, or graphic design

Students between 14-22 years old may apply to the “Create Real Impact” Contest . The contest seeks original work about a solution and strategy regarding reckless and distracted driving. Choose either video, music, creative writing, or artwork. There are many submission options and contest categories, so make sure to visit the scholarship page for details!

15. GoSkills Scholarship

Provider: GoSkills

Amount: $2,000

Submit: An application and business plan

Calling future girl bosses: Here is your time to debut your online business ambitions. The GoSkills Scholarship (Fall) and (Spring) is open to female high school and college students. There are open-ended questions on the application, but it’s more like a friendly conversation. The questions ask you about your concerns and your role models. Besides the application, you need to provide a link to your business plan (GoSkills provides instructions for your business plan right above the area for the link). Try your hand at mapping a business plan to be your own boss in the future.

16. Anytime Games Scholarship

Provider: Anytime Games

Amount: $3,200

Submit: A video

Because Anytime Games has a keen passion for helping students achieve academic excellence, they’re sponsoring the Anytime Games scholarship contest . To enter, choose one of the six thought-provoking questions from the list, and answer the question needs in the form of an essay or video. Two lucky winners will receive cash they can use towards tuition at the college of their choice.

17. Doodle for Google

Provider: Google

Amount: $55,000

Submit: A doodle illustration

Doodle for Google is an annual contest open to students in grades K-12. Students are invited to create their own Google Doodle for the chance to have it featured on Google.com, as well as win some great scholarships – like this Doodle for Google scholarship – and tech packages for their schools.

18. HeadSetPlus.Com College Scholarship

Provider: HeadSetPlus.Com

HeadSetPlus.Com wants to help you pay for college with the HeadSetPlus.Com College Scholarship … no essay needed! Be creative and create a video with a maximum length of five minutes detailing why you deserve the scholarship and what inspired you to pursue a degree in your field.

You can find and apply for scholarships without essays right on our website. You can request letters of recommendation, upload your resume, and apply for scholarships. Sign up for free today .

• Recent Posts

• 7 Outstanding Oregon Scholarships for 2024 - November 6, 2020
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• Great Scholarships for Students in Texas for 2024 - July 30, 2020

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ScholarshipUniverse is an online, 24/7 student scholarship search engine available to U of I students (current and newly admitted) seeking additional monies to pay for college. Students can access the application using their existing school credentials. SU makes finding and applying for external (outside-the-university) scholarships faster and easier. There are over 15,000 scholarships worth millions of dollars available for students in SU!

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• Students first create an SU account using their Vandal number and then complete a brief questionnaire to collect information that can be used to match students to potential qualifying scholarships.
• The system notifies students directly through their SU portal about scholarships they qualify for — and then students can apply using the system. Be sure to update your SU profile regularly for quality matching.
• Students can then view matched scholarships, existing applications, and any awarded scholarships through their SU student dashboard.

SU is a private, university-secured system platform. All SU scholarships shared with students go through an extensive vetting process of review before being included in the SU database. Scholarships are updated regularly. For questions, concerns, and/or assistance, please contact our team .

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Man Wins Commonwealth Distance Learning Masters Scholarship Worth N42m after Being Rejected in 2021

• Three years after his online study application was denied, a Nigerian scholar has secured his third Commonwealth Distance Learning Masters Scholarship
• The excited youth with two master's degrees broke the news on social media and revealed the scholarship is worth N42 million
• While noting that winning the Commonwealth Scholarship once is a big achievement, he stated that doing it thrice is almost an impossible feat

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A Nigerian man, Babajide Milton Macaulay, has expressed his excitement on LinkedIn after winning a N42 million Commonwealth Scholarship.

Babajide won his first Commonwealth Shared Scholarship worth N30 million in 2012 which helped him obtain a master's degree in sustainable environmental management from the University of Greenwich, UK.

In 2015, the educational consultant won his second Commonwealth Scholarship, worth N80 million, which he used to obtain a PhD degree in environmental geochemistry and geomicrobiology from the University of Manchester, UK.

Daniel Regha slams Nigeria's embarrassing behaviour at Olympics: "Nothing is working in this nation"

Celebrating his scholarship feat, Babajide recalled he was rejected in 2021 but is now looking to pursue an online Master's degree in carbon management at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

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What winning Commonwealth Scholarship meant to Babajide

According to Babajide , who already has two master's degrees, he feels elated to have won his latest scholarship from the Commonwealth body. He wrote :

"Winning the Commonwealth Scholarship only once is a big achievement, winning it thrice is almost an impossible feat.

"I feel blessed to have set this record and so elated that the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission finds me worthy to spend a total of 152 million naira on me for key knowledge acquisition.

"This scholarship is my 14th win in 20 years as I won my first scholarship ever in 2004. I keep breaking my own records and inspiring myself to do things initially thought to be impossible."

Abuja Area Mama: Jay Boogie reacts to colleague's death, shares video of Saida Boj cursing murderers

People celebrated Babajide Milton Macaulay

Emmanuel Anoro said:

"You're an incredible inspiration to every Nigerian and African at large who are out there to make a great difference in the world through science and technology.

"Keep the fire burning sir 🔥."

Bate Ntoh Guily Sybelle said:

"I feel you shouldn't apply for scholarships again hahahaha 😆 😅 😂 🤣 so as to give the opportunity to others 😄 😅 😆 😂. Well just my thought. Congratulations Doc 🎊 👏 💐 🥳 🎊."

Ayokunle Oluwasanwo said:

"All I can say is WOW. This is really inspirational. Congratulations Babajide Milton Macaulay, Ph.D., EMBA.

"Please as much as the knowledge aligns with your focus and promote the achievements of your goals, please keep winning the scholarships that help fund the acquisition of the knowledge.

"Meanwhile, I'm interested in being mentored to scale similar heights."

Elizabeth Adebayo said:

"Congratulations Babajide Milton Macaulay, Ph.D., EMBA.

Seyi Law writes open letter to Tinubu, hails him for amazing work so far: "Sense has unfollowed you"

"Let me tap into this Scholarship Grace 🙏.

"And in the spirit of celebrating your latest win.

"Please would you mind sharing information with me on how to apply for an MBA program fully funded."

Legit.ng reported that a Nigerian lady had won the Chevening and Commonwealth scholarships.

Man bags fully funded PhD scholarship

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a Nigerian man had secured a fully funded PhD scholarship and relocated to the US .

Marshal Walex is a graduate of the Nigerian Airforce Institute of Technology in Rafin Kura, Kaduna state .

Marshal posted photos of his Nigerian International Passport on Twitter to inform friends and well-wishers that he has relocated to the USA . He said he predicted his relocation four years ago when he said he spoke it into existence.

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Source: Legit.ng

Victor Duru (Editor) Victor Duru is a Reuters-trained award-winning journalist with over 4 years of working experience in the media industry. He holds a B.Sc in Management Studies from Imo State University, where he was a Students' Union Government Director of Information. Victor is a human interest editor, strategic content creator, freelancer and a Google-certified digital marketer. His work has been featured on US news media Faith It. He can be reached via [email protected]

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Sister of American not part of Russian prisoner swap: ‘We don’t have the celebrity status’

Geoff Bennett Geoff Bennett

Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/sister-of-american-not-part-of-russian-prisoner-swap-we-dont-have-the-celebrity-status

One American not released in the prisoner swap with Russia is teacher Marc Fogel, who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony in 2022. He was arrested in 2021 at a Moscow airport for carrying medically prescribed marijuana. Geoff Bennett discussed Fogel's detention with his sister, Anne Fogel.

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Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, thank you both.

And, Nick, as you mentioned, one of the Americans not released today is teacher Marc Fogel, who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony back in 2022. He was arrested in 2021 at a Moscow airport for carrying medically prescribed marijuana.

Earlier this evening, before I spoke with the deputy national security adviser, Marc Fogel's sister, Anne, joined us from her Montana home.

Anne Fogel, thank you for being with us.

Anne Fogel, Sister of Marc Fogel: Thank you for having me. It's really important that I tell Marc's story.

While some families are rejoicing today as they have been reunited with their loved ones, your family still has to wait. How are you doing? How are you holding up?

Anne Fogel:

It's been a heart-wrenching 36 hours. I spoke with Marc yesterday morning on the phone. And he — when I realized that he was still in Rybinsk and everyone else had been pulled out of their penal colonies, it was — my heart really sank.

But it's really hard to give up hope. And for the entire day, I roller-coastered, around thinking that Rybinsk is about four-and-a-half-hours from Moscow. And I thought that maybe they would be driving him down or I — it was just really hard to let it go.

When you spoke with him, what did he say? What did he tell you? How is he doing?

He was kind of in the dark. He knew that something was going on. And then he saw a little bit of news about Paul.

They're constantly playing the television and news stations in the penal colony that he's in. And so he knew something was going on, but he doesn't speak Russian. So he wasn't exactly sure. And he called. And I didn't want to — I know this is crushing him.

So I didn't want to tell him what I knew. But we — at that point in time, we were calling our senators and calling the ambassadors that we have been in touch with. And we were trying to get something activated for him. And so it was a crazy day of phones and messaging and e-mailing.

And it's all for naught.

The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said today that the administration is working to secure your brother's release from Russia.

Have you heard anything from the administration?

No, we have never heard from the administration. I did talk to — my sister-in-law and I did talk to Jake Sullivan about two years ago.

But Marc has never been prioritized. He had — he was convicted under the same code as Brittney Griner, but he was never designated as wrongfully detained. And we don't have the NBA behind us and we don't have The Wall Street Journal behind us, so it's been very difficult for us to get our man out.

Your mother, your 95-year-old mother, filed a lawsuit in June against the U.S. State Department over its failure to declare Marc Fogel as wrongfully detained.

Why do you think he hasn't received that designation and how has it complicated efforts, in your view, to secure his release?

I don't think he's been designated because I don't think he's important enough. As I said, we just don't have the notoriety, the celebrity status.

And, believe me, the worst part of this process is being pitted against other Americans. I don't want that. No one wants that. Marc doesn't want that.

When we started our conversation, you said you wanted to get your brother's story out. What do you want folks to know about your brother Marc?

I want you to know that Marc has had an outsized impact on the world, essentially, because he has taught internationally for so many years.

He has thousands of students that he has taught, and he is — there's not a hall of fame for teaching, but he is the best of the best. And you have one of his students in your newsroom, as we speak. He has students all over the world writing to him, praying for him, making movies about him. We need justice. He needs to come home. He needs to be with his family.

His life and sons need him. And this is absolutely unfair that they did not bring him home with the greatest historic prisoner swap since the World War. I wish I could be more steady perhaps in saying these things, but I feel very wronged for Marc.

And he needs to come home, and the Biden administration has nothing to lose. They should have brought him home.

Anne Fogel, our thoughts are with you, your family and your brother Marc. Thanks again for your time this evening. We appreciate it.

Thank you for having me.

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Geoff Bennett serves as co-anchor of PBS News Hour. He also serves as an NBC News and MSNBC political contributor.

Zeba Warsi is a foreign affairs producer, based in Washington DC. She's a Columbia Journalism School graduate with an M.A. in Political journalism.

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U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia

Social / search.

Marking 16 Years Since Russia’s Invasion of Georgia

Press Statement Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State August 7, 2024

Today we mark sixteen years since Russia invaded the sovereign nation of Georgia and remember those killed, injured, or displaced by Russia’s military campaign and illegal occupation.  To this day, Russia continues to occupy 20 percent of Georgia’s territory and impose its will on the people there, including by claiming the transfer of strategically important lands in Abkhazia to Russia and taking steps to establish a permanent naval base in Ochamchire.

The United States remains steadfast in support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.  We call on Russia to fulfill its commitments and obligations under the 2008 ceasefire agreement to withdraw its forces to pre-conflict positions and allow unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.  We also call on Russia to reverse its recognition of the so-called independence of Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.  These actions would allow tens of thousands of internally displaced people to return to their homes safely.

The United States’ support for the people of Georgia in their pursuit of a Euro-Atlantic future and a peaceful solution to the conflict is enduring.

By U.S. Mission Russia | 8 August, 2024 | Topics: Europe & Eurasia , Fundamental Freedoms , History , Human Rights , Key Officials , Moscow , News , Policy , Press Releases , U.S. & Russia , U.S. Secretary of State

Statement by President Joe Biden on Securing the Release of Americans Detained in Russia

Secretary Blinken on the Release of Wrongfully Detained Americans and Russian Political Prisoners

Footer Disclaimer This is the official website of the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

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Favoring Foes Over Friends, Trump Threatens to Upend International Order

Former President Donald J. Trump suggested that he would incite Russia to attack “delinquent” U.S. allies, foreshadowing potentially far-reaching changes in the world order if he wins the White House again.

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By Peter Baker

Peter Baker has covered the White House under five presidents and reported from Moscow for four years.

Soon after former President Donald J. Trump took office, his staff explained how NATO’s mutual defense obligations worked.

“You mean, if Russia attacked Lithuania, we would go to war with Russia?” he responded. “That’s crazy.”

Mr. Trump has never believed in the fundamental one-for-all-and-all-for-one concept of the Atlantic alliance. Indeed, he spent much of his four-year presidency undermining it while strong-arming members into keeping their commitments to spend more on their own militaries with the threat that he would not come to their aid otherwise.

But he took it to a whole new level over the weekend, declaring at a rally in South Carolina that not only would he not defend European countries he deemed to be in arrears from an attack by Russia, but that he would go so far as to “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” against them. Never before has a president of the United States — even a former one aspiring to reclaim the office — suggested that he would incite an enemy to attack American allies.

Some may discount that as typical Trump rally bluster or write it off as a poor attempt at humor. Others may even cheer the hard line against supposedly deadbeat allies who in this view have taken advantage of American friendship for too long. But Mr. Trump’s rhetoric foreshadows potentially far-reaching changes in the international order if he wins the White House again in November with unpredictable consequences.

What’s more, Mr. Trump’s riff once again raised uncomfortable questions about his taste in friends. Encouraging Russia to attack NATO allies, even if he were not fully serious, is a stunning statement that highlights his odd affinity for President Vladimir V. Putin, who has already proved his willingness to invade neighboring countries that do not have the protection of NATO.

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Carlos Yulo delivers clutch routine for historic floor exercise gold medal

Picture by 2024 Getty Images

Carlos Yulo has finally capitalised on his otherworldly ability.

The history-making Filipino gymnast wrote his name in the record books once again Saturday (3 August), claiming the gold medal in the men's floor exercise final at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 .

Yulo earned a 15.000 after he stuck his three-and-a-half twist dismount cold. Savoring the moment on the podium, he pumped both his fists before presenting the judges, later saluting the fans in the audience and putting his hands to his heart.

"I'm so overwhelmed. I'm feeling grateful for having this medal and for God. He protected me, as always," he said afterward. "He gave me the strength to get through this kind of performance and perform this well."

Tokyo 2020 champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel took the silver (14.966), with Great Britain's Jake Jarman (14.933) claiming bronze.

It's the first medal of any colour for the Philippines in gymnastics and just their second Olympic gold ever after Hidilyn Diaz won the Women's 55 kg event in weightlifting in Tokyo.

The triumph comes as the 24-year-old has struggled in recent years, including at the last Games in Tokyo, with consistenty and delivering in the most important moments.

For every breakthrough - including his first gold on the floor exercise at the 2019 Worlds - there have been heartbreaks, like last year's World Championships where he finished last in the all-around during qualifications, counting a 0.000 on the vault.

*"*I'm grateful for the people who really supported me. I could not do it without them," said Yulo.

• Japan captures Paris 2024 men's team gold medal in improbable comeback - Team USA clinches bronze
• Paris 2024 Olympics: Max Whitlock basks in glow of final Games
• Filipino Carlos Yulo is “shooting for the stars.”

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