5 Strategies to Strengthen Your Scholarship Process
1. Align your Scholarship Filing Period
If your scholarship application is separate from your admissions application, consider synchronizing your scholarship priority application filing period with either your admission application priority filing period or the FAFSA priority filing period. This alignment allows you to incorporate scholarship information into your admissions and/or FAFSA communications, reducing the quantity of messages and the number of deadlines students must track.
2. Centralize All Scholarship Information
Providing clear direction for students is essential and consolidating all scholarship information in a single location will drive more applications. This includes advertising all campus and departmental awards as well as external scholarships. An effective way to achieve this is by providing a single scholarship link on your website that directs students to an online scholarship platform that houses information about all available scholarships.
Ideally, your scholarship award platform would automatically import student data from your Student Information System (SIS) and auto-match students with appropriate opportunities. Students can then apply for multiple scholarships through that same portal, add any other required documentation, and monitor their progress. The portal should also contain information on your institution’s awarding process, so students know what to expect after submitting their scholarship applications.
3. Make the Scholarship Application Easy to Find
In the same vein as our previous tip, make the scholarship application easy for students to find. Student inboxes are constantly overflowing and important messages may be caught in spam filters, so you cannot rely on email alone. It’s important to communicate scholarship information to students frequently and through various channels.
Below are a few examples of different ways you can reach more students:
- Text Messaging—Students always have their phones. Choose a scholarship management system that enables personalized and automated text notifications and reminders.
- Social Media—Utilize your institution’s social media channels to spread the word about new opportunities and open applications
- Email—Reach out to all students, link to the portal, and encourage them to apply for a variety of scholarships
- Faculty Communications—Ensure professors and other instructors are aware of scholarships and urge them to share opportunities with their students
- Scholarship Workshops—Host these in person or virtually to provide more personalized assistance to students applying for scholarships. Include tips on the application process, best practices for reference letters, the importance of thank-you notes, etc.
- Scholarship Portal Links—Add call-to-action buttons in your student handbook, SIS, Learning Management System (LMS), and other online tools your students use
- Enrollment Process—Include scholarship messaging in your admissions communications for both new and returning students
4. Simplify the Application Process
To achieve the highest application rate, make the application easy for students to complete. Students should be able to search for scholarships and complete their applications on their phones any time of day or night. Consider having one centralized application for all opportunities, allowing administrators to add specific requirements for each scholarship as needed. Students should not have to manually enter information that can be easily imported from your SIS such as Student ID, Major, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, etc.
Using the right technology simplifies the process for your students and gives your review committees confidence that their award decisions are being made based on current and accurate student data. The best award management software includes collaboration tools to facilitate online committee review.
5. Use the Scholarship Process to Support Recruitment Efforts
To ensure that incoming students can incorporate scholarship awards into their decision-making, spend time communicating key processes and dates to incoming freshman and high school counselors in your service area. Consider involving current or prior scholarship recipients in your recruitment strategy.
Some ways to do this include:
- Coordinating with University Outreach to offer information, demos, and/or scholarship workshops at feeder high schools
- Providing scholarship communications to the principals and counselors at those schools. Could they add it to their SIS/LMS resource boards?
- Linking to the scholarship platform from your Enrollment Management System so it becomes a natural part of the application process
- Adding “review scholarship opportunities” to admissions checklists and reminders, including links
- Promoting scholarships in your recruitment materials, social media, websites, and during campus visits
Stronger Processes, Stronger Program
Scholarships can boost enrollment, foster retention, and help drive student success. Improving your scholarship process won’t happen overnight, but by using these tips and the right technology, you will be on the right track to a much stronger and more efficient scholarship process.
