Common App and Scholarship America join forces to expand access to scholarship opportunities

ARLINGTON, VA.- Common App, the nonprofit membership organization dedicated to access, equity and integrity in the college admissions process, announced today a new partnership with Scholarship America, the nation’s largest private scholarship provider, to close persistent racial and socioeconomic gaps in access to college scholarships. 

“Today, more than $6 billion in private scholarships is available to eligible students pursuing higher education. But too often, the students who stand to gain the most from that funding are not the ones who actually access it,” said Jenny Rickard, President & CEO of Common App. “We’re excited to partner with Scholarship America to explore new ways to reach the student groups, particularly Black and Latinx applicants, who face the greatest financial roadblocks on their path to success in higher education.”

“We know that scholarships have the power to break down barriers, open doors and set a student on a path for success,” said Robert C. Ballard, president & CEO, Scholarship America. “The challenge is that students aren’t always able to find all the scholarships they are eligible to apply for – especially students from historically underserved communities. Through this partnership with the Common App, we will be able to directly connect students to scholarship opportunities, with the goal of increasing equity and access by developing stronger, more student-focused solutions.”

Today, a disproportionate amount of scholarship dollars are awarded to white and higher income students. According to an analysis of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study by Mark Kantrowitz, white students are about 1.5x as likely to win a scholarship as Black, Latinx, or Asian students. Students in the bottom income quartile also receive less than half the “other financial aid” as students in the top income quartile. Crucially, research also suggests that students who receive scholarships are more likely to not just enroll in college, but also persist through graduation -- which means that inequities in scholarship distribution only exacerbate existing gaps in college completion.   

Amazon, a pilot participant, is partnering to expand access to their Amazon Future Engineer scholarship program. “The focus of the Amazon Future Engineer scholarship program is to ensure more students – especially low income students and students of color – have the opportunity to pursue increasingly valuable computer science degrees,” said Dr. Shanika Hope, head of Amazon Future Engineer, U.S. “We are excited to be a part of this new collaboration between Scholarship America and Common App to further advance diversity, equity, and inclusion for college students.”

Beginning with a pilot program in January 2021, Common App and Scholarship America will identify and contact students who qualify for scholarship funding. 

Following the pilot, the goal is to scale these interventions, allowing students to identify, apply for and receive in a fraction of the time it currently takes.