Scholarships360

The Scholarships360 scholarship research team has been hard at work reviewing and vetting scholarships. This week, we're excited to share verified scholarships from some great scholarships providers: ZACK ZOLIN SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION Steve Anchell Castagra Products, Inc. Trevor Coopersmith Nicodemus Wilderness Project Society for Science As a reminder our scholarship verification program is free for scholarship providers. If you offer a scholarship and want to learn more, feel free to reach out!

On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions. The ruling prohibited race being used as a factor in admissions. However, students could use their applications how race impacted their life as well as their ability to contribute to a college or university. I thought that the SCOTUSblog did a nice job of summing up this distinction: "Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts explained that college admissions programs can consider race merely to allow an applicant to explain how their race influenced their character in a way that would have a concrete effect on the university. But a student “must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race,” Roberts wrote." After this ruling, many in higher ed wondered: How would this impact the college admissions process? Luckily, we have some early data courtesy of Common App This research showed that not a lot has changed as far as student behavior across racial groups or the diversity of Common App members' application pools (I'll link to the report in the comments). This isn't surprising for two main reasons: 1) The majority of colleges are accept the majority of applicants (per 2019 Pew Research data, over 50% of colleges admitted more than 2/3 of students). 2) Less selective colleges are less likely to consider race in admissions. Ultimately, the affirmative action SCOTUS decision was going to impact a small % of colleges and universities. To see the impact on these schools, we'd also want to look at the diversity metrics of enrolled students from this past year (which to my knowledge are not public yet at most schools).

Free speech is one of the bedrocks of democracy and has been a hot topic on college campuses as of late. To further this conversation, Scholarships360 is excited to partner with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression(FIRE) to offer the FIRE First Amendment Scholarship. This scholarship reminds us of the importance of free speech and civil discourse to the college experience and the democratic process. Students can apply to this essay scholarship with their Scholarships360 profile by the July 31st deadline to be considered for the $2,000 scholarship!

Per the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) FAFSA Tracker, FAFSA rates are still down 13.5% vs. last year. This represents over 280k students that have not completed the FAFSA to be eligible for federal student aid (including grants, work study, and federal student loans). One of the most concerning things about this is that FAFSA rates are even lower for schools that have more low-income students (completion is down 15.6% vs. last year). State completion rates also vary. Here are the top five states as far as completion: 1) Tennessee 2) Louisiana 3) Illinois 4) Washington, D.C. 5) Texas And here are the five lowest states as far as completion: 1) Alaska 2) Utah 3) Arizona 4) Florida 5) Nevada All 50 states (as well as Washington, D.C.) are also tracking behind last year's numbers. The "closest" state is Indiana which is down 1.6%

In addition to impacting students, the FAFSA issues have made this a tough year for financial aid professionals. In a recent Inside Higher Ed article, Liam Knox discusses the challenges of this admissions cycle and the burnout that many financial aid officers are feeling. One stat that stood out was that over 50% of financial aid professionals are likely to switch jobs in the next year (per a survey from CUPA-HR). For students, one small thing you can do is to send a thank you note or email to your financial aid officer or office. This is just a nice way to express gratitude and remind the financial aid office at your college that their work is appreciated.

I recently found a 1987 copy of "The Insider's Guide to the Colleges." The intro of the book included the line "As costs at the most expensive private colleges approach the $15,000 mark, fewer and fewer families can foot the bill without some sort of student aid." It's pretty wild to go back in time and see colleges costs, acceptance rates, and enrollments from over 35 years ago. Here were a few colleges that stood out (with stats from the 1986-1987 academic year): Amherst College 💰 Tuition: $10,200 🎓 Acceptance rate: 21% Case Western Reserve University 💰 Tuition: $8,300 🎓 Acceptance rate: 88% Massachusetts Institute of Technology 💰 Tuition: $11,000 🎓 Acceptance rate: 31% University of Miami 💰 Tuition: $7,800 🎓 Acceptance rate: 73% Harvard University 💰 Tuition: $10,600 🎓 Acceptance rate: 16% Kenyon College 💰 Tuition: $9,330 🎓 Acceptance rate: 69% New York University 💰 Tuition: $8,700 🎓 Acceptance rate: 55% University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 💰 Tuition: $800 for in-state, $3,400 for out-of-state 🎓 Acceptance rate: 53% Northeastern University 💰 Tuition: $7,000 🎓 Acceptance rate: 70% University of Southern California 💰 Tuition: $9,700 🎓 Acceptance rate: 60% Stanford University 💰 Tuition: $10,500 🎓 Acceptance rate: 16% Wake Forest University 💰 Tuition: $6,000 🎓 Acceptance rate: 47% Washington University in St. Louis 💰 Tuition: $9,200 🎓 Acceptance rate: 82% If there's a college you're curious about, let me know in the comments and I'm happy to share the stats!

Here's our weekly dose of scholarships from the Scholarships360 research team! This week our team has selected opportunities from scholarship providers including: Hyundai Motor America ExtremeTerrain.com Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Michael Moody Fitness College JumpStart Feel free to reach out in the comments or DM me if you're interested in getting your scholarship reatured!

We’re partnering with the Forté Foundation so students can apply directly to the Forté Future Leaders Scholarship through their Scholarships360 profile! This scholarship program will provide $10,000 in scholarships to undergraduate women this year! More than 500,000 diverse, high-achieving students have applied for scholarships on Scholarships360, and we’re excited to add the Forté Future Leaders Scholarship as a new opportunity. The first round of applications are due on August 5th so there’s still plenty of time to apply!

The Department of Education announced last week that Direct student loans for undergraduate students will have a interest rate of 6.53% This is the highest rates since the 2007-2008 academic year when these student loans had a 6.8% interest rate. While a lot of the focus has been on these direct loans, there were also rate increases to Direct PLUS Loans for Parents. These Parent PLUS Loans will now have an interest rate of 9.08% which is the highest fixed rate ever (prior to 2006 most student loans had variable interest rates). For example, according to data from the Department Education, roughly 10-20% of parents at NYU take out Parent PLUS loans. The median debt after graduation for these loans is $88,733! Remember, this excludes loans that the student has taken out (and is typically not captured by student loan data). People forget that many parents take out student loans too so these interest rates can have a big impact on a family's ability to pay for college.

Students can now apply for $10,000 in scholarships through the Forté Future Leaders Scholarship! To be eligible, students must be undergraduate women. The first found of applications are due by August 5th!