College application season can be an overwhelming time for students: in addition to handling a full slate of coursework, they’re often busy writing college application essays, securing letters of recommendation, and visiting prospective colleges for campus visits, interviews, and more.
All these responsibilities can make it difficult to devote time to scholarship applications, but students shouldn’t neglect the opportunity to offset their college expenses with scholarship awards.
Scholarships are a great way for students to supplement their college fund, but researching and applying for scholarships can be a complicated and time-consuming process. Below, we’ve laid out ten easy-apply college scholarships that students can knock off their list quickly and painlessly. Most of them have broad application criteria and don’t require an essay, so students can stay focused on their college applications while still exploring opportunities for supplemental college funding.
CollegeBoard Scholarships
Amount: $500 – $40,000 Deadline: October – February
CollegeBoard incentivizes students to plan for college with six unique scholarships: Build Your College List, Practice for the SAT, Explore Scholarships, Strengthen Your College List, Complete the FAFSA, and Apply to Colleges. Each step a student completes, they will be entered to win one of 500 $500 scholarships. Students who finish all six steps will automatically be entered into a larger drawing for a $40,000 scholarship. At least half of all scholarships are designated for students whose families have an annual income of less than $60,000.
Course Hero $4k College Giveaway
Amount: $4,000 Deadline: November 30
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This scholarship from the online learning platform Course Hero offers students the chance to win $4,000 for uploading their best original study documents (such as class notes, test prep materials, or lab reports). After creating a free account, students will receive one entry for every ten documents they upload to the site — after the deadline, a winner will be chosen randomly.
Survey Junkie Brand Influencer No-Essay Scholarship
Amount: $1,000 Deadline: Rolling
In partnership with scholarship search platform bold.org, Survey Junkie offers students the opportunity to earn a $1,000 scholarship by joining Survey Junkie and earning 500 points reviewing products of their choice.
Next College Student Athlete No-Essay Scholarship
Amount: $1,000 Deadline: Rolling
Another bold.org scholarship opportunity for student-athletes automatically registers applicants for Next College Student Athlete, the world’s biggest college athletic recruiting network. This way, students can enter to win the $1,000 award while also increasing their chances of being recruited by college coaches.
$10,000 ScholarshipPoints Scholarship Program
Amount: $10,000 Deadline: Rolling
ScholarshipPoints awards one of its members a $10,000 scholarship every quarter, in addition to smaller $1,000 scholarships every month. To enter, students must fill out a student profile and create a free account to participate in all the site’s available scholarship drawings.
Don’t Text and Drive Scholarship
Amount: $1,000 Deadline: September 30
This annual scholarship from Digital Responsibility is open to high school and college students of any grade level. In addition to filling out their information, applicants are asked to provide a 140-character response completing the following statement: “I pledge to not text and drive because….” Ten finalists will then be asked to write an additional essay of up to 1,000 words on the dangers of texting while driving.
Peterson’s Undergraduate Scholarship
Amount: $2,500 Deadline: August 10
Peterson’s college and career prep company offers an annual $2,500 scholarship awarded by random drawing every August. All students have to do is fill out a brief form, and they’ll be entered to win. The company offers a similar scholarship for graduate students as well.
WayUp Dream Job No-Essay Scholarship
Amount: $1,000 Deadline: Rolling
This annual scholarship from the hiring platform WayUp asks students to create a free account and build their candidate profile to enter. Applicants can then up their chances by applying to jobs and internships through WayUp, making this scholarship an excellent option for incoming college students already looking into work opportunities.
Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship
Amount: $2,000 Deadline: October 31
This fun scholarship sponsored by Unigo asks students to answer the following prompt in 250 words or less: “Imagine that your high school or college has been overrun with zombies. Flesh out a plan to avoid the zombies, including where you’d hide and the top-five things you’d bring to stay alive.” The student with the best response will be awarded $2,000 to put toward their education.
Niche $2,000 “No Essay” College Scholarship
Amount: $2,000 Deadline: November 30
College search platform Niche offers members one opportunity every month to win $2,000 in scholarship money — all students have to do is create an account and apply. There are no minimum GPA requirements, and students don’t need to write an essay or submit letters of recommendation. They can apply once per month, and winners are announced every month of the year.
The bottom line on easy college scholarships
Easy-apply and no-essay college scholarships are a fun and simple way for students to supplement their college savings. Still, they aren’t necessarily the most effective way to win scholarship awards.
Because they’re so easy to apply to, most of these scholarships receive thousands of applicants every year and typically award winners at random. This makes them more like sweepstakes than traditional scholarships since need and merit are not usually factored into award decisions.
If students have the time, they should research more specific scholarships to their identity, interests, or talents — scholarships requiring essays or letters of recommendation may require more work. Still, they often offer more significant awards and choose scholarship recipients more judiciously.
However, if students can appreciate that they might not win every scholarship they apply to, quick-apply college scholarships and sweepstakes can be a fun and exciting part of the scholarship application process.