Outside Scholarships

Outside scholarships come from a wide variety of sources. High schools, local clubs, national organizations, foundations, and many others have private scholarships that students should always be on the lookout for.

Scholarship search services provide students with an efficient way to search for scholarships. Scholarship search services should be free. We discourage students from paying for these services.

If you receive a private scholarship, you are required to notify the Office of Financial Aid in writing. Your award may need to be adjusted in order to stay within federal guidelines. Whenever possible, we will reduce self-help aid (loans and work-study) first. In general, scholarships less than $1,000 will be applied entirely to the semester in which funding is received unless otherwise specified by the awarding organization or prohibited by federal regulations. All other scholarships will be divided evenly between fall and spring semesters unless otherwise specified by the awarding organization or the student.

Current Featured Scholarships

• 
  Richard D. Rogers Military Scholarship provides funding for students who are children of active or prior duty military, deadline August 31, 2018. Check out UP Opportunities Database to apply.
• 
  Beat the Odds Scholarship provides funding for students who have faced significant hardship, deadline September 11, 2018. Check out UP Opportunities Database to apply.
• 
  The Gates Scholarship provides funding to minority students studying Computer Science, Education, Engineering, Library Science, Math or Science, deadline September 18, 2018. Check out UP Opportunities Database to apply.
• 
  Fund for Education Abroad provides funding for students studying abroad for at least 4 weeks, deadline September 18, 2018. Check out UP Opportunities Database to apply.

Find our Featured Scholarships and more in the University of Portland's external scholarship database, UP Opportunities Database. Our office has worked hard to compile an outside scholarship database full of resources to help you launch your scholarship search, check out the database below for ideas on getting started. 

UP Opportunities Database

Scholarship Tools

University of Portland Scholarship Tracking Worksheet - Download our scholarship tracking worksheet, as an excel spreadsheet, allowing you to record and track your outside scholarships. Feel free to edit the spreadsheet based on your scholarship tracking needs. Your scholarship entries will automatically be transferred to a monthly calendar so you can plan for upcoming deadlines.

Scholarship Cheat Sheets

• Step 1 - Preparation & Finding Opportunities
• Step 2 - Applying for Scholarships
• Step 3 - Receiving a Scholarship
• Step 4 - Scholarship Scams

Scholarship Search Tips

• UP Scholarship Quick Search
• Fastweb 12 Tips for Winning a Scholarship
• Go College Scholarship Search

Scholarship Resources on Campus

• Office of Fellowships and Grants - Provides students with guidance and help on applications and essays for scholarships, grants and fellowships.
• Learning Commons - Provides students with help reading, editing and developing essays.
• Career Center - Provide students with help developing a strong, professional resume as well as help students determine future paths for themselves.
• Faculty Advisors - Provide students with help in the technical aspect of essay and application writing for scholarships that require technical knowledge. They are also great resources for letters of recommendation provided they know you well enough.

Beware of Scholarship Scams

• If you have to pay money to get money, it is probably a scam.
• Never invest more than postage stamp to get information about scholarships or to apply for scholarships.
• Nobody can guarantee that you will win a scholarship.
• Do not give out personal information such as social security number, bank account information, or credit card information.

Disclaimer

University of Portland web site contains links to other web sites which are independently run sites outside of the up.edu domain. University of Portland is not responsible for the privacy practices, activities, or content of such independent sites. Any links to external Web sites and/or non-University of Portland information provided on university pages or returned from university Web search engines are provided as a courtesy. They should not be construed as an endorsement by the University of Portland of the content or views of the linked materials. The materials on these independent sites are the opinion of the specified author(s) and are not statements of advice, opinion, support or information of University of Portland.