Questions students ask

Because our mission is to help students access financial aid and get the guidance and support they need to shape their future, and that shouldn’t cost anything. Creating a profile, seeing matches, applying and receiving an award are 100% free for students. Donors fund AspireOpen’s scholarships, and 100% of each award goes to the recipient through their school. AspireOpen may earn from advertising and referral partners, which never costs you anything.

Students who are at least 16 and live in the United States: high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and adults going back to school. Each scholarship can add its own requirements, listed under “Who can apply”.

Select Apply for scholarships and answer a few questions about you. It takes about 2 minutes. Then confirm your email with a one-time code and you’ll see your first matches.

AspireOpen is built for students in the United States, and our scholarship rules ask that you live here. Many scholarships add their own requirements, such as citizenship or residency, so read “Who can apply” on each page. For scholarships from other providers, the provider’s rules decide.

How it works walks through profiles, matches, applications and awards step by step. The Scholarship rules cover the details of who can apply, how winners are chosen and how awards are paid.

Sign in and open your profile. You can edit any answer, add a photo and write a bio. Matches update as your profile does.

Select “Forgot password?” on the sign-in page. We’ll email you a code so you can set a new password. If the email doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder, then contact us.

Turn emails off in your account settings, or use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email. Emails such as weekly matches and deadline reminders are only sent if you’ve turned them on.

Yes. In your account settings you can download a copy of your information or delete your account at any time. We remove your details from active systems within 30 days. The Privacy policy explains what is kept and why.

No. Each student may have one account. Applications from more than one account can be disqualified.

AspireOpen scholarships are exclusive, donor-funded awards that you apply for on AspireOpen, and we pay them to your school. Other scholarships come from other providers: we show you the details and send you to the provider’s site to apply.

We compare your profile with each scholarship’s requirements and show the ones that fit, with a short explanation of why. Confirmed eligibility is shown apart from likely matches.

It means the scholarship probably fits but something needs checking, such as a requirement we couldn’t confirm from your profile. Read “Who can apply” before you apply. Matches are a guide, not a promise that you qualify or will win.

New scholarships are published daily. Turn on weekly matches in your account to hear about new ones that fit you.

“Awarded” means the deadline has passed, so the scholarship is no longer open for applications. “Deadline approaching” means it closes within seven days. “As soon as possible” means the provider hasn’t given a deadline, so apply early.

We show the source and when we last reviewed a listing, but the provider decides who is eligible and who wins, and details can change. Check the provider’s own page before you apply.

Yes. Use the “No essay” filter on the scholarships list.

Open a scholarship and select the apply button. For an AspireOpen scholarship, you complete the application on AspireOpen. For a scholarship from another provider, the button opens the provider’s site, where you apply under their rules.

Points show your progress. You earn them for real actions, such as finishing your profile, adding a photo or bio, and submitting applications. Once you reach 200 points you can submit applications. Your dashboard lists the quickest ways to earn the rest.

No. Points can’t be spent, exchanged for money or transferred, and they have no cash value.

No. Points never affect your matches or how reviewers look at an application. They only unlock applying.

The AI assistant helps you understand what each question asks and make your writing clearer. The experiences and words have to be yours: invented achievements and someone else’s work can get an application disqualified.

Once per scholarship cycle. You can apply to as many different scholarships as you qualify for.

Deadlines for AspireOpen scholarships end at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the date shown, unless the page says otherwise. Scholarships from other providers set their own deadlines, so check the provider’s page.

Your dashboard shows saved scholarships, deadlines, application statuses and next steps in one place. Turn on deadline reminders in your account to get an email before a date.

Applications are reviewed against the selection criteria on the scholarship’s page, by our team and, for donor-funded scholarships, the donor. Decisions are final. The Scholarship rules explain the details.

We email you and notify you in the app. A winner has 14 days to accept, so keep your email address current and check your spam folder around the announcement date.

Each scholarship’s page shows its announcement date. For AspireOpen scholarships, winners are announced 14 days after the deadline.

AspireOpen awards are paid to your school for tuition and fees after the school confirms your enrollment. There’s no paperwork for you, and 100% of the award goes to the recipient through their school.

Tell us through the Contact page and we’ll explain what happens next. An award that can’t be paid within the time we give you may be forfeited.

Winners are responsible for any taxes that apply to their award. A tax adviser can tell you what applies to you.

No. We don’t sell your personal information or share it for cross-site advertising. We share your application only with the scholarship you apply to. The Privacy policy lists everything we collect and who helps us run the service.

No. You never need government ID numbers or bank details to apply on AspireOpen.

We store them so your application can be reviewed, and we share them with the scholarship you applied to. We don’t use your essays for anything else without asking you.

Be careful with any offer that asks you to pay a fee, send bank details or a Social Security number, or says you’ve won a scholarship you never applied for. AspireOpen never charges you. If a listing worries you, tell us through the Contact page.