Chances Of Winning A Scholarship

Each year, more one.7 million private scholarships and fellowships are awarded, with a total value of more $7.iv billion.

Scholarships and fellowships are a course of gift assist, which is financial aid that does not need to be repaid or earned. Private scholarships are independent, not-higher-controlled gift aid, often funded by foundations, corporations and philanthropists.

Scholarships are typically awarded to undergraduate students and fellowships are typically awarded to graduate and professional person school students.

This commodity provides information about scholarships statistics. A unlike commodity provides information well-nigh student loan statistics.

Did you lot know that scholarships are taxable? Use our Scholarship Revenue enhancement Calculator to figure out the taxable amount of your scholarships and calculate how much yous'll take to pay in taxes. Amounts used to pay for tuition and textbooks may be tax-gratuitous, merely amounts used to pay for living expenses are taxable.

Number and Amount of Scholarships

This table shows the number of scholarships and total amount of scholarships awarded to all undergraduate students. Information technology also reports the average scholarship amount per recipient and the percentage of undergraduate students using scholarships to pay for college.

Bookish Yr	Number of Scholarships	Total Amount of Scholarships	Average Scholarship	Percentage with Scholarships
1989-1990	526,000	$695 million	$ane,321	3.2%
1992-1993	639,000	$920 meg	$1,441	3.v%
1995-1996	594,300	$920 million	$1,547	3.half-dozen%
1999-2000	1,397,000	$two.9 billion	$two,065	eight.four%
2003-2004	i,289,900	$2.5 billion	$1,961	6.8%
2007-2008	1,092,400	$2.vii billion	$two,509	5.3%
2011-2012	1,811,500	$half dozen.two billion	$iii,431	7.9%
2015-2016	1,581,000	$6.ane billion	$three,852	8.1%

This table shows the data for 2015-16, broken down by undergraduate degree level.

Academic Degree Level	Number of Scholarships	Total Corporeality of Scholarships	Boilerplate Scholarship	Percentage with Scholarships
Certificate	54,300	$157,531,788	$two,901	3.1%
Associate's Caste	352,300	$992,896,990	$ii,818	4.four%
Bachelor's Degree	ane,154,300	$iv,850,366,291	$4,202	12.7%

There are more than a dozen free scholarship search sites that will match a student's background against a database of scholarships. The typical high school senior will friction match fifty to 100 such scholarships, depending, in part, on whether they reply the optional questions in add-on to the required questions.

Odds of Winning a Scholarship

The raw odds of winning a scholarship are about 1 in 8 for a student in a Bachelor'southward degree program.

Very few of these students will win a "free ride." Of students in Available's degree programs in 2015-xvi, only 1.5% got enough scholarships and grants to embrace 100% of the cost of attendance.

2.7% got enough to cover 90% of the toll of attendance, five.nine% got enough to encompass three quarters of the cost of omnipresence, and 18.8% got plenty to cover one-half of the price of attendance.

Of all undergraduate students, simply 0.1% got $25,000 or more in scholarships. 97% of scholarship recipients receive $2,500 or less in scholarships.

Number and Amount of Fellowships

This table shows the number of fellowships and total amount of fellowships awarded to all graduate and professional school students. It also reports the average fellowship amount per recipient and the percent of graduate and professional school students using fellowship to pay for college.

Bookish Twelvemonth	Number of Fellowships	Full Amount of Fellowships	Boilerplate Fellowship	Per centum with Fellowships
1995-1996	66,300	$218 million	$3,291	2.4%
1999-2000	158,600	$623 million	$3,927	6.0%
2003-2004	157,800	$573 million	$iii,629	v.half-dozen%
2007-2008	124,500	$716 million	$5,752	3.vi%
2011-2012	199,000	$ane.38 billion	$6,930	5.4%
2015-2016	189,500	$ane.28 billion	$half dozen,752	5.iii%

Graduate and professional person school students are less likely to receive fellowships than undergraduate students, only the average amount received is greater.

Characteristics of Scholarship Recipients

The odds of a student winning a scholarship vary according to student characteristics, such every bit grades, test scores, field of study and race.

Grades: Students with a 3.5 to iv.0 unweighted GPA are twice equally likely to win a private scholarship every bit students with less than a 3.0 GPA. 17.0% of students with a 3.5 or higher GPA win individual scholarships, compared with 13.1% of students with a 3.0 to 3.four GPA, 10.4% of students with a 2.five to two.nine GPA, viii.3% of students with a two.0 to ii.4 GPA, and vii.0% of students with less than a 2.0 GPA. So, even though almost scholarships exercise not consider a educatee's GPA, there is a strong correlation betwixt bookish functioning and odds of winning a scholarship.

Test Scores: Students with above-average Sat and ACT exam scores are more likely to win private scholarships. 12.9% of students with a SAT score of i,000 or more win individual scholarships, compared with 7.8% of students with a Sat score under 1,000. 12.iv% of students with an Human activity score of 21 or college win private scholarships, compared with 7.7% of students with an ACT score under 21.

Field of Study: xvi.2% of students majoring in STEM (science, applied science, engineering and mathematics) win individual scholarships, compared 11.5% of students pursuing non-Stalk fields.

Race: White students are more than likely to win a scholarship than minority students, xiii.8% vs. 11.2%. Amid students in Available's degree programs, near two-thirds (62.3%) are White, 11.viii% are Black or African-American, thirteen.6% are Hispanic or Latino, 6.i% are Asian, 1.6% are American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.iii% are Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and four.iii% are more than one race.

Impact of Scholarships on Higher Affordability

Although correlations do not prove causation, a dose-response relationship, where outcomes improve with increases in the amount of private scholarships, is suggestive of causation. If the dose-response relationship is initially flat, that may be a sign of a dependency on having a critical mass of scholarships relative to costs.

When a student wins a private scholarship, their souvenir aid covers a greater share of the cost of attendance.

Ratio of Gift Aid to Cost of Attendance Chart

The net price is the difference between the cost of attendance and gift aid. It is the real cost of college, the amount the family must pay from savings, income and loans. This chart shows that the net price remains unchanged regardless of the corporeality of scholarships, an indication that private scholarships allow recipients to purchase upwards to a more expensive college than they otherwise could afford.

Scholarships Keep Net Price Steady Despite Increases in College Cost Chart

Receipt of private scholarships causes students to shift their enrollment patterns to more-selective colleges. About two-thirds (67%) of students with private scholarships enroll at very or moderately selective colleges, compared with more than a tertiary (36%) of students who do not have private scholarships.

Scholarships Shift Enrollment to More-Selective Colleges Chart

This table shows other ways in which scholarship recipients "buy upward" to a better college. Scholarship recipients are more likely to enroll full-time, more likely to enroll at a 4-year higher, more likely to pursue a Bachelor's caste, more likely to enroll at a private not-profit college, and more likely to enroll at an out-of-state college.

Private Scholarships	Percent 4-Year	Pct Bachelor's	Percent Private Not-Profit	Percent Out-of-State	Per centum Full-Time
None	54%	44%	15%	15%	49%
Some	78%	73%	27%	18%	81%

Receipt of private scholarships too has an bear upon on outcomes, every bit shown in this table. The graduation rates are Bachelor'southward degree attainment rates for students enrolled in a Bachelor's degree programme. Curiously, the divergence in Bachelor'southward caste attainment rates is near 15% for four, 5 and 6 years.

Private Scholarships	four-Year Grad Rate	5-Yr Grad Rate	6-Year Grad Rate	Applied to Grad School
None	30.3%	49.5%	59.seven%	26.0%
Some	45.one%	64.6%	74.4%	28.3%

Methodology

The information in this report is based on the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a large quadrennial study of how students paid for their college education. The most contempo NPSAS, the 2015-16 NPSAS, surveyed 89,000 undergraduate students and 24,000 graduate students.