scholarship essay prompt

scholarship essay prompt

The Importance of Scholarships in Higher Education

1. Introduction

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further their education. Scholarships are awarded based upon various criteria, which usually reflects the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Scholarship money is not required to be repaid. During the 2009-2010 school year, 1,520,000 students received $3.6 billion in federal aid in the form of Federal Pell Grants. The average grant was around $2,700. This is down from 2,100,000 students who shared $5.3 billion in the 2008-2009 school year. The Academic Competitiveness Grant increased the largest, from $760,881,000 to $840,228,000. In the data released by the U.S. Department of Education, in the school year 2008-09, the average amount of money awarded to undergraduates from all types of financial aid was $11,500, not including federal education loans. This compares to an average of $10,500 in 2003-04, in 2009 dollars. The average amount for private schools and public schools was basically identical. This is primarily because of increases and improvements in federal aid. There was an average of $400 differences between the amounts given to students enrolled in 4-year public schools and students enrolled in 4-year private schools. In 2003-04, the difference was $1,000. This data shows that more people are receiving federal aid, and the amount of said aid is increasing. This is wonderful news for students and the future of our society. Education is key to the future of our society, and it is important for students to have every opportunity available to further their education.

2. The Benefits of Scholarships

“A scholarship makes a big difference in whether a student can attend the school of their choice. The impact of that can be life changing. It can affect the type of job a student is able to obtain, their professional development, and their ability to contribute to society. It sets a path for long-term success. Without an investment in education, the “cost” for society is a future where we have less opportunity to address social problems, a decrease in the quality of life and greater expense in the criminal justice system and social programs – an overall decline in the ability of future generations to reach their potential. Society benefits from an increased economy and well-informed citizens. Scholarship providers support the investment in human capital for both the student and the society.” This statement was taken from the article “Scholarship Programs and Services: A Study in Availability and Impact” which was written as a result of research study sponsored by the AIEF on the impact of scholarship programs. The article includes a summary of findings supporting the benefits of scholarships. According to the study, scholarships provide many benefits to students, including an increase in self-esteem as well as life satisfaction. Students who receive scholarships value the scholarship more than the money received, and feel more rewarded scholastically. An increase in self-esteem and life satisfaction is very important for students as it can influence the way in which they apply themselves in school and in the community. The article also states that scholarship recipients are more likely to complete and further their education. This is most likely due to the fact that many scholarships have certain GPA requirements, and students feel obligated to the scholarship provider to perform well academically. Upon receiving more education, students will have increased career opportunities. This means a wider variety of job choices and careers that are more fulfilling to the student. Oftentimes more education can also lead to increased income. A person with a Bachelor’s degree will earn more money in their lifetime than a person with just high school education. This increase in income will give the student economic mobility. Economic mobility is an important key to breaking the cycle of poverty and an increase in income for college graduates will contribute to a better economy and an improved society. With more job opportunities and increased income comes a greater tax contribution to the government. This is beneficial to society because increased tax revenues can be allocated to various areas to improve the quality of life for all citizens. This includes better education, more affordable healthcare and social programs, and increased national security.

3. Overcoming Financial Barriers

Scholarships are beneficial to students because it allows them to shift their focus from finding ways to make money for tuition, to achieving their academic goals without having to worry about anything. Students will also see their academic goals achievable realistically, as without the worry of financial burden, they can then dedicate more time to their studies. A student that is working a part-time job in addition to attending college must find a balance between work, studying, and relaxation. In order for this student to maintain his/her academic scholarship, the student must keep a certain grade point average. If the student is putting less effort into his/her studies in order to put more time in at work, this may result in the student losing his/her academic scholarship. Without detailed priorities and time management, this student will undergo a strenuous test of his/her will. This stressful situation may lead the student to question the availability of his/her academic achievement, whether it really is a realistic goal to strive for. A clear set of goals and increased time to achieve those goals will increase a student’s self-esteem and moral. Job security will also be increased, as the student with scholarship income will have less worry about losing funds for education. A student without a scholarship that has a sudden loss of income will likely result in getting more loans, which will increase the amount of debt after college. This will further drive the student away from his/her goals, creating a downward spiral of morale and self-confidence in the ability to achieve the academic goals.

Every year, a rapidly increasing number of students enroll in a college. Compared to years ago, college has become much more expensive due to the increasing demand. While student financial responsibility is also increasing, more students are in need of help to subsidize the costs. There are many different ways that students are getting financial aids for college, such as loans, personal savings, and part-time jobs. However, the most common form of financial aid is scholarships. Scholarship is a financial support awarded to a student, based on their academic achievement and is a payment. This is a huge relief for students, as they can now focus on their studies and less on the financial responsibilities.

4. Scholarships and Academic Achievement

One of the most observed presumptions in education is concerned with the monetary constraints on students’ academic achievement, mainly as a result of scholarships. There has only been a little study in this region and results are mixed. It is clear that scholarships are crucial for allowing students to access and persist in advanced education. Fifty-one percent of Australian university students said that financial stress had caused them to ponder whether they would continue their study (Heath and Smith 55). Similar results were found in the USA with fifty-three percent of students saying they had thought about the prospect of not finishing their degree due to high debt (Azar and LaLonde 117). In addition to enabling access and persistence, there is proof that scholarships can advance academic performance. Azar and LaLonde found that in the USA, receiving a scholarship with a monetary value of between $10,000 and $20,000 resulted in an average increase of 0.23 points in GPA. It is not clear what the main channel is in which scholarships advance academic performance. It is likely to be an indirect effect through lessening work commitments and allowing more time to study. The release of time stress can, in itself, advance academic performance. Nonetheless, it still could be that performance is advanced through the simple fact that scholarships permit access to education with students not needing to worry about financing tuition fees and other study costs. This can be seen with Azar and LaLonde finding no effect on GPA from scholarships meant solely to retain students in education, which they believe these students would have done even without the scholarship.

5. Conclusion

Scholarships are a very effective way to make up this “affordability gap.” Although data on scholarship recipients is not as precise as it should be, we know that students from more well-to-do families are disproportionately the recipients of “merit-based” scholarships, despite the fact that their families have the financial capability to pay for college. But need-based grants—especially those from federal aid programs, such as Pell Grants—are an important tool for increasing access to postsecondary education for low-income students. A recent experimental evaluation found that simplifying the FAFSA, thereby increasing take-up of federal aid and Pell Grants, can increase college attendance among low-income students. Step is owned by the SFAA.

The cost of college has historically been an important barrier to postsecondary access and persistence, and it remains so for many students today. The typical low-income student and his or her family can expect to be able to contribute little to the cost of postsecondary education from their earnings and assets, even if all available financial aid is utilized. For these students, the primary “affordability” barrier is the gap between the cost of attending college and the amounts they are able to pay.

This essay has shown that scholarships have a profound effect on the lives of students, especially in their quest to achieve a higher education. The long-term economic and social benefits of an educated populace, no one denies, are great. Yet, while the evidence is substantial that education beyond high school is a necessary condition for economic security and advancement, it is also clear that low-income and racial minority students have great difficulty in accessing higher education and completing a program of study. The growing importance of postsecondary education has thus not translated into greater equality of opportunity in American society.