The Future of Scholarships

We explore emerging trends in scholarship opportunities.

 

Technology is shaping the landscape of scholarships. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic – along with the recent rise of AI innovation – college applicants might feel overwhelmed by the enormous amount of available online resources.

However, through platforms like Red Kite, access to financial aid has been completely streamlined. We’re here to break down just a few ways the financial aid scene has developed, and how it may look in the future.

 

Utilizing online scholarship platforms like Red Kite.

Websites and mobile apps have been revolutionizing the scholarship search process for decades. It is now easier than ever for students to discover and apply for scholarships tailored to their interests, qualifications, and unique circumstances.

 

Red Kite’s Search Engine provides access to over $25 billion in available scholarships and financial aid. Our features include personalized recommendations based on students’ profiles, notifications for new scholarship opportunities, and career connection and advice.

Through our blog, we also explore tips for writing your college essay, and are launching an essay review series, where Kite Writer Jane Cooper will be analyzing successful, scholarship-winning essays. Our blog and social media are informationally diverse – we want to cover all aspects of preparing for college, including informative articles such as this one.

 

Alternative funding models (GoFundMe).

Crowdfunding platforms allow students to create campaigns to raise funds for their education, tapping into their social networks and beyond. One of the best-known companies is GoFundMe, where users create donation pages on behalf of their own personal causes.

But it’s important to remember that GoFundMe is a for-profit company. It applies a 2.9% payment-processing fee for each donation, and an additional 30 cents per donation. For example, if a campaign raises $1,000 through ten donations of $100 each, GoFundMe would collect approximately $32.

On the other hand, we have also seen a rise of employer-sponsored scholarships, which are offered by companies to support employees and their families. These provide opportunities for career advancement while pursuing higher education.

One specific example on Red Kite is the the Dependent Children of Texas A&M Employee Scholarship, which is designed to recognize the contributions of TAMU employees by rewarding their children based on need and academic achievement.

Then we have community-based initiatives. These involve collaborations between local businesses, organizations, and educational institutions to establish scholarship funds tailored to the needs of the community. Sticking to the Texan theme, the Brian Morris College Gateway Scholarship Fund assists graduating high school seniors from San Antonio, with preference to students who demonstrate good citizenship and community involvement.

 

 

Post-COVID impact and innovation

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated financial stresses for students and their families. Job losses, reduced income, and unexpected remote learning expenses have strained household budgets, making scholarships and financial aid more crucial than ever. Many students who might not have considered applying for financial aid before the pandemic now find themselves seeking assistance.

In response to the immediate economic distress caused by the pandemic, many institutions and organizations established emergency funds and relief grants. The HOPE In Action Scholarship was launched to target Louisianan students who have lost a parent or parents to COVID-19.

These days, we’re seeing a rise of non-tuition-related scholarships for this very same reason. The Triangle Community Foundation offers their Student Assistance Fund, which provides one-time cash assistance to eligible students to assist with needs that would otherwise hinder them from completing their academic program, such as dormitories, food pantries, and mental health services that they are unable to access.

Virtual scholarship fairs, online application portals, and remote interview processes have also become more common, allowing students to access scholarship opportunities from anywhere with an internet connection.

 

 

Continued focus on diversity and inclusion.

Scholarship programs are increasingly emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a growing number of awards targeting underrepresented minority groups. These include LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities, first-generation college students, and much more.

These scholarships aim to address systemic barriers and provide equal access to education and opportunities for all students. The Minority Teaching Fellows Program, intended to encourage talented students to enter the teaching field in Tennessee, awards $5,000 per year for POC (people of color) who pursue a teacher certification at an eligible Tennessee college or university.

Regardless of what adversity or discrimination you may be facing, you can be a part of the most diverse college class of all time.

 

 

Future skills and career pathways

Red Kite now offers a comprehensive Career section, where our aim is to continue to assist students beyond college. We help you explore your dream career, discover employment opportunities, and even manage your deadlines.

 

Scholarships are also increasingly focused on preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow. Fields such as STEM, healthcare, sustainability, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity are experiencing high demand for skilled professionals.

By embracing these future trends, the financial aid sphere is adapting to the evolving needs of students and the workforce, ensuring that education remains accessible and relevant in an increasingly digital and interconnected world.

Your future is bright, and Red Kite is here to help you navigate this complicated, ever-changing world. Students are the most invaluable resource for the world’s future. You don’t have to grow alone.

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Debunking Scholarship Myths: What You Really Need to Know

We break down common misconceptions about scholarships and financial aid.

Applying to college can feel complicated and overwhelming. Here at Red Kite, our goal is to simplify the process and streamline your access to financial aid.

Both students and parents alike have many understandable questions and concerns about scholarships. Here are just a few examples of widespread financial aid myths, and why your chances at college are much higher than you may realize.

Myth #1: You can’t afford college.

Many students don’t even apply to the university of their dreams because they know they won’t be able to afford the tuition. Additional fees also add up: living in the dorms, textbooks, meal plans… The average cost of college has more than doubled in the 21st century, with in-state tuition averaging at $9,678; out-of-state tuition averages $27,091.

Scholarships and financial aid help to alleviate this financial burden in a variety of ways. By offsetting college expenses, resources like Red Kite help students graduate with less or no debt. High levels of student loan debt can have long-term financial consequences, but small loans combined with scholarships mitigate these risks and help students start their post-graduation lives on stronger financial footing. Over 83% of full-time, first-time undergraduate students receive at least some form of financial aid to help make college more affordable.

Our Red Kite Search Engine provides instant access to the Red Kite Database, which complies over $25 billion in financial aid. These include no-essay scholarships, fun scholarships (like the Taylor Swift Fan Scholarship), and much more. Through financial aid, any college becomes more affordable, even if you don’t have the best GPA.

Myth #2: Scholarships are only for straight-A students.

While academic achievement can certainly help with your chances of receiving scholarships, many programs consider various factors beyond your grades. Extracurricular activities, community service, leadership roles, and unique talents or skills are all excellent advantages.

Scholarships are also intended to diversify the educational sphere and grant access to marginalized groups. There are plenty of targeted scholarships for underprivileged individuals, such as the Single Parent Household Scholarship, which targets exceptional students raised in a single-parent household, or students who are single parents themselves and pursuing a degree in education.

Kite Writer Jane Cooper had a 2.7 GPA at the beginning of her junior year of high school. By the end of her senior year, she had been offered a cumulative $406,000 in scholarships. A high GPA is far from the only route to scholarships and financial aid.

Myth #3: Scholarships are only for incoming freshmen.

While there are indeed many financial aid opportunities aimed at incoming freshmen, there are also scholarships available for current college students, graduate students, and even adult learners returning to school. It’s never too late to search for and apply to scholarships.

Myth #4: You have to be a U.S. citizen to receive financial aid.

While some federal financial aid programs require U.S. citizenship or eligible noncitizen status, many scholarships and state-funded financial aid programs are available to eligible noncitizen students, including DACA recipients and certain categories of undocumented immigrants. Additionally, some colleges offer institutional aid to international students.

Myth #5: Once you get a scholarship, you’re set for all four years of college.

Many scholarships are renewable, meaning you can receive them for multiple years, but they often come with conditions – such as maintaining a certain GPA or participating in specific activities. Additionally, some scholarships are one-time awards, so it’s essential to plan for funding for all four years of college.

Now that you have a more clear understanding of the financial aid process, be sure to check out myredkite.com to continue your college pursuit. We are here to help – and to debunk!

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The Essay that Won Me $406,000

Jane introduces us to her multi-scholarship-winning essay.

Jane Cooper: Red Kite writer, YouTuber, and mom to a belligerent silver tabby.

Sitting pretty with a 2.7 GPA in your junior year of high school doesn’t exactly scream “scholarship.” The year before, my older sister – who aspired to be a rocket scientist (no, literally) – had gotten rejected from 3 of the colleges she’d applied to. And she had a 4.0. No pressure, right?

And yet, in December of my senior year, I found myself gut sobbing on my mother’s kitchen floor, clutching a book-sized envelope to my chest. The highest one of them all – a $112,000/year scholarship offer. I suppose that you’re now wondering the exact same thing as I was in that moment: how in the world did this happen?

I won’t keep you hanging, but it’s important for me to note that we live in an ever-evolving, ever-competitive world, and it took a dedicated support system to pull me up by my whiny bootstraps.

Of course, I give full credit to my college counselor and my lovely parents (with their saintlike patience) for connecting me to where I needed to go. They also used resources like Red Kite (heyyyyy) to narrow down the application pool to schools with reputations for being generous with scholarships.

Before applying, I had never heard of any of the three schools that extended scholarship offers to me, but their writing programs were reputable, and my amazing counselor correctly guessed that they’d be a good fit for me.

But there’s only so much anyone can do to help you out, especially when you’re a moody teenage girl convinced that her prospects of getting into college at all are pretty much nonexistent. You have to want it, and want it bad. And the best way you can show colleges just how much you want to be there is through your essay.

Christmas diploma – BA in English Literature and Creative Writing (with Emphases in Fiction and Nonfiction) and a minor in Women’s studies.

I lucked out by having so many supportive people around me, and although I recognize that privilege, I also know that these days, there are so many resources available for kids who are navigating this process all on their own. Red Kite – our free, personalized scholarship-finding platform – is one of them.

Another foolproof strategy is the ole learn-by-example, which is a recurring theme we want to offer on this blog. Watch people who succeed, learn how they did it, and incorporate their strategy into your own. No gatekeeping around here!

I don’t pretend to be the greatest writer in the world, nor that my college essay is perfect. Honestly, the first thing that comes to mind when I read back on this – along with a whole wave of cringe – is somewhere along the “bruh… you’re kidding” spectrum. But, facts are facts: this essay won me a cumulative $406,000 in scholarships.

We’ll dissect this essay more in-depth next week, where we’ll get our experts’ opinions on what exactly went right here – and what could’ve been better. We’ll update this page with a link to our analysis then.

For now, here’s my $406,000 college application essay.

Jane Cooper

College Essay for CommonApp

While I was creating each of my novels, I had to think to myself, “how do I make people who don’t know me care about my work, even if they have no reason to?” The same goes for personal essays like this. Anyone can talk up and down about all the things they had to overcome and their accomplishments in their life, but the difference is how it is told. The answer has unequivocally always been to embellish, exaggerate, and create sympathy. This is not what I plan to do here.

Instead, I would like to introduce the truth of my own story, as raw and unbiased as I can manage. I hope to symbolize the confidence I have that the truth alone is enough to set me apart from other essay writers, applicants, and authors.

I was born in Austin, Texas to a mother who earned a Bachelor’s in Journalism at the University of Texas and self-published a book of autobiographical columns. My father also dabbled in poetry, and we like to joke that I took their flairs for writing and multiplied them exponentially.

I wanted to be a writer before I could write. When I was two, I would scribble nonsense in notebooks, then read them out loud as if they were actual books. It has always been a deep passion ingrained within me to the point where it feels as natural as breathing or eating. During my childhood, I had so many ideas that I never ended up completing anything I wrote, because I would too quickly move on to the next one. Eventually, I had thousands of unfinished books, ranging from 2 to 250 pages.

After my family moved to New York when I was in elementary school, I faced abuse at the hands of teachers and family members, suicidal tendencies, and crippling anxiety that would go on to take almost a decade to overcome. I began to slow down, and I finished a 45 thousand word book when I was 12, my first ever novel. It allowed for the confidence that I was actually able to complete my ideas, but more than that, it set the tone for the next five books that I would go on to write.

I joined a website for writers in 2013. It took another 2 years, but eventually, my work began to take off on the site, and in 2018, I had over 100,000 followers, and I’d racked up above 70 million views across my various books. Because I was still a minor, the site placed advertisements on my work, and never paid me for them. Eventually, they deleted my profile and all of my writing over this money dispute, and I was back to square one. I had spent 4 years of my life creating on this site, and now had nothing to show for it except for screenshots and memories.

After moving back to Texas and going through 3 high schools in 3 years, I finally found God and began meditating, effectively curing the anxiety that had crippled me since my childhood. Now, I am a straight-A student about to publish a second novel to Amazon, and my comedy-based YouTube channel has almost 1,500 subscribers. I also volunteer at a local organization teaching creative writing to underprivileged 2nd graders once a week. It’s small compared to what I achieved on the writing site, but I’m proud of it, and most importantly, I’m happy.

Only a year ago I had lost so much, and although I’m still suffering from certain aftereffects of that loss, I now firmly know I am strong enough to face anything. Nobody and nothing can take away my potential, my determination, and my talent.

My name is Jane Cooper. It took some time for me to see it, but I know my future is full of greatness.

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Scholarships for Black Americans

Photo by William Stitt on Unsplash

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” -Nelson Mandela

In celebration of Black History Month, we are highlighting eight scholarships specifically for Black Americans! We’ve included scholarships for students with a variety of backgrounds and interests. Your ethnicity, race, and heritage is part of what makes you unique, celebrate your individuality with with a scholarship! 

Continue reading Scholarships for Black Americans →

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