Scholarships are incredibly helpful for college students, but not all of them give you a chance to make quick money when you need it most. Fortunately, easy scholarships to apply for are just around the corner with our list of scholarships that are easier to apply for than others. These no essay scholarships give you a chance to earn some much-needed cash for school without spending hours on one application.
Niche Scholarship (Monthly)
Provided by: Niche
Eligibility: Must be a U.S. citizen or legal International student enrolled in high school, college, or graduate school, or planning to enroll within 12 months
Deadline: 20th of each month
Available to: Students 13 or older
Award amount: $1,000
There are several Niche scholarships students can apply for, but its monthly $1,000 scholarship requires nothing more than filling out a simple form with your basic information. Niche notifies winners via e-mail and on its website each month.
ScholarshipPoints Monthly Points-Based Scholarships
Provided by: ScholarshipPoints
Eligibility: Must be a legal resident of the United States who is currently enrolled in college or university, or planning to attend
Deadline: 31st of each month (or 30th for months with 30 days)
Available to: Students 13 or older
Award amount: $1,000 or $10,000
ScholarshipPoints awards its registered members scholarships each month and quarter. To apply, registered users can trade in their points for entries into the scholarship. You can use more points to enter multiple times.
Niche School Survey Sweepstakes
Provided by: Niche
Eligibility: Must be a student, or parent of a student, enrolled in grades K-12 or graduated within the last four years
Deadline: June 30th
Available to: Students 13 or older
Award amount: $1,000
For this scholarship, entrants need to review their current school district or have their parents do so. Responses remain anonymous, and Niche will use them to help other families find the right school near where they live. Niche chooses its winners via random drawing, rather than the quality of the review.
The “Tell A Friend” Scholarship Sweepstakes
Provided by: Scholarships.com
Eligibility: Must have a valid, complete profile on Scholarship.com
Deadline: June 30th
Available to: Students 18 or older, or younger with parental consent and ability to sign for the award
Award amount: $500 for you and $500 for a friend
Scholarships.com members can enter this scholarship sweepstake by entering their information to receive a unique referral code. You can use your code to send to friends who are also students. If they create an account on Scholarships.com, you’ll receive an entry into the sweepstakes to win $500 for you and $500 for your friend.
Sweet and Simple Scholarship
Provided by: Unigo
Eligibility: Must be a U.S. citizen, currently enrolled in a higher education program, or will be enrolled by Fall 2024
Deadline: February 28th
Available to: Students 13 or older
Award amount: $1,500
As a student, you’ll have several Unigo scholarships to choose from, all with unique themes and purposes. Unigo only requires its applicants for the Sweet and Simple Scholarship to write a short, 250-word response to its current prompt.
The Debt.com Scholarship for Aggressive Scholarship Applicants
Provided by: Debt.com
Eligibility: Must be a current student or soon enrolling in college who has previously entered several scholarships and has proof of entering
Deadline: June 1st
Available to: High school seniors, undergraduates, and graduates
Award amount: $500, several cycles per year
Have you already applied to hundreds of scholarships? Debt.com provides the perfect scholarship for students who have already applied to several. Debt.com awards this scholarship at least six times per year for students who have proof that they’ve already applied to other scholarships. You can upload proof of e-mail confirmations or forward them to Debt.com.
Flavor of the Month Scholarship
Provided by: Unigo
Eligibility: Must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, currently enrolled in an institute of higher education, or planning to enroll in Fall 2023
Deadline: July 31st
Available to: Students 13 or older
Award amount: $1,500
Another fun and easy Unigo scholarship is the Flavor of the Month Scholarship, which only requires students to talk about their favorite ice cream flavor and which one they’d be if they could choose. Your response must be 250 words.
Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship
Provided by: Unigo
Eligibility: Must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, currently enrolled in an institute of higher education, or planning to enroll in Fall 2023
Deadline: October 31st
Available to: Students 13 or older
Award amount: $2,000
If you’re all about the zombie apocalypse craze, this fun scholarship could be perfect for you. To win $2,000 toward school costs, simply explain in about 250 words how you would avoid zombies during the apocalypse and what five things you’d want to bring with you.
U.S. Bank Scholarship
Provided by: U.S. Bank
Eligibility: Must be a current undergraduate student at a two-year or four-year institution; online campuses are not eligible
Deadline: October 27th
Available to: Students 13 or older
Award amount: $20,000
One lucky winner can have a good chunk of his or her tuition paid with this scholarship from U.S. Bank. Applicants can choose to watch Learning Website videos in their entirety to earn entries, or they can send a mail-in submission with their information on a 3 x 5 card.
10 Words or Less Scholarship
Provided by: StudentScholarships.org
Eligibility: Must be attending school in the upcoming Fall semester
Deadline: June 30th
Available to: 14 to 25-year-old students
Award amount: $500
This scholarship requires applicants to enter via the StudentScholarships.org Facebook page. You must ‘Like’ the Facebook page and then comment on the required post in only ten words or less.
Winning an Easy Scholarship
Although a scholarship may be easy to apply for, it’s important to note that it may not be as easy to win. Scholarships without lengthy essays often receive many entries and, therefore, you’ll be faced with heavy competition. Even monthly scholarships are only awarded 12 times per year, often to one or a few students per month, yet thousands to millions may enter because of how simple the application process is. But, don’t get discouraged; many scholarship websites post their winners on their sites to prove it can happen for students just like you.
The best thing you can do to increase your chances of winning is to follow each scholarship’s instructions carefully. They may be “easy” regarding applying, but they each have a set of rules that you must follow to be eligible. If you follow the instructions for eligibility and applying meticulously, you may be the next in line to win if the first chosen winner wasn’t eligible for lack of adherence to the rules.
When you’re searching for easy scholarships, though, you should be careful to avoid scams. Unfortunately, scammers prey on the people who need the money most, like college students. You may come across popups on websites claiming that you’ve just won a scholarship, for example. If you click on the page, it may offer a scholarship if you first pay a fee. No legit award will make you pay to receive it. Some other things to watch out for are:
- Web sites that claim you’ve won a scholarship without applying for it
- Scholarships only available to the first people who apply
- Ridiculous claims, like a scholarship is “guaranteed” to you if you complete a certain task
If you come across a scholarship you’re unsure about, search for it online. Scholarships with no mention anywhere else are often scams. You can also search through the database of Fastweb scholarships. Fastweb has an extensive listing of legitimate awards, so be wary of those that aren’t listed.
To report a suspected scholarship scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or National Fraud Information Center (NFIC).
