Education

Scholarship Application Template

A scholarship application form is a form that collects a student's academic record, activities, financial circumstances, a personal essay and supporting documents so a selection committee can award funding on merit, need or both. This template keeps the financial questions optional for merit-only applicants and gathers transcripts and references as private uploads.

Use this template — freeTry it first
21 questions
4 pages
~7 min
To fill in
Modern layout
Mobile-ready
Free
No credit card
Scholarship Application form beside a photo of a young woman writing notes in a library

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Who it's for

Community foundations, alumni associations, rotary and civic clubs, schools, colleges and family scholarship funds.

  • A local foundation's annual scholarship for graduating high school seniors
  • A university department award for continuing students
  • A need-based grant for first-generation college students
  • A memorial scholarship run by a family or alumni group

What this template asks

Every question can be changed, removed or reordered once it's yours.

About you

  1. First name*

    Short text

  2. Last name*

    Short text

  3. Email*

    Email

  4. Phone*

    Phone number

  5. Date of birth*

    Date

  6. Mailing address*

    Long text

Academics and activities

  1. Current school, college or university*

    Short text

  2. Year of study this fall*

    Multiple choice

    • Incoming first-year
    • Second year
    • Third year
    • Fourth year or above
    • Graduate student

  3. Cumulative GPA*

    Number

    On a 4.0 scale

  4. Intended major or field of study*

    Short text

  5. Activities, work and volunteering*

    Long text

    List each with your role and hours per week

  6. Honors and awards

    Long text

    Optional

Financial need

  1. Would you like to be considered for need-based funding?*

    Multiple choice

    • Yes
    • No, merit only

  2. People in your household

    Number

    Answer if applying for need-based funding

  3. Annual household income

    Multiple choice

    Answer if applying for need-based funding

    • Under $30,000
    • $30,000 to $59,999
    • $60,000 to $99,999
    • $100,000 to $149,999
    • $150,000 or more
    • Prefer not to say

  4. Will you be the first in your family to attend college?

    Multiple choice

    • Yes
    • No
    • Not sure

  5. Other scholarships or aid you have received

    Long text

    Optional

Essay and documents

  1. Essay: describe a challenge you have faced and what you learned from it*

    Long text

    About 500 words

  2. Unofficial transcript*

    File upload

  3. Recommendation letter

    File upload

    Optional. From a teacher, counselor or employer

  4. Certification*

    Checkboxes

    • I certify that this application is my own work and the information is true

Tips for more responses

  1. 1

    Use conditional logic to show the household finance page only to applicants who ask for need-based consideration.

  2. 2

    Invite committee members to the form so several reviewers can read applications and compare per-question charts.

  3. 3

    Set a closing date and time in Form Settings so applications stop exactly at your deadline.

Questions

What should a scholarship application form include?

Contact details, school and year of study, GPA or grades, intended major, activities and awards, a personal essay, transcript and recommendation letter uploads, and, for need-based awards, household size and income range. End with a statement that the information is true.

How long should a scholarship essay be?

Most scholarships ask for 250 to 650 words. This template caps the essay at 4,000 characters, about 600 to 700 words; change the limit to match your prompt.

Should I ask for exact household income?

Only if your award is need-based, and income ranges are usually enough at the application stage. Ask for tax documents later from finalists only, which limits how much sensitive data you hold.

How do I compare applications fairly?

Export applications to Excel or CSV and score each one against the same rubric, such as academics, essay, activities and need. Removing names from the copy reviewers see helps reduce bias.

Is this scholarship application template free?

Yes. Copy it into a free Dculus Forms account, change anything you like and start collecting responses. No credit card is needed.

Can I change the questions?

Yes. Your copy opens in the form builder, where you can add, remove and reorder questions, change the layout and add your own branding.

Where do the responses go?

Responses arrive in your Dculus Forms workspace. You can export them to Excel or CSV, send them to Google Sheets or a webhook, and get email notifications.

Can I host it myself?

Yes. Dculus Forms is open source (GPLv3), so you can run it on your own servers and keep every response in your own database.

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