Setting up a new scholarship in AwardSpring is a simple and flexible process. It starts with just a few required details—like the scholarship title, a public description, and application dates—and once those are entered, the scholarship can be saved and activated right away.
From there, you can build it out further by adding things like funding information, department associations, donor profiles, and internal notes.
Whether you’re setting up something brand new or duplicating an existing award, the platform makes it easy to customize each scholarship to fit your needs.
To create a new scholarship:
1. Navigate to the Scholarships tab and click on the 'Create New' button.
2. Begin creating your scholarship by entering information in the Details tab. Start with the three required fields:
- Scholarship Title
- Public Description
- Application Dates
These are the only fields you need to complete in order to create and save a new scholarship.
3. Once you've entered this information, click the Save button at the bottom of the page to complete the initial creation.
Below, you'll find a detailed explanation of each section, including optional fields you can use to further customize your scholarship setup.
* Scholarship Details section
1. * Scholarship Title (required): The advertised title of your scholarship. This is public-facing, so do not enter any internal information here.
2. Fund ID: Internal fund ID that your Financial Aid department might use to keep track of how the scholarship funds are distributed. Applicants will not see this information.
3. Department: If there is a specific department assigned for the scholarship, you may link the department to the scholarship.
First, you will need to create the department. Next, select the department from the drop down. Only one department can be associated with a scholarship. If you need to remove the department from a scholarship, choose the "Select Department" placeholder option.
4. * Public Description (required): An overview of the scholarship that might include scholarship or donor background, purpose of the scholarship, and/or any further clarifying information.
You may include scholarship qualifications here; however, all qualifications will be displayed on the scholarships page once configured (to learn how to add qualifications to a scholarship, click here).
Custom Fields section
You can use Custom Fields to track internal information specific to each scholarship. These fields are tailored to your site and can help capture details that are important to your organization.
This section and all custom fields are entirely optional. Click here to learn more about this feature.
Donors section
If there is a specific Donor for the scholarship, you may associate them here. First, you will need to create their account under the 'Users' tab. To learn how to do so, click here.
Next, select the Donor from the drop down menu. You can associate more than one Donor to each scholarship. If you need to disassociate a Donor from a scholarship, click the trash can icon.
Internal Notes section
Lastly, a field for Internal Notes is available. Here you can add any additional information about the scholarship. This information is only visible internally.
* Application Date section
The Application Period dates will auto-populate based on the default dates you entered for the Award Cycle.
While each scholarship must include both an open and close date, you can customize these dates at the individual scholarship level—as long as they fall within the overall Award Cycle timeframe.
Amounts section
1. Total Funds: Total value of the scholarship funds available to distribute across all awardees for that scholarship.
For example, if you are offering 3 awards of $500 each, you should enter 3 in the Total Awards box and $1,500 in Total Funds box.
2. Total Awards: Total number of students that will be awarded the scholarship.
3. Lifetime $: Lifetime Award Amount field auto-populates based on the amount indicated in Total Funds, divided by the Total Number of Awards.
4. # of Payments: Total number of payments/installments per award.
5. $ Per Payment: Amount distributed in each payment; this field auto-populates based on the amount indicated in Amount per Award, divided by # of Payments per Award
Renewable Schedule section
If you have more than one payment per award, you'll see the Renewable Schedule section. The Renewable feature allows you to set dates for future payments and manage the corresponding schedule and recipients. To learn more about renewables, click here.
Action section
Delete Scholarship: To delete a scholarship, scroll to the bottom of the scholarship page and click "Delete Scholarship". You’ll be asked to confirm this action before the scholarship is permanently removed.
Duplicate Scholarship: To create a copy of an existing scholarship, click "Duplicate Scholarship". In the popup that appears:
1. Select the Award Cycle to copy the scholarship to (you may choose the current cycle or any upcoming cycle).
2. Confirm or update the new scholarship title.
3. Click Confirm to finalize the duplication.
What’s copied over:
1. Scholarship Details
2. Qualifications
3. Additional requirements
4. Review group assignment
Important: Review and edit the duplicated scholarship as needed. All copied information should be updated if any details—such as eligibility criteria, award amounts, or due dates—need to be adjusted for the duplicated version.