What Documents are Needed to Apply for a Scholarship?

You’ve found yourself in need of some academic help. Maybe you’re a student who has been accepted to college, or maybe your employer is offering you a scholarship, and now it’s time for you to apply for the money that will help cover those expenses. Congratulations! The process is more complicated than most people realize, but there are steps that can help make the process easier. Let’s take a look at what documents are needed when applying for scholarships so that we can figure out what will work best for your situation.

You’ll need to have a copy of your FAFSA Student Aid Report.

The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and it’s used to determine how much financial aid you can receive. You can submit a FASFA online or print out the PDF version and mail it in with your application materials.

You may be asked to submit a copy of your most recent tax return.

You may be asked to submit a copy of your most recent tax return. This is especially true if you are selected as a finalist for the scholarship, but it’s always good practice to have this information on hand anyway.

If you receive an award and are required to submit an IRS form W-9 (PDF), make sure that you have it available when applying for scholarships—you’ll need this information in order to complete your application.

You should always have a transcript on hand, whether unofficial or official.

You should always have a transcript on hand, whether unofficial or official. Transcripts are used to verify your GPA, college credits, major, and class standing. If you don’t have one that’s been verified by an institution in which you’ve completed courses (e.g., high school), then the scholarship won’t be awarded because it can’t be validated with this type of documentation alone.

Make sure you have the following documents before applying for a scholarship.

If you’re applying for a scholarship, make sure you have the following documents before applying:

• A completed FAFSA Student Aid Report.
• A transcript showing your grades and class standing. This can be found on your college’s website or in their admissions office.

If you don’t have these documents, ask your school about getting them from them and submitting them with your application materials so that it will not delay the processing of your scholarship application.

Conclusion

If you’re applying for a scholarship, make sure to have copies of all of your documents ready. These can be hard to come by—especially if they’re not from a recognized source. You might even want to take some time out of your schedule for this task and get it done before submitting an application.