Scholarly frustration funds

Portland State’s online scholarship application is due on the first of February. Students scramble to put together their applications, writing and rewriting essays, scrutinizing the requirements to make sure they haven’t missed anything and eliciting letters of recommendation wherever they can. Some will strike gold.

Most won’t. But that’s not unique to Portland State.

Scholarships are fantastic, if you can get them. They help ease the burden of paying ever-rising tuition costs and they help to reduce the debt with which most college students finds themselves plagued after graduation—an average of $21,000. But for a great number of students, scholarships are a constant frustration and an exercise in anger management. Many scholarships are so specific in their requirements that most students can’t apply for them, while general ones get so many applications that the student has better odds of winning the lottery. Many are non-renewable, and full-tuition scholarships are rare. Despite the constant reassurance that scholarships are out there, for the most part, they’re a disappointment and a half.

Scholarship programs are geared towards everyone who does not fall within the middle of the bell curve. There are need-based scholarships (now referred to as “income-based,” apparently), which are essentially available only to those whose family income is below a certain cutoff point. There are also merit-based scholarships, which take into account a person’s accomplishments, both academic and extracurricular. And there are ethnic/diversity-based scholarships.

Let’s start with need-based scholarships. On the surface, they’re brilliant. They offer the recipient a chance at a university education with minimal financial repercussions. After years of living with the uncertainty of whether they can even attend college, a student finds there are programs in place to help them achieve their dreams.

Then the reality sinks in. The scholarship usually won’t cover much of their bills at all. So, like the rest of us, they are forced to take out thousands of dollars in student loans and work part-time to make ends meet. The student might lose the scholarship altogether if they can’t keep their grades up, and then there’s an even greater burden on them to pay tuition. Maybe they get another scholarship; maybe they don’t. But they’re in a bind regardless.

Merit-based scholarships are also plentiful. They have a GPA cutoff most of the time, or a designated purpose, such as community involvement or the promise to work in a certain field. However, these are far more competitive than need-based scholarships. On one hand, over 4,000 people might apply for just one scholarship. On the other hand, the scholarship requirements might be so specific that only 25 people qualify for it. And with such fierce competition, most students will be left in the dust by the super-achievers with the 4.0 GPA, the 600 hours of community service and the moving essays with life experiences so poignant that other submissions hardly even register.

And then, there are the ethnic/diversity-based scholarships. These are straight-up genetics for the most part, and mostly for minorities. There are literally thousands of scholarships for pretty much every non-white ethnicity out there, and hundreds more for first-generation college students. Then there are scholarships for GLBTQ students as well, or for children of GLBTQ individuals. Nearly everything about these scholarships is based on the genetic lottery, and many people don’t qualify for them.

The scholarship system itself is terribly unfair to a lot of students. Need-based scholarships don’t take into account the fact that not everyone’s parents pay for their education. Ethnic/diversity-based scholarships tend to overlook everything except a person’s genetic or family background. And the requirements for merit-based scholarships tend to be so stringent or so wide that the chances of winning one are completely miniscule. And even if one receives a scholarship, it doesn’t mean they’ll stay in school or be able to afford the rest of the bill.

So if you can get a scholarship, good for you. The burden on loan repayment is lifted slightly for you. But for the majority of students, scholarships are a constant frustration designed with the best intentions.  ?