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 details such as 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 + Add New in the top right.
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
Scholarship Title (required): The advertised title of your scholarship. This is public-facing, so do not enter any internal information here.
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.
Department: If a specific department is assigned to the scholarship, you may link it 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 'Donors' 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 with each scholarship. If you need to disassociate a Donor from a scholarship, click the trash can icon.
Internal Notes section
Lastly, an Internal Notes field is available. Here you can add any additional information about the scholarship. This information is only visible internally.
Application Date section
The Application 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 the 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
Non-Monetary Award
Not every scholarship is a check. Tick Non-Monetary if this scholarship confers something other than money: a trophy, a certificate, equipment, a fee waiver, an internship placement.
This can only be set when you create the scholarship. An existing scholarship cannot be converted to non-monetary later, and a non-monetary one cannot be converted to a cash award.
When ticked, two things change:
How is this award granted? becomes required. Choose what the student actually receives: Trophy, Certificate, Recommendation, Internship, Waiver, Device, Housing, Permit, Membership, Certification, and others. If none fit, choose Other and describe it. This is what students see, so pick the most specific option available.
Estimated Value replaces a dollar amount. It is optional and it is for your reporting only. It is not treated as cash, does not appear in giving totals, and does not affect a student's financial aid.
Total Awards works exactly as it does for a cash scholarship, capping how many can be given.
Disbursement Schedule section
If you have more than one payment per award, you'll see the Disbursement 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:
Select the Award Cycle to copy the scholarship to (you may choose the current cycle or any upcoming cycle).
Confirm or update the new scholarship title.
Click Confirm to finalize the duplication.
What’s copied over:
Scholarship Details
Qualifications
Additional requirements
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.