Paying for college can sometimes be students’ biggest hurtles. It is not always easy to balance academics, extracurricular activities for resumes and a job to pay for tuition. One of the best ways to relieve some of the financial burden is to earn scholarships. Scholarships are preferable to loans because students don’t have to pay them back.

Typically, the hardest part in the application process is finding the scholarships. The best place to start is the college or university’s website. Most schools have special funds set aside as financial aid for students.

According to the Washburn website, Washburn University disburses more than $53 million in federal, state, institutional and outside resources every year.

At Washburn, the simplest scholarship to get is the Freshman Academic Scholarship. This scholarship is only for high school students with a cumulative score of 21 or higher on the ACT, as well as a 3.0 GPA or better to qualify for the scholarship. If those requirements are met, the amount of money offered increases as your ACT score and GPA increase. This scholarship is renewable for up to four years. The application can be found online and is due by Dec. 1 every year.

The next scholarship is the Transfer Academic Scholarship. Similar to the freshman scholarship above, the Transfer scholarship requires at least a 3.0 GPA. Students are only eligible if they have completed at least 24 credit hours at a Kansas or Missouri community college. This scholarship is also renewable for up to four years. The deadline for this scholarship is Feb. 15. 

Transfer students that are members of Phi Theta Kappa are eligible for a one-time $1,000 scholarship. In addition, transfer students who are named to the All-Kansas Academic team are also eligible for a one-time $1,000 scholarship and the deadline is Feb. 15.

The Alumni Association offers a Legacy Scholarship to anyone who has attended or who has a relative that attended Washburn University or Washburn Institute of Technology. Their legacy connection must be a dues paying member of the Alumni Association. The deadline is Dec. 1.

The Leadership Institute offers a renewable scholarship to current students that are active in the Leadership Institute. To accept the Leadership scholarship the student must participate in Washburn University’s Leadership Institute, maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 and earn a leadership studies minor or certificate. Applications are due Jan. 31 and can be found on the Leadership Institute page on the Washburn website.

Sophomore pre-nursing student Katrina Hinojosa received the scholarship when she was an incoming freshman.

“The scholarship really helped relieve some of the financial burden,” said Hinojosa. “I think every student should apply for scholarships.”

The Mary N. Fix Natural Sciences Scholarship is a renewable scholarship awarded to select incoming freshmen whose primary course of study is within physics, biology or chemistry. Students who are interested in teaching science at the secondary level are also eligible. The scholarship is renewable for up to four years. Typically, six students receive the Mary Fix award each year. The application can be found on Washburn’s website on the financial aid tab under departmental scholarships. The application deadline is Jan. 31.

For students that have declared a major, the departments offer multiple scholarships. Nearly every department offers scholarships, but they can be difficult to find. The best course of action is to look on the financial aid website to see if the department offers scholarships and then contact that department and ask how to apply.

Filling out the FAFSA also opens a lot of scholarship doors. This is highly recommended to all students seeking financial aid.

For more information about available scholarships and whether certain websites are a scam, contact the financial aid office at 785-670-1151 or email at [email protected].