Financial Aid Scholarships

The majority of Foothill scholarships have a deadline of December 31. See what to expect by month throughout the academic year to prepare to apply.

• Applying for scholarships is a competitive process. Please be aware that not every student who applies for scholarships will win.
• If you don't meet the minimum criteria for a scholarship that you apply for, your application will not be considered for that scholarship.
• If you fail to attach a legible copy of any of the required documents for a scholarship, such as your Foothill College transcript, resume, etc., your application for that scholarship will be incomplete and it will not be considered.
• All required documents must be submitted online. The Financial Aid Office does not accept any documents, such as letters of recommendation, on a student’s behalf.
• You can go to the Foothill College Teaching & Learning Center in Building 3600 to scan your academic transcripts for FREE.
• Once you’ve applied for Foothill scholarships, you can monitor the status of those applications in AcademicWorks by going to the Applications tab and clicking on “Active”.
• There is no limit to how many scholarships you can apply for. However, please be sure to review and verify that you meet the minimum qualifications for a scholarship prior to applying.
• Most scholarships disburse during Spring or Fall quarters of each academic year. Please note that in order for the Foothill College system to disburse your scholarship funds, you must be enrolled in at least six units for the term, unless otherwise stated in the scholarship posting.

Many scholarship essay prompts cover similar themes, such as describing your greatest accomplishment. Because of this, you can often adapt or reuse strong responses to save time.

While some applications call for formal, academic answers, others allow you to draw from personal interests or hobbies, which can make writing easier and more enjoyable. Occasionally, you’ll even encounter creative prompts—like sharing your favorite food experience or a meaningful travel memory.

Before submitting, ask a few trusted people, ideally those with recent writing or editing experience, to review your essay and provide feedback. Be sure to leave yourself enough time to proofread carefully and catch any errors.

• Download Tips for writing "My Story" Essay.

Most scholarships are posted on our website Financial Aid Programs under the "Scholarships" link. If you click on the "See list of current scholarship opportunities and deadlines" link, you will enter into a section of scholarships that are generally advertised in mid-October and have a deadline of mid-February.

To apply for one or more of scholarships from this section, you would need to complete a general application. Once you have completed the general application, you can begin applying for Foothill scholarships that you meet the qualifications for.
If you click on "Outside Scholarship listing" link, you will enter into a scholarship section where Foothill College posts a vast variety of scholarships offered by different agencies.

This application process is different from the one above. Students must follow guidelines of an individual scholarship and apply for each of them separately.

Third section of the Foothill College Scholarship Page is the "Additional Scholarship Recourses". This section provides more links and search engines where students may look for additional scholarship funds.

Federal regulations require that all Financial Aid assistance you receive be taken into consideration when awarding aid. This means that outside scholarships must be used to meet your financial need.

The college will use any outside scholarship you are awarded to replace an equal amount of loan or work-study funds you would have otherwise received before they reduce your grant aid.

Scholarship funds are disbursed to students through BankMobile Disbursements, a technology solution, powered by BMTX, Inc. For more information, visit our BankMobile Disbursements Refund Choices webpage.