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College Board Opportunity Scholarships: Everything You Need to Know
By
Lisa Freedland
Lisa Freedland is the Program Manager at Scholarships360, where she leads our scholarship research team. She adds new scholarships to our database, ensures each opportunity meets our rigorous quality and eligibility standards, and keeps our scholarships up-to-date with the latest information. Previously, she honed her research and writing skills as a Content Writer at Scholarships360, a Reviewer and Fact Checker at Gigafact and a Researcher at University of Southern California and University of California, Irvine.
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Maria Geiger is Director of Scholarship Services at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Applying to college? If so, you’re eligible for the College Board BigFuture Scholarships! These scholarships award you for going through the typical college application steps. Keep on reading to find out everything you need to know about these scholarships, from what they are, to eligibility requirements, to the application process, and more!
What are the College Board BigFuture Scholarships?
The College Board BigFuture Scholarships award students for going through the steps of applying to college, including researching colleges, applying to them, and all those in between.
We’ll delve further into each step later, but for now you should know that there are six total – each of which gives you a chance of winning a scholarship. Students who complete each of these are then entered to win a larger, $40,000 scholarship.
Without further ado, let’s get into eligibility requirements and the application process!
Check out: Scholarships360’s college admissions page
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the BigFuture Scholarships, applicants must be residing in any U.S. state, the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.), Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, or any other U.S. territories. Alternatively, applicants can be U.S. citizens or residents who attend a U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school outside the U.S. or its territories.
The Scholarship Program is open to students who have a high school graduation date of 2024, 2025 and 2026 as of December 4, 2023.
Lastly, applicants need a College Board online account. Luckily, these can easily be set up here.
Don’t miss: When to apply for scholarships
Are there income requirements for the College Board BigFuture Scholarships?
Nope! Anyone is eligible to apply for the BigFuture Scholarships – no matter their family income. However, half of the scholarships will be designated for students defined as “Lower Income Students.”
Students deemed “Lower Income” by College Board should be/have at least one of the following:
- Eligible to receive a fee waiver from College Board
- Attending a high-poverty school (where 75% or more of the students receive reduced-price or free lunch)
- A family Adjusted Gross Income of $60,000 or less
Related: How to get a college application fee waiver
How do I apply for the College Board BigFuture Scholarships?
Now that we’ve gone over what these scholarships are and their eligibility criteria, let’s go over how you can apply! The BigFuture Scholarships do not have a “traditional” application process – there are no essays or letters of recommendation required (although you may need these for your college applications).
To start, you first need to create a College Board online account (if you don’t have one already).
After this, so long as you complete the required college application steps, you’re entered to win scholarships. The steps are as follows:
Start your college list
Students should go to College Board BigFuture and create their own college list with at least three schools. Applicants should be logged onto BigFuture with their College Board account.
Start your career list
In order to qualify for this scholarship, students will need to save three or more careers on your career list on BigFuture. Make sure you are logged into your BigFuture account!
Start your scholarship list
Students must log onto Scholarship Search using their College Board account and save three or more scholarships on your scholarship list.
Related: Scholarships360 free search tool
Strengthen your college list
Create or edit your college list on College Board BigFuture to narrow it down to one “safety” school, two “match” schools, and three “reach” (harder to get accepted to) colleges. You must be logged onto BigFuture with your College Board account to be credited for doing so.
Check out: Safety, reach and match schools: everything you need to know
Complete the FAFSA
Students should complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) with their parents or guardian. For applicants who are not citizens or do not meet the required residency requirements to fill out the FAFSA, they may complete their state’s financial aid form instead (if available). If this is not available to applicants or they are also ineligible to fill out their state’s financial aid form, they may still earn credit for doing so (and earn an entry into the scholarship drawing) by indicating so to the College Board.
For those who have never filled out the FAFSA before, this guide provided by the U.S. Department of Education provides detailed steps that may help you through the process.
See also: FAFSA deadlines
Apply to colleges
Apply to a minimum of two colleges and update your status to applied, accepted, waitlisted or denied for these schools on your college list on BigFuture. If you applied to a binding Early Decision, you will be required to provide proof of your college applications if you are selected for one of the scholarships.
Remember: the more steps you complete, the more drawings you’re entered into and the greater your chances of winning scholarships!
Related: When should I apply to college?
Timeline
Each scholarship associated with one of the steps has a different opening and closing date, in which the students can complete the step and earn a drawing entry. However, the scholarships are awarded on a monthly basis. The eligibility for such monthly drawings ends at 11:59 pm EST on the last day of each month between the opening and closing date (see below). So, for each step completed, the applicant receives one entry in the monthly drawing for that scholarship.
For your convenience, here are the opening and closing dates for each scholarship:
- Start your college list
- Opens: December of Sophomore year
- Closes: June of Junior year
- Start your career list
- Opens: December of Sophomore year
- Closes: February of Senior year
- Start your scholarship list
- Opens: July before Senior year
- Closes: February of Senior year
- Strengthen your college List
- Opens: July before Senior year
- Closes: October of Senior year
- Complete the FAFSA
- Opens: October of Senior year
- Closes: February of Senior year
- Apply to colleges
- Opens: October of Senior year
- Closes: February of Senior year
Check out: What classes should I take senior year of high school?
Available Prizes
By now, you probably know that each step is associated with a scholarship.
However, you may be wondering, “How much is it?”
Great question!
For each step a student fulfills, they are entered into a monthly drawing to win $500 or $40,000.
There’s more good news – there’s more than one winner (which means the greater chances you have of winning)! Let’s get into the details about the scholarships and how many winners there are for each.
- $500 scholarships: There are 90 winners per month from February 2024 to March 2026. Additionally 90 winners per month will be selected among entrants who are Lower Income Students. (Students can win more than one $500 scholarship)
- $40,000 scholarships: There is 1 winner every 2 months from February 2024 to February 2026. There is an additional 1 winner who will be selected from Lower Income Students. (Students can win both a $500 and $40,000 scholarship)
And that’s it! We wish you good luck on your college (and scholarship) application process. If you have any more questions about the scholarships, we suggest checking out this very detailed FAQ provided by the College Board itself.
Key Takeaways
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- Vetted scholarships custom-matched to your profile
- Access exclusive scholarships only available to Scholarships360 members
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Frequently asked questions about the College Board BrightFuture scholarships
Can students win more than one scholarship?
How will students be notified if they win?
Can the scholarships be only used for tuition?
Do students have to take the SAT or PSAT to be able to apply for the scholarships?