Writing a scholarship thank you letter is an important last step if you win a scholarship!

Let’s say you just won a scholarship. Awesome, right? Your hard work and dedication to applying for scholarships paid off. However, just because you win a scholarship doesn’t mean you are all done. Your next step is writing a scholarship thank you letter or email!

Why should you write a thank you letter?

Scholarships exist because of the generosity of others. This includes money that is donated by funders, as well as the time it takes for the scholarship committee to read your application and make a decision.

When I worked in college admissions, I chaired our college’s scholarship selection committee and saw first-hand all of the hard work that was involved in this process.

Writing a thank you note is a great way to show your gratitude and appreciation for those who want to help students pay for college.

Should you write a handwritten note or an email?

When writing a scholarship thank you letter, the first choice you need to make is whether to send a thank you note or a thank you email. In a digital world, it can be a nice novelty to send a handwritten thank you note, so if you can, this is a nice gesture.

However, it is not always possible to send a thank you note. For instance, you may not have a physical address for the person who funded the scholarship. In this case, a thank you email is completely fine and will also be appreciated.

How to write a scholarship thank you letter

Once you are sitting on your kitchen table with a card or in front of your computer, you will want to think about what goes into a thank you note. Generally, a scholarship thank you letter should include a few components:

• Specifically thank the scholarship organization, committee, or funder for granting you the scholarship.
• Next, you will want to talk about what you plan to use the scholarship for. Try to be as specific as possible and discuss the college or university you plan to attend, what you hope to major in, and any other aspirations you have.
• Finally, you can close the letter with another “thank you” and your first and last name.

Your thank you does not need to be anything crazy. A brief paragraph is great and this whole process should only take 5-10 minutes. Remember, this 5-10 minutes will absolutely make someone’s day. Scholarship providers love to hear about how their scholarship has impacted you and supported your dreams.