Ferris recently announced Phase I of ScholarshipUniverse, a personalized scholarship platform for students, after a delay in the release of Free Application for Federal Student Aid information.
Federal Student Aid announced that they were delaying the release of the 2024-25 FAFSA data to colleges until “the first half of March.” After Ferris receives this data, the release date for Phase II will be announced.
Phase I has over 10,000 external scholarships for students to apply for. Phase II will include all of the donor scholarships as many of them are “need-based,” so FAFSA information is needed to determine each student’s eligibility.
When students first open ScholarshipUniverse, they are asked to answer a series of questions about themselves and their family history. This includes military experience, medical history and job history.
The system tracks how many scholarships the student is eligible for as questions are answered, and more scholarships are recommended the more questions are answered.
Some students who have tried the platform have reported problems with the system’s recommended scholarships.
Digital animation and game design sophomore Maddie Epps said the recommended scholarships either do not match up with your answers or have very specific requirements that were not asked about.
“You’re spending time looking into the scholarships thinking you’ll apply, but you don’t qualify,” Epps said. “They give you all these options but it’s just wasting your time.”
One of the questions the system asks is if you are considering going to law school. Despite answering no to this question, Epps reported getting many recommended scholarships for law students.
Radiography junior Adrian Ewald said the platform allows you to filter for scholarships you’re a match for, but the matches are inaccurate.
“I used the filters but a lot of the scholarships still didn’t pertain to me and were for nursing students or required you to already work in your field,” Ewald said. “The hardest part was finding scholarships that are relevant to my program and I can actually apply for.”
Students also reported that some of the scholarships have video or essay requirements that are unclear on ScholarshipUniverse.
Despite these issues with the platform, many students agree that it is the best option they have right now and they’re eagerly awaiting the next phase.
The FAFSA information should be sent out to colleges soon, so look out for the Financial Aid Office’s announcement of the release date for Phase II.
The Financial Aid Office declined to comment at the time of this article.
Maddie Epps is a former Torch employee.
CE – RS