What is the scholarship award amount? Each scholarship has an award amount or range visible on its application page. If awarded, the amount will be based on the visible award amount and determined by the scholarship review committee and funds available. 

How do I know I’ve been awarded a scholarship? If awarded, you will receive an award offer via email with instructions on how to claim your scholarship.  

How do I claim the scholarship award I received? Follow the instructions under Claiming Your Award in the offer email you receive. Upon receiving all required documentation for your claim, we will process the scholarship payment to your school along with a scholarship payment letter indicating the name of the scholarship, the scholarship purpose, your name, and your student ID.  

What is the standard scholarship cycle timeline? 

Date/Time	Details
December – March	Scholarship Application: Most scholarships open during the first week of December and remain open until early March.
April – May	Scholarship Application Review: The Foundation and scholarship selection committees review the applications that have been submitted for each scholarship and make award decisions.
April – May	Award Notifications: We alert applicants whether they have received the scholarship award.
June – September	Scholarship Claim: Students may claim the scholarship upon receiving the award notification and when they can provide proof of enrollment of in which they're enrolled. The deadline to claim a scholarship award is early September. If you cannot obtain proof of enrollment by this date and need an extension, please send a request to scholarship@sacregcf.org.
June - October	Declination Notification: If you were not selected for a scholarship, you will receive a declination notification by October.

Is there a word limit for the essay?  Please see the essay topic instructions for the scholarship you are applying for. Most scholarship essays have a 500-character limit.  

Who is responsible for submitting the recommendation letter?  Ideally, the recommender would submit the recommendation letter via an email request provided by the student in the application. If the application does not have the option to input an email and the application asks for you to upload the letter, you can submit the recommendation letter on behalf of the recommender.  

We are aware there are some schools that have policies around privacy and need to submit the recommendation letter directly to us. If this is the case, please ask the recommender to email the reference letter to scholarship@sacregcf.org. You will then need to upload a document in the application with your recommender’s contact information and let us know your recommender will submit the recommendation letter via email. It is your responsibility to follow up with the recommender to ensure they submit the recommendation letter to your application or via email if required. 

I/my recommender can’t upload and submit the letter of recommendation. Our recommendations are to save the file as a PDF and to ensure the file name DOES NOT include any special characters such as a period, dash, underscore, etc. If you/the recommender continue to experience trouble, please email scholarship@sacregcf.org. 

If I have trouble obtaining a required document (such as the FAFSA and transcript) to submit on time, can I submit my application without it and submit the required document later upon obtaining the document? No, we do not recommend this. Please obtain all the required documents prior to submitting the application to ensure a completed application is available for the committee to review.  

Can I use an old letter of recommendation if I cannot obtain a new letter of recommendation? We do not recommend using an old reference letter. If you are not able to obtain a current reference letter, we recommend you ask the prior reference to update their letter with current information and current date.  

Am I eligible to apply for a scholarship if I am an International Student? Yes, if you are studying abroad and the college you are currently attending is in the United States, and you meet the scholarship’s eligibility and criteria requirements. You are not eligible if you are not studying abroad and attending a college outside of the United States. 

What do I do if I am having trouble signing into my account? To access your account, please sign in using your email address and password. If you need to recover your password or you have not yet received an email confirming your account, please click on the “trouble signing in” link. 

What should I do if I’m locked out of my account? If you are having trouble signing in and get locked out of your account, please wait 30 minutes and try to log back in. If you are unsuccessful, please submit a request to unlock your account to scholarship@sacregcf.org. 

Who should I contact if I still have questions about scholarship opportunities and requirements? Please email questions and inquiries to scholarship@sacregcf.org.  

Can I still apply to the scholarship opportunity if I did not apply for the FAFSA or California Dream Act? Most scholarships offered by the Foundation are need-based. To qualify for these scholarships, you must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or CA Dream Act application. After submitting a FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR). Please attach a copy of your SAR or CA Dream Act report. If you are not able to apply for the FAFSA or California Dream Act, please submit a complete IRS tax return from the previous year. If you have questions regarding this, please contact scholarship@sacregcf.org.

How do I delete my account? If you need to delete your account for any reason, please submit the request via email to scholarship@sacregcf.org.