Foundations

To qualify for a full or partial academic or merit scholarship, you should belong to the top 10% of your graduating class, or the top 10% of passers in the college entrance exam. Scholarships typically support students who have a certain grade point average, and it is usually 85% or above. Your grades are an indicator of your academic ability. Scholarship providers want to be sure that they are supporting a scholar who will be successful through their education.

Identify the specific program level you are aiming for. Are you applying for senior high, college or graduate studies? Determining this will right away narrow down the scholarships that apply according to your need.

It is common for scholarships to only cover certain courses or tracks (i.e. medical courses, STEM-related). Knowing which course you want to take up from the get-go will help you identify which scholarship opportunities are relevant for you to apply under.

Many scholarships require proof that your family income is below a certain amount. They want to make sure that they support students who demonstrate the need for financial support. Students belonging to families with below PHP 100,000 annual income are usually considered for full scholarships, on top of other eligibilities and based on the type of grant being given.

Look at what type of scholarship fits you. Some organizations offer scholarships for various merits. It can be merit-based, skills-based, context-based, needs-based, among others. Knowing what your selling points or strengths are can help determine the type of scholarship you can apply for. Skills-based scholarships (i.e. athletic and arts) usually require the applicant to take a performance test or to provide a portfolio of their work.

Many scholarships are allocated for students in specific programs and schools. You will have to prove that you were accepted into a school and have passed that their entrance exam in order to gain certain scholarships. School scholarships are mostly granted to incoming or newly enrolled students, while there are some scholarships that are also available for current, higher year level-students.

Scholarship coverage benefits highly vary from one scholarship to another. Some scholarships cover full or partial tuition discounts. On top of tuition cover, there are some which also provide additional allowance or stipend for school supplies, transport, and the like. On the other hand, some scholarships solely provide allowances to help with day-to-day expenses. This type of scholarship is usually offered to students of state-funded colleges, of which tuition is already subsidized by the government.