By Will Geiger
Will Geiger is the co-founder of Scholarships360 and has a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. He is a former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College where he personally reviewed 10,000 admissions applications and essays. Will also managed the Kenyon College merit scholarship program and served on the financial aid appeals committee. He has also worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut. Will earned his master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate degree in history from Wake Forest University.
Edited by Maria Geiger
Maria Geiger is Director of Content 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.
Updated: June 18th, 2024
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.
After all, 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. A thank you letter is a great way to show your gratitude.
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Keep on reading to learn everything that you need to know about writing a scholarship thank you letter including some example letters!
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 in the opening, middle, and closing of the note.
Your thank you note does not need to be incredibly long. 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.
Many students wonder whether it is better 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.
To give you a more specific idea of what scholarship thank you letters can look like, here’s an example:
Dear Mr. Brown,
I just wanted to thank you for awarding me with the Founder’s Scholarship. Growing up in a household where I will be the first in my family to attend college, getting a college education has always been a dream of mine. This financial support is incredibly helpful and will allow me to attend the College of William and Mary, which is my first choice college.
At William and Mary, I hope to study political science so that I can prepare for a job in politics after graduation. This educational opportunity would not have been possible without your generosity, so thank you for the opportunity!
Best,
Robert
Robert did a great job of summarizing how Robert planned on using the scholarship. You can see that he included the specific college that he was planning on attending, as well as what he hoped to study at the college.
Robert also explained why the scholarship was valuable to him and shared his general appreciation for receiving it.
You’ll notice that this scholarship thank you letter was only two paragraphs long. This is totally okay and while you can certainly write more, a short and sweet note will suffice and do the job.
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.
Remember, the people and organizations that fund scholarships are in the business of investing in people. Because of this, they will be intensely curious about your ambitions and how the scholarship will support you.
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.
Now that you’ve won a scholarship and thanked your beneficiary, it’s time to get back on the horse! There are many more scholarships out there to be won. Here is a list of resources that Scholarships360 can offer you to find, apply for, and win scholarships:
No matter where you are on your academic journey, make sure that you continue to apply for all the scholarships you qualify for while eligible!
