The All-in-One Scholarship Application is available December 15 through March 1 every year. In early March, our Scholarships team reviews applications to ensure successful completion and eligibility. For the remainder of March until May, our Scholarship Review Committees review applications and convene to recommend recipients. As early as April, KZCF Scholarships staff may begin reaching out to recipients to notify them of our scholarship decisions and update application statuses in Kaleidoscope accordingly. Notifications will continue until June. From late July to the end of August, scholarship payments are sent directly to institutions.

*Note that select scholarships (i.e., Women’s Education Coalition, Disborough Trout, Jim Cristy and the KZCF Emergency Scholarship) have their own specific timelines. Please visit each of these scholarship pages for more details.

Yes, a member of our Scholarships team will reach out to students regarding any missing documents.

KZCF scholarships are open to students regardless of their citizenship or permanent residence status.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) allows college students to access financial aid for college, including grants, scholarships, work-study and federal student loans. Information on the FAFSA and how to apply for it can be found here.

While the FAFSA is required to complete our sponsorship application, we can still support students who may be ineligible to complete it. Please indicate on your application in Kaleidoscope that you are ineligible to complete the FAFSA. You will be prompted with the next steps from there.

You can log into your Kaleidoscope application portal to see which KZCF scholarships you qualify for. Each scholarship will show its own application status, which will be updated as your application is reviewed. You will also get email updates about your application status, but you can check your portal anytime.

KZCF scholarships may be used for any items related to your school’s cost of attendance (COA). Each school has a different COA that includes items such as tuition, fees, housing, transportation, food, health insurance, etc. You can find your school’s COA online or by contacting your school’s financial aid office. Scholarship awards are paid directly to your institution.

Requests for deferment need to be approved by our Scholarships team. Please contact our team at scholarships@kzcf.org.

A member of our Scholarships team will email you the link to an online form in February each year your scholarship is eligible for renewal. To ensure you receive this link, please make sure you have shared your current email with us. This short form needs to be submitted by March 15 to be applicable to the following school year. Some scholarships require you to maintain a minimum GPA or have a specific major to continue receiving your scholarship. Scholarship requirements are always included in acceptance agreements.

In certain situations, scholarship awards are considered taxable income for the recipient. The Internal Revenue Service provides information about scholarships on its website.

For questions about how scholarship awards might impact your taxes, please consult a tax professional.

Award displacement happens when receiving an outside scholarship reduces financial aid from your school, such as student loans, work-study, or school grants and scholarships. Our Scholarships team wants to help you avoid this and will provide the information you need. To learn more, check out the National Scholarship Providers Association's Scholarship Displacement TIP sheet.

Contact us at scholarships@kzcf.org and we'll be in touch!