Scholarships can ease the financial burdens that students may have, so all students should be aware of scholarships available to them. The Continuing and Transfer Students Scholarship considers students for a wide range of individual scholarships. It appears on students’ CASH pages — a website where students are able to view everything related to their financial aid — and they may see it while filling out requirements on the site before new semesters begin. However, it is not due until some time later. For instance, this year it was due on March 15. Students may forget about it and not be able to submit it before the deadline. 

The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid should send students emails informing and reminding them about the Continuing and Transfer Students Scholarship so students can take advantage of this great opportunity. 

Neuroscience freshman Riya Reddy said that she did not know about the Continuing and Transfer Students Scholarship and thought students should receive emails about it.

“Having a reminder of (the scholarship) would be nice because maybe it’s in the back of your mind and you forgot because of everything going on. Having a reminder with an email or something, that would probably help,” Reddy said. 

College students can have hectic lives, and it can be easy to forget things. Reminders can keep the scholarship application fresh on a student’s mind and make it less likely for them to forget about it later on.  

Biology freshman Ngoc Quynh Ngo explained that she had forgotten about the scholarship until she was reminded about it by UT for Me.    

“I did fill it out, but very late, because I did forget about it until then,” Ngo said. 

There is a chance that Ngo would not have filled out the scholarship had she not been reminded about it. 

The individual scholarships that students would be considered for if they fill out the Continuing and Transfer Students Scholarship have certain criteria that students must meet in order to be eligible to receive them. For instance, some scholarships may require students to have attended a certain school or be related to a veteran. Certain individual scholarships may not be awarded to as many students because not enough who meet the criteria apply. The students who could have benefited from applying would miss out on the advantages of being awarded a scholarship.

Kathleen Harrison, assistant director of University Marketing and Communications, shared the University’s standing in an email statement. 

“The University offers over 3,000 scholarships to incoming and current students, and we do want to ensure that students are aware of these opportunities,” Harrison said. 

The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid should do more to make students aware of this opportunity by sending them emails about the Continuing and Transfer Students Scholarship throughout the year until its due date. The emails should contain information regarding the scholarship, such as what it is, the due date and any other information students may need to know about it. 

The Continuing and Transfer Students Scholarship is a great opportunity for students to relieve some of their financial burdens. However, students may miss out on completing it due to missing it on their CASH pages, not being aware of it or simply forgetting about it. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid should send students emails to both inform and remind students of the wide variety of scholarships they would be considered for by filling out the Continuing and Transfer Students Scholarship. 

Kamal is an international relations and global studies and economics sophomore from Irving, Texas.