Applicant Resources and FAQs

OC Foundation scholarships are open to all students who have an OC student ID number and will be attending Olympic College during the academic year that the scholarships will be awarded.

However, Running Start students who are in their junior year are not eligible for scholarships. Running Start students in their senior year of high school, who will be continuing their OC education after graduation are eligible to apply for scholarships that will be awarded during the following year.

There are dozens of scholarship opportunities available, each with varied criteria. Some scholarships are for specific areas of study, such as nursing or STEM. Some are based upon where students live, such as being for students who live in Mason County, or for students who live in South Kitsap. Others are based on academic achievement or volunteer service. MANY scholarships do not have a GPA requirement and several of them prioritize students with financial need.

OC Foundation scholarships are listed on a platform called AwardSpring. Visit olympic.awardspring.com to set up an account. We recommend creating an account with an email you check frequently, as this is how you will be notified of any scholarship awards.

If you have set up an account previously and can’t remember your password, you can reset your password or contact [email protected] for help accessing your account.

There is one simple online application you complete which will match you with all scholarships you are eligible for. Once your application is submitted, you will be automatically applied to all scholarships you qualified for.

Yes! Students are eligible to apply every scholarship cycle, even if they were previously awarded a scholarship from Olympic College Foundation.

Yes! Students are eligible for scholarships even if they aren’t receiving any state or federal financial aid.

We encourage all students to apply for the FAFSA or WASFA to ensure they are taking advantage of all funding sources that could be available to them. However, even if students don’t qualify for any other types of aid, they can apply for scholarships.

Yes! Many OC Foundation scholarships are open to international students.

We recommend visiting the OC Writing Center for assistance with your essay responses.

• Applications are scored using a standardized scoring rubric and a blind review process. This means that all of your personal information is removed and the reviewer doesn’t know who you are.
• Three different individuals will review and score your application. Their scores are then averaged.
• A committee of individuals from the OC Foundation, made up of staff and volunteer board members, make the final selections based on these scores and each scholarships individual criteria.

An email will be sent to the email you used to set up your AwardSpring account. Be sure to check your junk folder as well if you haven’t heard anything. If you’re not sure if notifications have been sent out, you can check in about the status of your application by emailing [email protected].

For the most part, yes. Some OC Foundation scholarships are tuition-only, but many are not. For these scholarships, once your tuition and fees are paid for, your remaining scholarship funds can be released to you to spend on other expenses related to school, such as housing, transportation, childcare, books, etc.

Scholarships are distributed via the OC Financial Aid office, just like any other financial aid you are receiving. You will see your award in your ctcLink account as a part of your overall student aid package.

Because OC Foundation scholarships are included in your financial aid package, you cannot receive aid that exceeds your total cost of attendance. This means your scholarship may need to be reduced depending on the amount of other aid you received.

Scholarships are typically split evenly between fall, winter and spring quarters. If a student is taking summer classes and wishes to use their scholarship in summer quarter, they can email [email protected] to request their scholarship disbursement schedule be amended.

Sorry, OC Foundation scholarships can only be used at Olympic College during the academic year they were awarded.