FAQ

Question 1

Who is eligible for the College Board Opportunity Scholarships?

Accepted Answer

The College Board Opportunity Scholarship program is open to all in the United States, Puerto Rico, and any other U.S. territories and U.S. citizens attending Department of Defense Education Activity schools. Students can opt into the program from December of their junior year until February of their senior year.

Question 2

Are there family income requirements to earn scholarships?

Accepted Answer

No. This program is open to students regardless of their family income. At least half of all the scholarships will be designated for students whose families earn less than $60,000 per year. Whenever students who meet that criteria complete a college planning step, they’ll get an extra entry in monthly drawings and have double the chances to earn scholarships.

Question 3

How will students be identified as having annual family income below $60,000 to earn extra entries?

Accepted Answer

A student may be automatically identified as eligible to earn extra entries if they received a fee waiver from College Board for one of our assessments or if they attend a high school where 75% or more of the student body qualifies for free- or reduced-priced lunch.  If students have not been automatically identified as qualifying for extra scholarship entries but feel they qualify because their family earns less than $60,000 per year or they earned fee waivers, they will be able to indicate they meet these criteria (by selecting Yes in the upper right side of My Action Plan). Students who select this option may be asked to verify family income by using a secure document system if they earn a scholarship in a monthly drawing.

Question 4

Do students have to take the PSAT or SAT to participate in College Board Opportunity Scholarships?

Accepted Answer

No, the program is open to all students, even those who do not take a College Board assessment. None of the six steps for class of 2022 students require sitting for an SAT assessment. The Practice for the SAT step helps students get ready for test day. Even if you don’t plan to take the SAT, Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy reinforces the skills you need to thrive in college.

Question 5

How can students participate?

Accepted Answer

Students can return to the homepage to opt in to the program via their College Board account.

Question 6

When can students begin taking part in the College Board Opportunity Scholarships?

Accepted Answer

Any student can join the program any time from December of their junior year until the end of February of their senior year.

Question 7

Can I dispute my activity progress in the College Board Opportunity Scholarships? What do I do if I don’t think my activity tracker on the program website is accurate?

Accepted Answer

It may take up to 24 hours for your activity to be updated in the progress tracker. After that time, if you still feel that your information is not up to date, please contact Customer Service at 844-298-3554.

Question 8

Do students have to participate online via the College Board Opportunity Scholarships website?

Accepted Answer

There is a mail-in entry option for students who cannot participate online. See the Official Rules for more information. We encourage students to use the College Board Opportunity Scholarships website to track their progress and stay up to date on the latest information regarding this program.

Question 9

What are the dates for the program and the various drawings?

Accepted Answer

The drawings for the Apply to Colleges and Complete Your Journey scholarships will occur one time on the above dates. Drawings for all other scholarships will occur monthly during the windows noted above.

Question 10

How will students be notified if they win?

Accepted Answer

Students will receive an email if they’re selected as a scholarship recipient. The email will include instructions for students to confirm they meet the eligibility criteria to officially claim their scholarship.  If you believe you earned a scholarship and did not receive an email with instructions, please contact our customer service team by phone at 1-844-298-3554 or email at opportunityscholarships@collegeboard.org.

Question 11

How can I opt out of updates regarding the College Board Opportunity Scholarships?

Accepted Answer

Students can update their email and text message preferences at any time by logging into their College Board account and updating their settings.

Question 12

Can these scholarships be applied regardless of institution type (two-year, four-year, for-profit)?

Accepted Answer

These scholarships can be used for any Title IV accredited institution of higher education, including accredited two-year and four-year.

Question 13

How will students receive the money if they earn a scholarship?

Accepted Answer

We will disburse the money directly to the college or university where a student enrolls. As a student moves through the college application process during high school, the award money will be set aside for them. In the spring of their senior year, we will ask scholarship recipients to indicate the institution where they plan to enroll the following fall.

Question 14

Are the scholarships one-time awards?

Accepted Answer

The $500 scholarships are all one-time awards that will be disbursed to a recipient’s college or university for the first semester of enrollment, unless they don’t have unmet need that semester. The Complete Your Journey scholarship ($40,000) will be disbursed in installments based on what is most advantageous to the student.

Question 15

Are the scholarships only for tuition?

Accepted Answer

We want these scholarships to help students meet their expenses associated with attending college, so we’ll be instructing institutions that the scholarships should be applied to tuition, fees, books, and other relevant educational expenses.

Question 16

What if a student doesn’t end up enrolling in a qualifying institution?

Accepted Answer

After a student completes paperwork to officially claim their scholarship (which must happen within 60 calendar days of being notified that they were selected for a scholarship per the Official Rules), they must keep the College Board updated on their college plans. During the spring semester of their senior year, we’ll email students who have earned a scholarship about the disbursement process. If students plan to enroll at an institution of higher education immediately after graduating high school, they must indicate the institution where funds should be sent. If a student will be taking a gap year, they will be able to wait one year before using their scholarship at the institution where they enroll.

Question 17

What happens if the scholarship is greater than the students’ unmet need?

Accepted Answer

We will work with the student and their institution to apply the scholarship in a way that is most beneficial to the student. This could include spreading it out over multiple semesters to meet their need or working with the student and their institution to reduce the self-help portions of their institutional aid package like loans and work-study.

Question 18

How will you verify that a student has taken all these actions?

Accepted Answer

When a scholarship winner earns an entry based on actions that the student would take outside of the College Board's web properties, the student will need to provide confirmation only after receiving notification from the College Board. For example, only students who earn scholarships for the Complete the FAFSA step will need to provide a screenshot or photo of their FAFSA submission confirmation email. Any students who earn scholarships for the Apply to Colleges step will be required to submit proof of their college application(s).

Question 19

Can students earn more than one scholarship?

Accepted Answer

Yes. They can also earn multiple scholarships in the same month (e.g., Build and Practice scholarships at the end of January) or different months (e.g., Build at the end of January or Practice at the end of April).  Students are eligible to receive the same scholarship only once.

Question 20

If I earned a scholarship, what do I do next?

Accepted Answer

All scholarship winners will receive an email with instructions to claim their scholarship.  If you won a scholarship in 2019 or 2020, please contact us for instructions.  If you won a scholarship after January 2021, you can read these instructions about how to complete official paperwork securely online using the College Board Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC).  Our customer service team is available by phone at 1-844-298-3554 or email at opportunityscholarships@collegeboard.org.

Question 21

How can a student opt out of the program?

Accepted Answer

Students can log into the College Board Opportunity Scholarships website using their College Board account and update their opt-in status on their My Achievements page.

Question 22

If my child wins, will their name be posted publicly? Can a student or their parent/guardian request to opt out of having their name shared with anyone if they win?

Accepted Answer

When a student earns a College Board Opportunity Scholarship, we will ask for their permission to share their name in promotional materials. If a student is under 18, we will ask for parent permission to highlight their child as a winner.

Question 23

How will you ensure that the information provided by students via their participation in the College Board Opportunity Scholarships will be kept secure?

Accepted Answer

The College Board is committed to keeping student information safe and secure. We collect personal information only to administer tests and deliver educational opportunities to students. We give students and families complete discretion as to how much additional information they disclose, beyond the minimum information needed to connect students with college success, including registering for the SAT or saving college lists. The same will be true for the College Board Opportunity Scholarships.

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