Winter break is the time for students to apply for scholarships for the fall 2025 semester.
Dallas College aims to make scholarship applications easy for all its students. The process starts with searching “scholarships” on the Dallas College website.
“Basically, there’s a form, and you put your information, you put your GPA, you put your major, your career goals, and you answer a series of questions” said Habiba Kouadio, vice president of scholarships for the Phi Theta Kappa honors society at Dallas College.”
The automated system aligns with the students’ credentials and sorts scholarships based on their requirements.
“It’s easy to apply that way because it’s kind of customized for you,” she said.
Kouadio deals with scholarships along with undergraduate research.
Her position oversees the Honors in Action program which is an undergraduate research program designed to help students on campus get information about scholarships.
“If we talk at Dallas College, even if you don’t have, like the best GPA, or you have a super high GPA, it’s going to customize whatever scholarships they can find for you through Dallas College,” Kouadio said.
Scholarship opportunities vary widely, catering to each student’s academic profile. International students, however, may face unique challenges.
“International students have a lot of different requirements than state students,” she said. “I’m not going to sugar coat it. It’s always been more difficult for international students just because different international students have different needs.”
International students may face significant challenges depending on their visa status and resources available to them. For those on F-1 visas, the complexities of meeting academic, legal and financial requirements can be particularly challenging.
“There are scholarships catered specifically for international students. How much? I don’t know if they’re in abundance,” Kouadio said. “There are scholarships catered to different races: if you’re a woman, if you’re a guy, if you’re Muslim, if you’re Christian, if you’re Jewish, you know. There are scholarships dedicated to anybody.”
“I think one year there was a scholarship that a girl got just for being like a redhead,” she added.
The Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is one of the most competitive scholarships for students who are transferring to a four-year university. The award can provide as much as $55,000 a year for two to three years for students in need. It is awarded by the institution the student is transferring to. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 9. Details are available at www.jkcf.org.
Many of the finalists and those who receive the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship are students who have served in leadership positions at their respective colleges. Dallas College frequently has finalists for prestigious scholarships. An international student at Dallas College received the award in 2021 and attended Columbia University in New York.
Kouadio says students who may lack the courage to apply for scholarships can seek help through financial aid. She said some scholarships go unclaimed because students don’t apply for them.
“You know, there are scholarships out there that a lot of people don’t even know about and a lot of people don’t even sign up to so even sign up too, so it doesn’t really matter what GPA you have. I think there’s always going to be a scholarship for you,” Kouadio said.
Letters of recommendation can play an important part in the scholarship process. Students who are in leadership positions with clubs and organizations stand out.
“If you do have a low GPA, you can still get a lot of letters of recommendations from your professors,” she said. “You can even get letters of rec from PTK advisors, if you’re involved, even if you’re not a real member.”
Additionally, TRIO programs offer scholarships specifically for first generation college students.