In today’s internet-crazed era, online scholarship applications have become a staple in most educational institutions. They present a convenient way for organizations to collect vast loads of data in a central location.
Online applications also allow applicants to fill out applications while conveniently attaching all the required materials from their comfort zone.
However, not every online application is straightforward. Some poorly designed application platforms aren’t mobile-friendly, have many technical bugs, and applicants find it hard to attach documents or move seamlessly through the questions.
So, as a scholarship donor, you should strive to make your online scholarship application as seamless as possible for your applicants.
In this article, we’ll discuss five tips you can use to improve your online scholarship application.
Add Question Logic
Adding questions to your online application is one thing but adding question logic is a whole different case. Question logic means the automated ability to jump into another question or page based on the applicant’s answer to the previous question.
Question logic has more to do with adding relevant questions or hiding irrelevant ones depending on an applicant’s previous answers.
Typically question logic speeds up the scholarship application process and leaves the applicant feeling fully guided and satisfied with the process.
Allow Applicants to Save and Continue
Most scholarship applicants are students striving to balance between their schoolwork and scholarship applications. As a result, they don’t have the time to sit and complete the entire application process; they mostly do it in phases.
Therefore, you’ve to invest in scholarship management software that allows your applicants to save and continue. Having such a feature in your online scholarship application can be the difference between complete and incomplete applications.
Allowing applicants to save their progress and come back later to pick up from where they left gives them the confidence to fill the application in phases. It gives them total control of their application; they feel that your scholarship program perfectly addresses their needs.
Make Your Application Mobile Friendly
Smartphones are becoming increasingly popular, and people now handle most of their daily tasks using smartphones.
So, to improve your online scholarship application, you should invest in a tool that provides a mobile-friendly user experience. This means a tool that scales your application to fit into the screens of different mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
Typically, the scholarship application should fit in different mobile devices and allow the applicant to navigate through with ease.
Allowing applicants to fill out your scholarship application using any device of their choice reduces technical hiccups, thus creating a positive application experience.
Automate Important Notifications
After completing the scholarship application process, the applicants are likely to anticipate a response from you. So, keeping in touch with your applicants reassures them that their application was received and is under review. You can also give them a timeline within which they should expect to hear from you.
Therefore, you should automate important notifications to give your applicants peace of mind. You can do this by sending a confirmation email to the applicants once they send their applications.
However, sending individual emails can be time-consuming and tiring. As a result, many scholarship donors have invested in an online scholarship management system that allows for the automation of key notifications.
Choose a Vendor with Technical Support
Technical support makes applicants feel supported throughout the application process. It allows them to ask questions if they’re having problems with their application.
Choosing a scholarship management service with unlimited technical support provides applicants with the necessary resources to find help when need be.
Having the proper technical support in place can go a long way in improving your online scholarship application.
Bottom Line
Online scholarship applications shouldn’t be difficult to formulate and set up. The tips discussed above can help you improve your online scholarship application and get more qualified applicants.
If you’re ready to simplify your scholarship management process, get started with Scholar’s App today.
