In January 2012, Howard County implemented a new scholarship database that provides students with access to local scholarships.

This database, which can be reached at scholarships.hcpss.org, displays all scholarships available to Howard County students. Specific scholarships can be found according to GPA, high school, and grade level that include information about the prize, who the scholarship is open to, and the requirements that need to be met in order to apply.

Senior Rebeka Rebeiro says finding out about scholarships was her biggest obstacle, something the database was created to ease.

“I wish I had known about this because taking time to find scholarships was a burden when a database that I could easily search was available,” said Rebeiro.

According to junior Ilana Malkin, who is familiar with the scholarship process, the database is promising.

“The database is helpful and a well-organized way to search for scholarships and it will help me manage my time when looking and applying,” said Malkin.

Malkin, who has already applied for a scholarship, says one of the most difficult parts of applying for scholarships is beating the competition. The database combats this by including who the scholarship is open to and giving students an idea of what their chances of winning the scholarship are.

HCPSS Resource Counselor Kami Wagner said she feels the database helps centralize attainable scholarships for students, which could benefit them and their parents greatly.

“The database is useful because it puts local and less competitive scholarships in one place that students have a better chance of receiving,” said Ms. Wagner.

She also said the most daunting part is having to look for and apply for scholarships after applying to colleges. The database helps by explicitly listing what is needed to apply to simplify the process.

Guidance Counselor Mrs. Pashiagan also backs the new resource.

“The website is very user-friendly and personalized to students. They can look up a scholarship for a particular grade level and it will show me all the requirements and the deadline for that scholarship,” said Pashiagan.

Rebeiro believes that the database will be successful saying “a resource like this could certainly make apply for scholarships easier.”