The design and question flow of a scholarship application template significantly impacts the quantity and quality of applicants who fill them out.

A well-designed scholarship form can capture accurate details of the student and qualify. On the other hand, a confusing scholarship form template can lead to drop-offs.

Let’s examine the various components of a scholarship application template and learn how to build one that will increase completion rates.

5 Must-Have Sections in a Scholarship Form.

A scholarship application template has the following mandatory fields. Their best practices are listed alongside.

• Personal Information: This helps gather basic details like name, contact information, and academic institution to establish the applicant's identity and eligibility. Remember to label the fields and avoid any additional subjective questions.

  
  

• Academic Details: The goal is to obtain the student’s transcripts and GPA and learn about the project work done. This is how the scholarship form gains insights into past academic performance and future potential. Having an upload option that can take in documents and images will speed up the process.

• Extracurricular Activities: This section is for applicants to input details of things they have done beyond academics - volunteering, sports, and other activities. To encourage elaboration, use open-ended and descriptive questions like "Which is a non-academic pursuit you undertook in college, and what was its impact on your personal and professional growth?”.

  
  

• Essay Questions: Essays are essential to delve deeper into the applicant's motivations, goals, and personal journey. Personalize essay prompts to your scholarship's specific values and priorities and have dual input fields - text and document. There’s a lot of material on crafting the perfect scholarship application essay and its format. But this is decided by the criteria mentioned in the scholarship form, which form builders can tweak as per their goals.

  
  

• Recommendation Letters: Asking the student for one or two letters of recommendation provides valuable external perspectives on the applicant's abilities and character. If they have work experience, one recommendation letter must be from a senior at the workplace. Once again, a document uploading option is essential to support multiple file types - doc, pdf, and Google links.

The UX of a Scholarship Application Form.

Filling out a scholarship form should be quick and intuitive. Students often have to fill out scholarship forms while managing many things at once. To keep things quick, the following quick tips will be of use:

1. Essential Questions: Keep the form questions to the essential ones. Use intuitive question sequences and try A/B testing to know which questions are needed and which can be left out.

2. Clear Instructions: For first-time form users, have question descriptions to explain why this is important. This matters the most for a complex section like essays, so there are no drop-offs.

3. Logical Flow: Organize sections and questions in either the hierarchy of relevance or difficulty. Asking for essays and recommendation letters towards the end is a good practice because, by then, the student is already invested in filling out the scholarship form.

4. Device and Browser-Friendly: Many forms are not user-friendly, not because of functionality but because they were not previewed on a smartphone. In addition to this, test out the scholarship form in different browsers as well.

5. Engaging Visuals: There has to be a fine balance between white space and interactive visuals, such as reward popups. Show your branding, but do not overwhelm the user with a design that takes away focus from the actual task - collecting data via a scholarship form.

Using AI in the Scholarship Application Form for Higher Completions.

AI is the rage in 2024; not using it would be a big mistake. Read this blog on using AI in different ways. Key action items would be:

• Personalize: This essentially means having user journeys based on specific user segments. A student without work experience does not need to talk about their work details and hence should not get that question.

  
  

• Use chatbots: While forms are the traditional route to collecting data, a chatbot can do the same. In a scholarship form, this would be a new way to collect student data. You can also integrate a chatbot alongside the scholarship form to educate the user at every step.

  
  

• AI-powered analytics: Use AI analytics to better understand where leakages are in the scholarship form funnel. Metrics like hesitation time and interaction time can be good features to look for in an AI analytics tool to use in sync with a scholarship application template.

  
  

• A/B test: The WorkHack form builder allows for A/B testing of questions, design, reward popups, and CTAs to determine which form leads to higher completion rates. This is a surefire way to scientifically iterate on your scholarship form quality.

Summary: Ready to Make a Scholarship Form?

A scholarship application template doesn’t have to be 20th-century. Applying best practices, integrating AI, and continuously examining funnel health will lead to higher conversion rates.

Keep in mind that the scholarship application template will be clicked on by a student who is eager for a scholarship. Tailoring the questions, designing, and educating them every step is the way to make a perfect scholarship form specific to your institution’s criteria.

Use AI to build perfect scholarship application forms using WorkHack's AI Form Builder. Get started for free now.