Don’t limit yourself to UNK scholarships, applying to outside (or non-UNK) scholarships could potentially provide you with thousands of dollars towards your college education. Research your local community organizations, businesses, and religious organizations to find locally offered scholarships. Another great research tip is to look at your county community foundations, such as the Kearney County Community Foundation, that will list local scholarships.

There are many scholarship databases to search for state-wide or nation-wide scholarships provided by corporate and non-profit organizations. Always take caution when applying for outside scholarships.

Tips to Stay Safe from Scammers:

  1. Never pay to apply for a scholarship or to receive a scholarship. Scholarships are a source of free money given to help with higher education costs. If a scholarship requires you to pay to apply or receive the scholarship, it is a scam.
  2. If a scholarship is requesting unusual information, it is most likely a scam. You should NEVER list sensitive personal information, such as your social security number, medical records, or credit card information, on a scholarship application.
  3. Never give out your bank account and routing number to scholarship applications.
  4. If a scholarship pushes a sense of urgency (other than an application deadline), such as saying the scholarship is on a first come, first serve basis or you need to apply in the next five minutes or it will close, it is a scam. Also, if the scholarship says that they award students weekly or monthly, they may be a scam.
  5. If a scholarship guarantees you’ll win, or if it uses terms such as “sweepstakes”, “drawing”, or “random selection”, it may be a scam.
  6. If a scholarship tells you that you’ve won, but you never applied for the scholarship, it is a scam.
  7. If a scholarship application website looks fake or unprofessional, it may be a scam.

Always trust your gut and use caution when applying for outside scholarships. If you have a question about the legitimacy of a scholarship, ask your school counselor or a UNK Financial Aid Administrator for help.

Outside Scholarship Resources

What to do once you are awarded an outside scholarship

If you are awarded an outside scholarship, it is important that you let us know. Students can notify UNK of their outside scholarships in MyBLUE on the Financial Aid main page by selecting the Outside Scholarship Notification hyperlink on the right-hand side of the page. See our document for instructions.

Clicking on the Outside Scholarship Notification link will bring up a form to complete that will ask:

  • Who the donor is
  • Contact information for the donor
  • Scholarship name and amount
  • How the student wants the scholarship applied (all Fall, split in half between Fall and Spring, etc.)

For a walk through on what to do when you are awarded an outside scholarship watch the video below.

Verification of Enrollment

There is a question on the form asking if the donor needs verification of enrollment sent to them. If so, please mark the semesters in which you would like UNK to send a letter to your donor. This will let them know that you are enrolled as a full-time student. See our document for instructions.

Our office will only send a letter to inform them that you are enrolled and where they will send the funding. This can only happen if you include the donors physical address or email address on the donor information page. If that information is not included, no letter will be sent. 

Needing a Transcript Sent to a Donor

If you are needing a transcript or schedule sent to the donor, you will need to contact the Registrar’s Office or print your schedule from MyBlue and they will send that information directly. 

Receiving a Scholarship Check

If you receive a check made payable to you, the student, please endorse that check and bring it in to our office for processing. All outside scholarship checks must be reported as financial aid to our office. When we receive the scholarship check, we will apply it to your financial aid package. If possible, have the donor make checks payable to UNK.


By law, UNK must adjust federal aid if outside scholarships result in excess awards. If financial aid is changed, UNK will send an updated offer letter via email.