With over 1.8 million scholarships being offered to college students each year, it’s difficult for UC Riverside students to know exactly what’s out there, or for which opportunities they qualify. 

Until now. UCR recently launched Scholarship Universe, a platform that analyzes a student’s academic history and interests to match them with relevant awards. The tool was made possible through a partnership with UCR’s Office of Financial Aid, University Advancement, and Information Technology Solutions.

Internal campus opportunities are added on a rolling basis by UCR’s staff and faculty. The Office of Financial Aid projects that UCR will promote 100 internal awards annually. 

External scholarships are reviewed by the Scholarship Universe staff and added to the platform regularly — there are currently over 4,000.

Once students log in and build their profiles by answering questions, the personalized portal continually searches its database for relevant funding sources, saving students time and energy. The tool also gives metrics to determine a student’s chances of obtaining the award and the effort required to apply. Users even get a personalized snapshot of their dashboard emailed every week, which breaks down new opportunities, application status, pending tasks, deadlines, and more. 

“The tool is a game changer,” UCR’s Financial Aid Scholarship Manager Monica Martinez-Daniels said. “Students don't have to spend time looking for scholarships, and it makes the application collection process so much easier for staff and faculty. The more UCR scholarships we can get in the system, the better it is for the student. Together, we can build one centralized place for students to seek funding opportunities.”

Five things to know about Scholarship Universe:

1. The more questions students answer about themselves, the more opportunities become available.
2. The portal can match students with scholarships The portal will match students with scholarships that don't require applications by self-identifying when criteria are met for certain opportunities and automatically applying on the student’s behalf. 
3. The process is mobile-friendly.
4. Scholarship Universe is integrated with UCR’s Banner Student Information System, so it’s already populated with a student’s basic info, like grade level and enrolled classes — jumpstarting the match process the first time they log in.
5. Both undergrads and grads can find funding through the portal. (More graduate opportunities may be added in the future.)

How to use Scholarship Universe:

• Students are encouraged to log into ucr.scholarshipuniverse.com to start the match process. This Scholarship Universe Demo provides users with a step-by-step tutorial on how to find the tool and navigate it.
• Staff and faculty can submit their opportunities via an online Scholarship Universe Screening Tool. The goal is to build the database so students can have access to as much funding as possible. 
• External agencies and donors can complete this online Scholarship Vetting Collector form hosted by Scholarship Universe's parent company, Ellucian.