2026 Sunward Scholarship FAQs

More Scholarships, Deeper Impact!

We'll award a total of $25,000 in scholarships, enough to make a real dent in tuition, books, or living expenses.

Applicants must be or become members as part of eligibility for a Sunward Scholarship award.

Question	Answer
Are members with Sunward custodial accounts eligible to apply for Sunward’s Scholarship?	No. Applicants must be the primary owner of a Sunward account. Applicants with a custodial account may open their own primary share savings account to meet this requirement, but the account opening process, including signing and returning all forms and other requirements, must be completed prior to the application submission deadline.
Can an essay be longer than 500 words?	Essays must be equal to or less than 500 words. Essays exceeding this limit will lead to disqualiﬁcation.
Can I use AI to write my essay?	Essays must be your own original work. Sunward reserves the right to review submissions for originality and may disqualify applications that do not comply with the scholarship requirements.
Can applicants submit required documents after scholarship closing as long as they’ve begun their application by that date?	No. Applications and all required documents (proof of open Sunward account, letter of recommendation, unofficial transcript, and essay) must be received by the application submission deadline to be considered.
Can Sunward check to see if a letter of recommendation was submitted?	It is the applicant’s responsibility to verify that their letter of recommendation has been submitted. This is done by logging into their Submittable account. The applicant can see if the letter is present but cannot view it.
How much money is awarded in Sunward’s Scholarship?	Sunward awards five, $5,000 Scholarships. A total of $25,000 in scholarship funds will be awarded to our student members!
May children of employees apply?	No, children of employees or board members of Sunward are not eligible to participate in the Sunward Scholarship.
May previous Sunward Scholarship awardees apply?	Yes. If they still meet the eligibility requirements, past awardees may apply.
May doctoral degree students apply?	No. The Sunward Scholarship is only for students pursuing associate, bachelor’s, or master's degrees.
May Sunward employees apply?	No, employees or board members of Sunward are not eligible to participate in the Sunward Scholarship.
What is Submittable?	Submittable is a secure third-party platform Sunward uses for collecting, reviewing, and short-term storage of our student scholarship applications. Each user has a unique username and password to access their Submittable account. Students who applied last year may use the same Submittable username and password. Usernames and passwords used prior to our 2019 competition are no longer valid.
When will applicants be notified of their status?	Winners will be announced in August 2026, and listed on gosunward.org/essay-contest/winners, and featured in Sunward’s quarterly email newsletter, Dollars & Sense. Note: Tax liability on prize monies is the responsibility of the recipient. Members should consult their tax advisor for more information. Winners can opt to remain anonymous if requested.
Where can I locate complete Sunward Scholarship information?	gosunward.org/essay-contest