Scholarship Process Improvements
As part of the Student Experience Project (SEP), the university is reimagining how students access and receive scholarships. Scholarship processes vary widely across campus, with each college or department managing its own applications, systems, timelines and communications. Over time, this decentralized model has made it harder to ensure a consistent, equitable and transparent scholarship experience for all students.
To address these issues, the university is transitioning toward an integrated scholarship platform—Scholarship Universe (SU)—that will serve as a common system for scholarship applications, selection, notification, payment and post-award requirements. The goal is to make the scholarship process more student-centered, efficient and data-informed.
The move to a more integrated scholarship system is grounded in findings from student focus groups and feedback from units, including those that have already made the transition to the SU platform. The shift responds to four core challenges:
- Equity gaps – Decentralized processes disproportionately impact students who are less familiar with navigating university systems.
- Operational inefficiencies – Managing awards across disconnected systems leads to duplication and risks of error.
- Student confusion – Inconsistent formats, deadlines and application methods make it harder for students to find and apply for funding.
- Limited insight – Without shared tools, it’s difficult to assess scholarship impact, steward donor gifts or improve outcomes.
By bringing scholarship processes into one coordinated system, we can improve access, transparency and service to students while better supporting the staff who administer scholarships and the donors who make these opportunities possible.
This effort is a key component of our broader commitment to student success and directly supports the university’s Impact 2030 goals of improving retention and completion rates.
Our Approach
The transition to a more integrated scholarship model is being implemented in two phases:
Phase 1: Core Platform Migration (2025–26 Academic Year)
The goal of this phase is to unify the scholarship experience by moving key functions to SU. Key focus areas in this phase include transitioning scholarship applications and post-award processes to the SU platform, developing institution-wide awarding guidelines and beginning work to integrate payment processes into the system.
Several colleges, centers and programs have already completed or begun their transition to the SU platform, including: College of Engineering, College of Humanities, College of Nursing, College of Social Work, School of Dentistry, Bennion Center, Learning Abroad, Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, the Dream Center, Center for Disability Services, Center for Native Excellence and Tribal Engagement and Center for Student Access & Resources. Feedback from these units is helping to shape platform improvements and guide implementation across the university.
Phase 2: Scholarship Expenditure Monitoring (Timeline TBD)
This phase will focus on improving how scholarship funds are forecasted, tracked and aligned with donor goals and agreements. A cross-unit working group will lead the development of expenditure monitoring and reporting processes.
Timeline
2024–25 Academic Year: Building on the findings of the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) report, a steering committee was formed to take a deeper look at the student experience. Data was collected through focus groups and interviews with students, faculty, staff and campus leaders, and analyzed alongside institutional student data to identify key challenges.
Summer 2025: A cross-functional leadership team was charged with translating findings into priority areas for action, with the ultimate decision to shift how we manage scholarships.
Fall 2025 – Spring 2026: More units will begin transitioning their applications into the SU platform, and post-acceptance processes into the centralized system. Initial work will also begin on developing institution-wide awarding guidelines, and a dedicated working group will be formed to explore how scholarship payment processes can be integrated into the platform.
June 30, 2026: This marks the target date for all scholarship applications to be transitioned into SU. By this point, university-wide awarding guidelines will also be developed to support greater consistency and equity across units.
Future Phase (Timeline TBD): A second phase will focus on improving how scholarship funds are forecasted, tracked and aligned with donor goals and agreements. This work will include building processes for more consistent reporting and enhanced visibility into scholarship spending across the institution.
Project Team
The SEP is led by a small cross-functional team:
- Mitzi Montoya – Executive Sponsor, Provost
- Paul Kohn – Sr. Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment & Student Success
- Anthony Jones – Executive Director, Scholarships and Financial Aid
- D. Jerome Davies – Chief Philanthropy Officer
- Lindsay Nelson – Principal Director of Advancement, Student Support Initiatives
Purpose and Goals
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The goal of the scholarship process improvements is to create a more consistent, equitable and student-friendly experience across the university. By centralizing scholarship applications, selection and post-award processes in a single platform, we can reduce barriers for students, improve stewardship of donor funds and streamline administrative work.
Recent data highlights opportunities to improve how and when scholarships are awarded. For example, this past year, a significant number of incoming students received departmental scholarships after the national college decision date, limiting the ability of those awards to influence enrollment decisions. It’s just one example of how better alignment across campus could help us reach students earlier and increase our impact.
This transition directly supports the university’s broader Impact 2030 goals of improving access, retention and completion rates.
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Scholarship Universe (SU) is a secure cloud‑based scholarship management platform that connects students with both internal and external award opportunities through a single, streamlined application and matching process. Students at the U, including interns and those enrolled in a social policy course, helped evaluate platform options and favored SU for its intuitive, user-friendly design. Following a formal RFP process, SU was ultimately selected as the provider best positioned to improve the student experience while also streamlining administrative workflows.
Platform Use and Process Changes
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Yes. Each unit’s scholarship reviewers (typically faculty and/or staff) will continue to review and select recipients for their own scholarships using fund-specific criteria. The SU platform is designed to make this process easier, streamlining administrative steps while preserving local control over selection decisions.
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No. The SU platform is designed to accommodate a wide range of scholarship types, including those with very specific eligibility criteria or donor restrictions. Units can continue to review and select recipients for their scholarships using established processes. SU simply provides the infrastructure to manage applications, selection and communication more efficiently.
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One of the goals of this project is to bring greater consistency to scholarship timelines across campus. While we recognize that units have historically used a wide range of timelines, the U is working toward establishing optimal application deadlines for each semester/term.
These deadlines are critical not only for reducing confusion for students (who often miss opportunities because deadlines vary by scholarship) but also for improving how the university strategically manages its scholarship resources. Aligning timelines makes it easier to match students with available funds, prevent duplication of awards and ensure scholarships are fully utilized.
The exact timing and structure of the shared cycles are still being determined, with input from a cross-campus working group. The aim is to balance coordination with the flexibility units need to meet their unique requirements and their students’ needs.
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The transition is designed to be a partnership. Each unit will be asked to provide a list of its scholarships, including criteria and any donor agreements (if available), and to review and test the application setup once it’s built in the system.
The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid guides the bulk of the technical and administrative work, including building the applications and configuring the review process. Units also receive training to help them learn the SU platform, and this hands-on support continues through implementation.
As we roll out SU across campus, we’ve been able to quickly address questions or minor platform adjustments based on unit needs, strengthening the experience for everyone.
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Yes. Feedback from units is both welcomed and actively used to improve the implementation process. Early adopters have helped identify enhancements that have strengthened the platform for everyone. Ongoing input continues to shape how SU is configured and supported across campus. Units can share feedback directly with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid or use the feedback form at the bottom of this page.
Impact for Students
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Yes. By July 1, students will be able to search and apply for all internal University of Utah scholarships through SU. Work is also underway to integrate vetted external opportunities into the same interface. Having a single, centralized platform significantly reduces confusion, ensures students don’t miss out on available funding and makes it easier to discover opportunities that match their unique backgrounds and academic goals.
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We will be working with campus partners to ensure students are well-informed about the transition to SU through targeted communications and outreach. That said, units that have already transitioned to SU have seen significant increases in application volume, with relatively minimal promotion. This suggests that the platform is more intuitive and accessible for students, who are finding it and using it successfully.
Questions or Feedback Form
For questions, contact EVPAA@utah.edu or complete the feedback form below.
Name and email are not required fields if you would like to provide anonymous feedback.