Scholarship FAQs

Westfield State offers many scholarships each year to its students.  In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must first create an account with the online Scholarship Portal known as AcademicWorks.  Once you’ve created your account, you will be able to complete the General Application.  Applicants with existing General Applications will be required to update each academic year to reflect current information. 

After you have submitted your General Application and any other Conditional Applications, the portal will automatically direct you to other scholarships or “Apply-to Opportunities” for which you may be eligible.  There may be a few additional questions or reference requirements in order for the application to be complete.  Once you finish each additional application, you simply click the submit button.  The more opportunities you apply for, the better your chances of receiving a scholarship!

Once selected for a scholarship, the system will queue your award email until such time all scholarships have been awarded.  In doing so, every recipient will be notified at the same time.  Once the review process is complete and most scholarships have been awarded, the award email notifications will be sent to your Westfield State University email account.  From there, you will have the opportunity to click on a link that will take you to the award page where you can either Accept or Decline the offer.  If you chose to accept, the portal will automatically take you to the Post-Acceptance Questionnaire where you can upload a photo of yourself and write your thank you note to the donor.

Once all of the awarded scholarship recipients have accepted their offer, the Foundation will notify the Financial Aid Office by sending a list of scholarship recipients and their amounts.  The Financial Aid Office will then apply the award monies to the student’s account and it will show as a “Foundation Scholarship” on their bill.  Half of the award will be applied to the fall semester bill and the remaining amount to the spring semester bill.

First, be sure you apply to ALL of the scholarships you may qualify for!  Doing so increases the number of times your application is reviewed.  Second, it is very important that you take your time and be thoughtful in your answers, especially any detailed questions such as essays.  Grammar and spelling are also important.  Make sure you spell check your answers.  If you are involved in any extracurricular activities, make certain you elaborate on how you are involved including any leadership roles you participated in.  If you did not participate in many extracurricular activities because you work many hours, explain that too and what you do in your employment that may be seen as leadership or dedication within your employment.

Your thank you note should be sincere and express your gratitude in a formal yet warmhearted manner.  Always start your thank-you notes with “Dear (Donor of the Named Scholarship)”.  Remember, your note should express how the scholarship award will impact your educational goals.  You will be required to write a thank-you for each scholarship you are awarded.

Financial need is determined by the submission and results of a FAFSA (Free application for Federal Student Aid) application.  The student’s FAFSA must be submitted and processed by the Financial Aid Office.  Please contact the Financial Aid Office if you have any questions regarding FAFSA.

You should contact the Registrar’s Office at (413) 572-5218, Option 3.

Yes!  Please contact scholarships@westfield.ma.edu with any questions or concerns you encounter.  Be specific about the nature of your question regarding your application.  We'll do our best to reply to your questions in a timely manner.  If you're unsure about a particular question, you can always save your application and return to it at a later date by clicking “Save and Keep Editing” at the bottom of the application form.