Scholarship FAQs

We’ve written a section on who is eligible for scholarships that will answer your questions, but in short, anyone who plans to attend Bellevue College during the upcoming academic year is encouraged to apply!

No. You must, however, plan to attend or are currently attending Bellevue College.

Yes! We’ve written a section on who is eligible for scholarships that will answer your questions. As long as you plan to enroll at Bellevue College during the upcoming academic year, you are eligible (and encouraged!) to apply.

Yes! Awards are available for part-time students. Bellevue College Foundation Scholarships will automatically disburse as long as the recipient is enrolled in five or more credits in any given quarter. Recipients who plan to enroll in less than five units will have the opportunity to submit a waiver to still receive some or all of their scholarship for that quarter.

Yes! Foundation scholarships are awarded on an annual basis. Not receiving a scholarship in an academic year does not prevent the opportunity of applying and receiving a scholarship for future award years. However, you must apply each year by the listed deadline to be considered. The number of scholarships awarded depends on available funding and the qualifications of the applicants who apply.

The Foundation Scholarship Program application will be submitted using an online application hosted on AwardSpring. There are several sections:

• General information, which will help identify your eligibility for individual scholarship oportunities
• Academic information
• Several short answer questions

There are a handful of individual scholarship opportunities that require a recommendation to be submitted for awarding. If you are eligible for one of those opportunities, you will see the option to request a recommendation in the Academic Information section of the application. If you are not eligible for one of those opportunities, you will not be asked to submit a recommendation request.

We’ve tried to make it easy for you and laid out all the steps for applying for a BC Foundation Scholarship. The application is hosted on AwardSpring.

No. However, if students want to be considered for need-based and some private scholarships, they must complete the FAFSA or WASFA.

Yes. Foundation scholarships are awarded on an annual basis, and previous recipients will need to apply again if they want to be considered to receive fund for the following academic year.

1. We recommend first checking to make sure that you are using the Google Chrome internet browser. The application portal will sometimes not load if you are using either Internet Explorer or Firefox.
2. If you have tried the Google Chrome browser and are still experiencing problems, please contact the Foundation at scholarships@bellevuecollege.edu.

We cover how to craft well-written responses to the Short Answer Questions.

Your cumulative GPA will be located on your academic transcript, and can also be found on ctcLink.

When answering GPA questions on the application, you can use either the “Term GPA” from your most recent quarter or your cumulative GPA.

The BC Foundation Scholarship application will not allow you to submit an incomplete application.

The BC Foundation will email you with confirmation that your application has been submitted.

If you are experiencing issues, contact scholarships@bellevuecollege.edu for assistance.

We have a careful selection process which takes many factors into account.

In the 2025-26 academic year, 344 students were selected to receive a scholarship from the Foundation for a total of over $680,000. The number of scholars and total dollars awarded varies from year to year.

We explain the notification process on our Selection & Notification page.

We explain more about how to formally accept your scholarship and how funds will be disbursed on our Successful Applications page.

No, Bellevue College Foundation Scholarships are specific to the academic year (encompassing the Fall, Winter and Spring quarters) for which they are awarded.

However, scholars are encouraged to apply for the next year’s scholarship application and may do so every year you anticipate attending BC.

We explain how we disburse funds and what they can be used for on our Successful Applications page.

Each quarter, if you have been selected as a scholar, your quarterly scholarship funds will first pay any tuition and mandatory fees that you may owe to the college. If you had previously paid for your tuition charges, a refund will be issued to you via the original method of payment. If you have questions about the refund process after your scholarship has disbursed, please reach out to Student Financial Services.

No. The Foundation’s annual scholarship program does not provide summer funding for recipients. Please be sure to contact the Student Financial Services Office for more information about paying for summer courses.

Generally, scholars are expected to enroll in 5 or more units each quarter in order to receive scholarship funds.

If there are circumstances preventing you from being enrolled in at least 5 units for the term, please send an email to scholarships@bellevuecollege.edu with the following information:

• How many credits you will be taking and for what quarter,
• The reason you will be enrolled less than full-time, and
• If you will be enrolling less than full-time for multiple quarters, please include the above information for each quarter you expect to be enrolled less than full-time.
• Once your email has been received, your request will be reviewed and you will be notified if additional information is needed and/or whether your request has been approved.

Once you have started your academic year, we expect that you will attend each academic term (not including summers) during the year for which your scholarship was awarded.

If special circumstances make it necessary or advisable for you to leave college for a period, you must immediately notify the Foundation by email and explain the reason for your leave of absence and the date you will return. If you do not return at the end of the approved break in enrollment, your scholarship will be terminated.

No. If your cumulative GPA is below 2.0, you must work with your academic advisor and/or the Financial Aid Office to develop a plan with strategies and resources that will help you improve your GPA. This plan might include an increase in the frequency of meetings and communications with your academic advisor, tutoring, study groups, or other support services.

No. Your scholarship is for the academic year in which it was awarded. If your scholarship is paid partially, or in full, it will count as one of the three quarterly paid awards allowed for each recipient. Any unused portion of your scholarship will be returned at the end of the academic year.

Most years, some scholarship funds go unused due to non-enrollment or change of circumstances that prevent the recipient from using their scholarship. Each year, the Foundation makes an effort to re-award those scholarship funds by selecting additional applicants from the same year they applied. If no students are eligible or if the funds are returned too late, unused funds will be re-awarded in future application years.

The Bellevue College Foundation Scholarship program is funded by generous donors that include community members, corporations, alumni, and BC faculty, staff, and students.