Help

Support Hours: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm PST Monday thru Friday
Call 888-535-0747, option #8 or contact us online.

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Q: How is theWashBoard.org different than other online scholarship resources?
A: TheWashBoard.org is a free, web-based, nonprofit scholarship clearinghouse for Washington students seeking college scholarships. Unlike other web-based scholarship searching tools, the goal of theWashboard.org is to connect students with available local and state scholarships.
TheWashBoard.org uses matching technology to compare a seeker’s profile with the criteria of available scholarships, giving the seeker a unique list of potential scholarships based on their personal achievements and goals.
TheWashBoard.org can be used throughout a student’s educational life -- it contains scholarships available to all ages of students, from middle-school to graduate school.
TheWashBoard.org is free to use for both scholarship seekers and providers. We do not use spam, marketing ads or pop-up advertisements on the site.


Q: How is theWashBoard.org paid for?
A: TheWashBoard.org is supported by private and state resources. We do not charge providers or scholarship seekers any fees to use the site.


Q: I forgot my password?  How do I fix that?
A: The home page has a link that says FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD. Click it to reset your password. Or, just use this link. https://fortress.wa.gov/hecb/thewashboard/ForgotPassword.aspx
TIP: If you choose to copy/paste the temporary password that you receive, be sure there's no extra spaces at the beginning or end. This would cause the password to be denied. Once you get into your account, you can go to MY SETTINGS to change your password to something easier to remember.



Q: I have questions about registering my organization and starting to load my scholarship information. Is there a help desk?
A: You could look at the RESOURCES section and view the "8 Simple Steps" document and what it takes to start working with theWashBoard.org. You might also choose to watch the short tutorial "Building a Scholarship" which will walk you through the application build and show you all the fields on the site.
If you still have questions to be answered, you can always call or email the site Administrator. Send messages to adminATthewashboard.org or call 1-888-535-0747 x3.


Q: I registered already, but haven't received the confirmation email. How long does it take?
A: The confirmation email is sent almost immediately. If it's been more than 10 minutes since your registration request, you may want to check your spam or junk folder. The email is being sent from noreplyATthewashboard.org. If you email has still not arrived, or you cannot find it, use the "Contact Us" page to request that your confirmation email be sent again.


Q: I'm a counselor/educator/mentor, not a student. Can I create a profile to assist my students and where would I do that?
A: Counselors, educators, mentors, and parents can sign up for a seeker account. When you begin the registration process, you should click the appropriate button to indicate who you are. Mentors should use the Counselor button.
After you log-in, you'll notice that the counselor/parent/FA professional role looks exactly like a student seeker, so that you can understand what they might experience.
For most counselor/FA professional users, we suggest that you input information that would give you results for students at your school. In other words, tell it that you are a HS Senior, from your school. You may choose to enter a GPA, sports, clubs, etc as you so choose. It is not required that you complete the profile to get matches, but giving a few basic points might help. 
Also - after you're done assisting a student, you can click CLEAR DEMO PROFILE button to clean the profile of all the data you've entered, making it easier to assist the next student without accidentally disclosing information about another student.



Seeker-related Questions

Q: I am at the end of filling out my profile, and have done the Attachments.  I don't have 100% complete on my profile, but I'm done?  What now?
A: It's not necessary to have 100% before viewing your individualized match list @MY MATCHES.  You should be able to click SAVE PROFILE at the bottom. This exits the profile itself, not the whole site.  Now, you'll be taken to the MY MATCHES page, which is a result of matching your profile against all the scholarships in our database.


Q: I'm seeing OLD scholarships. The due date was last year.  Why are these here?
A: The scholarship providers are able to renew their scholarships in their own time, so the OLD one you are seeing hasn't been renewed for this year YET. Chances are the scholarship will be renewed with very similar, if not exactly the same, criteria.  So, if you do find an old one that fits you, you can still give it the THUMBS UP to add to your list of interest.  Then, when it IS renewed, the new one will be in your list instead of the old and you’ll be able to start an application.
If you don't want to deal with the expired scholarships right now, click the ACTIVE SCHOLARSHIPS filter to look at only the currently available scholarships.



Q: Why do I need to complete a profile?
A: TheWashBoard.org does more than just load your profile information. The profile data you enter is used to match you with available scholarships. By completing your profile as much as possible, and updating it when necessary, the site is able to check scholarship criteria in real-time to determine if you might be eligible.  So---
1. Complete your Profile. 
2. Check for good Matches and then
3. Do the Applications


Q: Are scholarships the only type of financial aid I can get?
A: No, but theWashBoard.org is committed to matching you with scholarships only, not loans, grants or other forms of aid. Nor do we give advice about the different types of aid. If you have specific questions about financial aid, you should contact a financial aid officer at your intended college. You can also visit our RESOURCES section, where we offer some other types of information, some of which is about financial aid.


Q: How will my personal info be protected? Will my name and address be sold?
A: A seeker’s profile data will never be distributed or sold to other organizations or vendors. The data is protected by the State of Washington’s firewall.


Q: I attended high school outside of Washington. Why isn't my high school listed?
A: theWashBoard.org's focus is scholarships related to Washington. So, the list of high schools is Washington State high schools only. This DOESN'T mean that you can't use the site. We welcome users who may have attending high school anywhere.
So why isn't your school listed?  The matching technology used on the site matches scholarship providers with scholarship seekers. This list allows providers who award scholarships at only one school to specify which school meets their criteria. It is highly unlikely that they would match with an out of state school. So, it's just not necessary to indicate your school, if it is out of the state.


Q: I'm working on a scholarship application and have put some new information in my profile. Why doesn't the new information show in the application? Aren't they the same?
A: You are always able to change and update your profile. But, when you hit APPLY for a scholarship, a separate application is made, just for that one scholarship. So now, there are two different things happening. 1. A Profile. 2. An Application.
The application does not post back data to the profile. And conversely, profile updates after that time are not updated in the application form. However, this can be used to your advantage. Once an application is made, that one application can be customized and tailored to speak to specific needs for that scholarship while the original profile does not change.
TIP: Don't click APPLY until you're really satisfied with how your profile looks. It'll save you time later on.


Q: On the My Matches page, what is the does Eligibility Criteria and Preferred Criteria mean?
A: These columns refer to the Requirements and Preferences of the scholarship. Eligibility Criteria shows the number of minimum scholarship requirements, and how many you've met based on your profile data. Preferred Criteria isn't a requirement, but tells you if the scholarship provider prefers to award to a student with certain characteristics.
Related to both these fields is Rank. The MY MATCHES page ranks your matches based on the Eligibility and Preferred Criteria to show you which scholarships you qualify for most. If your profile isn't complete, filling in more information could improve your eligibility for some scholarships, thus improving it's Rank on your list.


Q: Some of the NEW scholarships in the MY MATCHES list don't seem to be NEW at all?  Why are they appearing as something NEW?
A: The NEW Matches are ones that have been posted to theWashBoard.org since you last logged-in. So, they are the ones that are NEW to you. If you find ones that are a good fit for you, but the deadline has passed, give them the ‘THUMBS UP’ so that they’ll be in your Scholarships of Interest list and then once the scholarship provider renews the listing you’ll be able to complete an application.


Provider-related Questions

Q: After a scholarship is activated, can I make any changes to that scholarship?
A: There are a very small number of fields that may be changed after activation. The following are the fields you may change:
PROGRAM GUIDELINES
APPLICATION SCHEDULE/AWARD DATE – note, these dates may only be extended, not shortened which would be unfair to the scholarship seeker.
ANNUAL AMOUNT OF SUPPORT

If you have other changes that need to be made, please contact the Site Administrator.



Q: What is "required minimum" and "given preference" and how do they work?
A: The terms "required minimum" and "given preference" are ways for you to set the minimum acceptable level of applicant, or to indicate that something may not be required, but you'd prefer if the student met that goal. For example, if your scholarship applicant must have a 2.0 GPA, then use the required minimum to indicate that you will not accept applicants with a lower GPA than 2.0. However, if you have no GPA requirement, but would prefer to award to a student with a 3.0 or higher, use the given preference column.
This indicates to the student that while there is no minimum, they have a better chance at receiving the award if they meet your preference level. At the current time, you may not use both the "required minimum" and "given preference" for the same value, e.g. GPA. It is advisable then that you evaluate whether your criteria is truly required, or just preferred.


Q: What is an Intermediary?
A: An intermediary is a scholarship provider that may award and distribute funds on behalf of another scholarship provider. They are charged with following the guidelines and regulations of the provider, and reporting back to that scholarship provider about their actions, if necessary.


Q: What should I do if I don't know the amount/value of scholarships to be awarded?
A: If you are unsure of the exact amount of scholarships, or their value, we recommend you use your best estimate. If you have awarded scholarships before, you may choose to use the lowest and highest amount you've ever given or come up with another figure that you are comfortable sharing with scholarship seekers.
These fields are important to the seeker as they search for assistance and determine how many applications will be needed to meet their educational goals. Keep in mind that you may increase these figures at a later date, if more funding becomes available.


Q: What should I do if I have specific requirements that are not listed in the check boxes and text fields in the Applicant Criteria or Seeker tab?
A: If you have a specific value that needs to be added to the Fields of Interest, Careers, Organizations, etc, you should use the REQUEST CHANGE tool at the top right of the scholarship build pages.  Or, you may send your request directly to the site administrator via email. 
However, if your specific need doesn't fit into one of the established categories, the best way to specify your criteria is to use the +REQUIREMENTS tab. Here, you may type very specific questions or give more detailed information to the scholarship Seeker. When you check that a Scholarship Specific question is REQUIRED, the applicant must answer this questions before he can complete the application. In this way, you can guarantee that you get the answers necessary for your specific scholarship.