RCC Student Scholarships

Many Scholarships, Which Will You Qualify For?

There are over 250 scholarships available to students through the RCCD Foundation, and only one application is needed to apply. If you are an admitted student at RCC and have a student email address, you can apply for scholarships offered by the RCCD Foundation. Non-athletes, non-full-time, adult students, low GPA, any income level…you’ll be surprised at the variety of scholarships available. 
 
After You Apply

The RCCD Scholarship Committees are made up of a combination of RCCD faculty, staff and community members who are committed to equality and fairness for all applicants as well as selecting the applicant who best fits the donor’s requirements and scholarship criteria. Your scholarship application is reviewed and scored and the applicant(s) with the highest scores are offered the scholarship. 

• If you are selected, you will be offered the scholarship(s) in the scholarship system website. The system will send an email to your student email account with information regarding the scholarship offer. You will first need to log into the scholarship system to accept the scholarship award and then you will receive more information regarding eligibility, disbursement and the recognition events. 
• If you are not selected, you will not receive an offer email from the scholarship system. On your scholarship page in the scholarship system, you will see the scholarship status listed as “Not Selected.” However, your application will remain active in case a new scholarship comes available or alternates are needed for scholarships for which the original recipient is no longer eligible. 

Timeline

• Mid-October till mid-January - Scholarship Application period
• March: The application review process begins
• April: Finalists are selected
• May: Student offer notifications are sent to students via their RCC student email.
• August: Scholarship awards are added to the student's Financial Aid award package
• Late August: Scholarship funds are processed for the first fall disbursement 

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RCC recieves notifications from community and state organizations when scholarships are made available. View our listing below for current scholarship opportunities. This list is updated on a continual basis.

SEE LISTINGS 

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Cal KIDS is a California State program in which eligible low-income public-school students are automatically given a Cal KIDS college savings account with an initial deposit.

Eligible participants are identified by data from the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Education. California state law governing the Cal KIDS program, including information on qualified expenses, can be found in Education codes 69996-69996.9. These funds can be used for things like tuition, books, computer equipment and some room and board expenses.  Funds can be claimed now and be sent to your campus of choice.

For information on accessing Cal KIDS funds and checking eligibility, visit: https://calkids.org/.  You can find your 10-digit Statewide Student Identified (SSID) by contacting your high school.

The Cal KIDS funds are considered scholarships from the State of California. The funds will be processed according to RCCD’s outside scholarship awarding procedures (refer to the “Outside/Local Scholarships” section of this page).

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Getting organized can really help you be successful in landing scholarships. Here are a few ways to be prepared: 

1. Activate and use your RCC student email address. 
2. Think of at least one person (a teacher, boss, mentor, neighbor) who would be willing to complete a scholarship recommendation for you.  Give them plenty of time, and let them know what your goals are, your enthusiasm will be contagious. Don’t ask family or friends.
3. Consider and write a few personal essays, this may even help you think of interests and organizations where you could apply for a scholarship.
4. Create a personal inventory of your accomplishments, awards, skills, talents, interests, desired field of study, career plans, extra-curricular activities, club/community involvement, volunteer service, network, etc. 
5. Get a copy of your unofficial transcript from WebAdvisor​ and convert it to an electronic file, in case it is required. To access your unofficial transcript: 
   • Log into your WebAdvisor account
   • Click STUDENT 
   • Under ACADEMIC PROFILE click on “View/Print my Unofficial Transcript” 
   • Print your transcript, scan and save it to your desktop or memory device  
   • Click the HELP button if you need added assistance 
6. Create a list of scholarships, their requirements and deadlines. 
7. Apply for as many scholarships as you can, but only if you qualify. Don’t wait for the deadline. Make sure to include everything required and answer all questions neatly and with proper spelling/grammar. Failure to proofread could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 

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Ask. You never know. Businesses, social organizations, libraries, churches, hobby groups — places and people you already interact with may be a possible source of scholarships. 
 
You can also try the Internet…but take care. Check company HR pages or chamber sites. Do not pay fees to look for scholarships (they’re probably scams). Two well known scholarship search sites are FastWeb and scholarships.com 
 
Google is a powerful tool for scholarships. With the right keywords you can have a very targeted and successful search. Type in Scholarships and you’ll get millions of results, add something more specific like poetry or music and that number will drop. Alternatively search for Foundation (which often award scholarships) for better results. Terms to try: 

• Scholarships (singular and plural will provide different results) 
• Grant 
• Financial aid
• Endowment  
• Foundation   
• Fellowship 
• Honorarium   
• Trust 

With a few extra terms you can have very different results, for example, if you’re searching for a music scholarship, these searches would give you different, but possibly equally useful results: 

• Music scholarship 
• Music scholarships 
• Music scholarship application 
• Music scholarship deadline 
• Music scholarship grant 

You can also combine geography into your searches to make them even more targeted, such as: 

• Southern California music scholarship 
• Southern California music scholarships 
• Inland Empire music scholarship 
• Inland Empire music scholarships 
• Northern California music scholarship 
• Northern California music scholarships 

The more refined and detailed you can make your searches, the higher quality your results will likely be. You can even add multiple terms together: 

• California music scholarship application deadline filetype:pdf 
• California music scholarship application deadline filetype:doc

For more Scholarship Search Secrets, visit www.studentscholarshipsearch.com. 

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If you are awarded a scholarship from a source outside of RCCD, the procedure will probably go like this… 

1. The organization or donor providing the scholarship will notify you that they have chosen you as the recipient of their scholarship.
2. You should follow the donor’s directions on how to access your scholarship. They may require proof of college enrollment. You may submit your class schedule printed from WebAdvisor, or if they are requesting “official” proof of enrollment, contact Riverside City College Transcripts & Records office at (951) 222-8603.
   • Scholarships should be sent to: 
     Riverside City College, Student Financial Services
     4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA  92506
3. Once RCCD receives your scholarship funds, you will be sent a letter acknowledging receipt of the funds and a schedule of disbursement dates. Scholarship funds are disbursed using the same disbursement method as all other financial aid and follows the same disbursement date schedule.
   • 2022 - 23 External Scholarship Schedule
   • 2023-24 External Scholarship Schedule
4. Scholarship funds will be disbursed to you when your enrollment has been verified on the next disbursement date after receipt of the funds. It will be your responsibility to use the scholarship funds for education expenses, housing and/or transportation as allowed by the terms of the scholarship.
5. At the end of the academic year, you will be sent a letter regarding any remaining balance of scholarship funds. It is your responsibility to use your scholarship. All unused scholarship funds will be returned to the donor.

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Sound too good to be true…it probably is!
 
Look for these warning signs and phrases:
 
Fee for Application. No reputable organization will ask you to pay to apply, remember the adage “Money flows to the student, never the other way around.” As a general rule, you should never have to pay more than postage to apply for a scholarship. 

Exclusive Scholarship Info. If a service claims to have “exclusive” information (not available anywhere else) this is almost certainly fiction. The vast majority of financial aid comes from the federal government and from colleges themselves. Private foundations and organizations that do offer scholarships are eager to spread the word so they can attract the best candidates — they have no interest in keeping secrets. 

No work – Free Money for College. Another red flag is a claim from any service that it will do “all the work” for applicants. Any legitimate scholarship sponsor will want to hear from the student and that often means filling out paperwork and writing a letter or essay. There is simply no way around it. 

Scholarship Guaranteed. No service can guarantee students a scholarship. Money-back guarantees are a common feature of scholarship scams. The fine print reveals a list of virtually impossible stipulations in the event the student wants to reclaim the fee. Every true scholarship has some parameters – such as grade point average, professional interest, volunteer service or club affiliation. So if a service claims it can obtain funds for anyone, it’s not being honest. 

“You’ve Been Selected!” Unsolicited Offers. These are always suspect and any notification that comes over the phone is sure to be a scam. If you receive information that was not requested, you should investigate before giving out any personal information or paying “processing” fees. Ask how the organization got your name, make follow-up phone calls to check the answer, or conduct an online search on the organization. 

“Advance-Fee” Loans. Be wary of any offer for an unusually low-interest education loan that requires the student to pay an upfront fee before the loan will be approved or disbursed. Real lenders deduct their processing fees from the loan check before they send it to the student. You should be especially suspicious if you don’t recognize the lender’s name. 

“Free Seminar” or Candidate Interview. This is often a glorified sales pitch for a financial aid or scholarship consulting service or a pricey private student loan. 

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