How to Write a Scholarship Resume: Examples and Template

Scholarships are a great way to finance your college education, and with so many private ones available there are plenty of opportunities to land some extra assistance.

However, many scholarships are highly competitive, and require a carefully put-together application to be selected as the recipient.

One of the best ways to impress any scholarship selection committee is by putting together a scholarship resume that highlights your achievements in and outside the classroom, as well as your skills and volunteer or work experience.

Read on to learn how to write a great scholarship resume, and check out our scholarship resume examples and customizable template for help.

What is a scholarship resume?

A scholarship resume is a resume that’s used to apply for scholarships and displays your academic background, awards, achievements, and activities, while also including your key skills and any professional or volunteer work experience you have.

Overall, a scholarship resume is meant to highlight your career and academic interests and goals, to give the scholarship selection committee a better understanding of who you are and why you’re an ideal candidate to receive their assistance.

Scholarship resumes are typically meant for high school students preparing to enter their freshman year at university, but they can also be for graduate students preparing a graduate school resume or even Ph.D. candidates.

Scholarship resume example

Here’s an example of a great scholarship resume:

Download This Scholarship Resume Example

How to write a scholarship resume

Now that you have a better idea of what a scholarship resume looks like, let’s learn how to write a scholarship resume by breaking down each section and detailing exactly what you’ll want to include.

1. List your contact information

List the following contact details at the top of your college scholarship resume:

• Name
• Phone number
• Email address
• Address (city & state is fine)
• LinkedIn profile (if you have it)

Remember to only include contact information that you check and monitor regularly. Nothing would be worse than finding out you were considered for a scholarship but ultimately didn’t receive it because you couldn’t be reached.

2. Open with a great scholarship resume objective

The best way to get the attention of any scholarship selection committee is to start your scholarship resume with a convincing, tailored resume objective.

Your objective is a short, convincing introduction that summarizes your goals, accomplishments, and passions at the top of the page.

In your scholarship resume objective, you should highlight your strong academic background and record, extracurricular activities, your career goals, and (most importantly) how they align with your reasons for pursuing additional education.

Here’s an example of how to write a great scholarship resume objective:

Recent BA History graduate awarded Dean’s list 3 consecutive years, with internship experience at New York Historical Society helping preserve historical articles and manuscripts, and a study abroad experience in Rome. Seeking the Rottsworth Scholarship to pursue an MA in History. Planning to continue research into the rise of democracy in classical-era Greece

3. Showcase your academic experience

Your academic experience is arguably the most important section of your scholarship resume.

Besides getting to know your academic goals, scholarship selection committees will want a detailed and in-depth look at your academic career thus far to understand why you’re an ideal candidate for the scholarship you’re applying for.

In your academic experience section, you should highlight the following information for each school you’ve attended:

• Institution name
• Academic major
• Academic minor (if applicable)
• Graduation date (or expected if you haven’t finished)
• GPA
• Favorite fields of study (relevant coursework)
• Extracurricular activities

Additionally, try to highlight your academic success and why you’re enthusiastic and driven to pursue higher learning in your academic career.

Scholarship committee members seek out driven and motivated individuals with a potentially bright future ahead of them.

Here’s an example of how to list your academic experience on a scholarship resume:

4. Include your work experience

Scholarship committee members like to see that candidates are well-rounded and have active lives in and outside the classroom. That’s why you should always list your work experience on your resume (even if it’s just part-time work).

However, if you’re like the majority of students applying for scholarships, you might not have much work experience yet.

If that’s the case, remember that your work experience section doesn’t have to be limited to income-based work. You can also include volunteer work, internships, or even club activities.

Here’s an example of work experience on a scholarship resume:

5. Display your awards and honors

Listing awards and honors on your scholarship resume provides you a chance to show off any noteworthy achievements in your academic career to the scholarship selection committee.

On your scholarship resume, you should include these seven types of awards or honors:

• Scholarships (previously awarded)
• Dean’s lists
• Academic awards (subject-related, science fair, etc.)
• Publications in a student journal
• Non-academic awards
• Volunteer awards
• Academic/professional societal memberships

Scholarship resume template

Here’s a scholarship resume template that you can copy and paste into Microsoft Word or Google Docs: