Scholarships FAQ

SmarterSelect is a third-party online application and recommendation system. All applications and recommendations must be completed and submitted via SmarterSelect. Applicants who have already opened an application and created a SmarterSelect account can access their applications by clicking on the application link on the Apply for Scholarships & Grants page and signing in to SmarterSelect.

You can see the scholarships and their expected 2020 award amounts in our A-Z Scholarship Listing. The amount awarded for each scholarship varies depending on the award received, but the range is a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $12,000. Depending on an applicant’s qualifications, they may receive more than one scholarship and can receive more than one type of scholarship (merit- and need-based) in a given year.

Due to limited funding, we are unfortunately not able to award a scholarship to each deserving candidate. We often have more applicants than we have funding available, so it is a rather competitive process. However, each year brings different candidates with different strengths, so we certainly encourage previous applicants to apply again if they will pursue a degree during the upcoming academic year.

No. Theta Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and our scholarships cannot be applied toward Theta- or fraternity/sorority-specific expenses, including membership dues.

Theta Foundation scholarships can be applied toward academic expenses, including tuition, course-related fees, and textbooks and supplies required for course enrollment.

The basic difference between merit-based and need-based scholarships is that need-based scholarships are awarded on the basis of financial need, while financial need is not considered at all for merit-based scholarships. Candidates for need-based scholarships must complete and submit the NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION page of the scholarship application.

While candidates self-select the type of scholarship they apply for, not all applicants are eligible to apply for need-based scholarships. Eligibility for both categories of scholarships is as follows:

MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS [Application Type: UNDERGRADUATE or GRADUATE + MERIT-BASED]

• Initiated college or alumnae members of Kappa Alpha Theta in good standing with the Fraternity who will pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree during the upcoming academic year. Alumnae members do not have to be dues-paying members of the Fraternity or members of an alumnae chapter or circle. New members may apply, but their chapters must report their initiation and submit their signed Loyalty Pledge cards and other required information to Kappa Alpha Theta headquarters by the application deadline.

NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS [Application Type: UNDERGRADUATE + NEED-BASED]

• Initiated college members of Kappa Alpha Theta in good standing with the Fraternity who will pursue an undergraduate degree during the upcoming academic year. New members may apply, but their chapters must report their initiation and submit their signed Loyalty Pledge cards and other required information to Kappa Alpha Theta headquarters by the application deadline.
• Applicants who demonstrate financial need and submit all information requested on the NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION page of the application. Applicants who fail to submit all information requested on the NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION page will be disqualified for need-based scholarships.

One great aspect of applying for Theta Foundation scholarships is that you do not have to select the individual scholarships for which you would like to apply. You will be automatically considered for any scholarships for which you qualify after you submit Theta Foundation’s posted application.

Applicants who select the “Need-based” application type and who have complete applications will be considered for both merit-based and need-based scholarships.

Recipients of 2020 Theta Foundation scholarships must be enrolled (part-time or full-time) in a degree-granting program during the 2020-21 academic year. Theta Foundation’s scholarships are only available for enrollment during the upcoming academic year and are not meant to reimburse for previous expenses. For more information about eligibility, please refer to the Scholarship Application Guide.

Yes! As long as you meet the current general eligibility guidelines, the only restriction is that each recipient is limited to a maximum of $40,000 in Theta Foundation scholarships and grants during their lifetime.

Each scholarship application cycle is held separately from previous cycles, so the opportunity for an applicant to receive a scholarship is renewed each year.

You can apply for Theta Foundation scholarships even if your degree-granting program acceptance status is still pending for the 2020-21 academic year. If, however, you apply for a scholarship and find out after the deadline that you have not been accepted into your degree-granting program, please contact Theta Foundation as soon as possible to withdraw your scholarship application.

The primary eligibility consideration for Theta Foundation scholarships is that recipients must enroll in a degree-granting program during the academic year for which scholarships are awarded. Scholarships awarded during the 2020 cycle are only applicable toward expenses incurred during the 2020-21 academic year.

As noted in the Scholarship Application Guide, we ask that you carefully consider your ability to use a Theta Foundation scholarship throughout the application and acceptance process. If you apply this year, accept a Theta Foundation scholarship, and then do not enroll in a degree-granting program during the 2020-21 academic year, we cannot re-award that funding to another applicant.

No. The process is competitive, so you should take great care to clearly articulate your strengths and accomplishments in your submission.

As long as you remain a member in good standing and are enrolled in a degree-granting program, you are eligible to receive a scholarship from Theta Foundation, even if you are not officially on campus each term during the academic year. In general, Theta Foundation scholarships can be applied toward academic expenses (as outlined in the 2020 Scholarship Application Guide) incurred for study abroad programs, but cannot support room and board and other living costs.

Theta Foundation supports academic expenses: tuition, course-related fees, and required textbooks and supplies. We call this your Qualified Cost of Attendance (QCOA). When we calculate your financial need, we will consider your QCOA, the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) noted on your Student Aid Report, and the scholarships and grants you anticipate receiving for the upcoming academic year. However, your school will calculate your institutional financial need using the entire cost of attendance, including room and board and other expenses; this may mean Theta Foundation’s calculation of your financial need is lower than what your school may calculate.

No. You may save any information you have entered into the application form, log out of SmarterSelect, and return at a later time. As long as you have saved the application, all information you have previously entered should be retained.

No. As indicated in the Scholarship Application Guide, however, scholarship recipients will be required to submit transcripts, but not all scholarship applicants must do so.

College members who will pursue an undergraduate degree during the 2020-21 academic year and who have submitted the 2020-21 FAFSA are eligible to apply for need-based scholarships. After you submit your FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report outlining your eligibility for financial aid; you must upload your Student Aid Report in PDF format to your Theta Foundation scholarship application. Please review the Federal Student Aid website to learn more about the Student Aid Report and how you can obtain yours.

If you are a Canadian student, please upload your most recent Notification/Letter of Assessment from your provincial government.

If you are not able to obtain your Student Aid Report before the application deadline and have already indicated you would like to be considered for need-based scholarships, navigate to the APPLICATION TYPE page of the application and change your response from “Need-based” to “Merit-based” in the appropriate field. This should eliminate the NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION page of the application so that you may apply as a merit-based applicant.

You can verify your member ID by logging in to the Theta Portal. After signing in, select "My Profile" from the drop-down menu in the top right-hand corner of the screen. You should be able to verify your member ID on the "My Profile" page.

If you have trouble locating your member ID, please contact Theta Foundation during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday). 

New members are encouraged to submit applications after receiving member IDs. If you will be initiated on March 4, 2020, or after and do not have a member ID, please enter the member ID 1111111.

Review the information included in the application form and the Scholarship Application Guide for verifying submission of all application materials, including recommendations from references.

Changes to a submitted application may be made up to the application deadline by logging in to your application, completing changes, and resubmitting. The updated application will replace the original submission.

SmarterSelect recommends that applicants complete their applications using either a desktop or laptop computer, not a tablet or smart phone. It is also recommended that applicants use Google Chrome as their browser while working in their applications. This has typically helped minimize technical difficulties experienced by applicants and references but does not guarantee you won’t experience technical issues. If you continue to have trouble, please contact Theta Foundation as soon as possible.

Please see the REFERENCES page of the application for information about monitoring the status of recommendation forms and resending or canceling requests as necessary.

After each of your references submits a complete recommendation form, you should receive an email from SmarterSelect confirming submission. You can also view the status of your references’ recommendation forms at the top of each reference section as noted in the application form.

They may have completed much of the information required for a recommendation form, but not officially submitted it. If your reference is confident they completed the recommendation form, but you have not received a confirmation email and the recommendation is still showing as “Pending” within your application, you should suggest that your reference return to the recommendation form and click “Submit” to submit it. If they do not receive an on-screen confirmation after clicking “Submit,” they should scroll through the recommendation form to find any areas highlighted in red and address those errors before selecting “Submit” again. After they have successfully submitted a recommendation form, they will receive an on-screen confirmation message and you, as the applicant, will receive an automated email from SmarterSelect confirming receipt.

The deadline for the 2020 Scholarship Application (for scholarships awarded for the 2020-21 academic year) was Wednesday, March 4, 2020, at 6 p.m. Eastern.

No. In order for your application to be considered, it must include complete recommendations from a Theta reference and an academic reference. As the applicant, you are responsible for submitting your complete application and verifying that your references have submitted complete recommendation forms.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Theta Foundation will not accept late application or acceptance materials for any reason. These include, but are not limited to, applications, recommendations, and award acceptance documents.

Theta Foundation will not accept late materials for any reason. These include, but are not limited to, applications, recommendations, and award acceptance documents.

No. You should not select the Need-based Application Type if you will not have all of the required information by the application deadline. As noted on the U.S. Department of Education’s website, you must file your FAFSA to coincide with the requirements of private scholarships like those awarded by Theta Foundation. Theta Foundation does not accept late materials under any circumstances.

As outlined in the 2020 Scholarship Application Guide, Theta Foundation recommends that all applicants for need-based scholarships file their FAFSAs online in order to receive the required Student Aid Report as quickly as possible. If tax information is your concern, the Department of Education also offers an IRS Data Retrieval Tool for applicants, which should help with efficient transfer of data from income tax filings to your FAFSA.

To protect your application information from being lost, we recommend saving all of your responses in a separate document. Also, as you work on your application, periodically save your changes. Application information is saved only when the applicant saves the content, so it is not possible to retrieve information that was not saved by the user.

Please keep in mind that Theta Foundation will not accept late submissions, even in the event of a technology glitch.

On the first award status notification date of May 11, 2020, Theta Foundation will notify each scholarship applicant via email whether or not they were selected as a scholarship recipient. Notifications will be sent to the preferred email address listed on your official Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity record. This information can be updated at any time by logging in to the Theta Portal.

Applicants who do not receive email notification on May 11, 2020, should contact Theta Foundation within 24 hours regarding their selection for a scholarship.

In the event any initially selected scholarship recipient can no longer accept an award or fails to submit award acceptance documents by the deadline, an alternate recipient will be selected. Alternate recipients will be notified via email on the alternate recipient notification date.