Millions of dollars are waiting for students who meet the criteria established for the scholarship. Without them, many students would have to forgo an education. For that reason, an applicant would do well to find scholarships for which he may qualify, then explicitly follow the rules of application. Still, many scholarships will be unclaimed because no students measure up to the qualifications.
When a scholarship is unclaimed, the funds supporting it continue to be invested until a student qualifies for it. In some cases, a scholarship may not be claimed for several years, and its sponsor may change the criteria to make it more applicable. For that reason, a student needs to stay vigilant as to these changes. A good place to begin is with the counselor's office at your high school, or the financial aid office at the college you attend or to which you have applied.
Educational scholarships are not limited to students of the U.S. Many scholarships are available to qualifying students from around the world. They either favor a specific institution where a student must attend to qualify, or they can be used at any institution where the student is enrolled. For that reason, with so many scholarships available worldwide, many have no students to evaluate because none applied.
Many students believe that the money from unclaimed scholarships are lost, and it goes back to its sponsor or is absorbed by the academic institution's general fund. In reality, for scholarships to qualify as a tax deduction, they must be set up virtually in perpetuity. So what fund that may go unclaimed this year will be available to students next year.
The cost of an education today is rising much faster than the inflation rate. With fewer students financially able to cope with those costs, getting a scholarship is the only way they can get an education. Understanding that many scholarships are unclaimed because students simply did not spend the time to demonstrate their qualifications may be encouragement enough for students to improve the way they apply so that fewer scholarships are unclaimed.