Scholarships.com

What Scholarships.com does

Scholarships.com, LLC is a privately held, free college scholarship search and financial aid information platform founded in 1998 and headquartered in Highland Park, Illinois. The company operates a database of over 3.7 million scholarships and grants totaling approximately $19 billion in financial aid, organized across categories including academic major, state, ethnicity, gender, and GPA, with about 50% of the database being location-based. Its core technology is a profile-based matching algorithm that connects students to eligible scholarships, supplemented by filtering, saved-scholarship tracking, and deadline reminders. The platform is accessible via web (scholarships.com and app.scholarships.com) and native iOS/Android applications, and has been used by over 26 million students and families cumulatively.

The company's supporting product ecosystem extends beyond search into college discovery (College Search), financial planning (College Cost, Savings Planner, and Monthly Loan Payment calculators), and student-facing resource content (downloadable application guides, essay tips, and deadline calendars). It maintains dedicated stakeholder portals for educators (exclusive database access, vetted-scholarship documentation) and scholarship providers (Sponsored and Traditional listing tiers). The platform is BBB accredited and SOC 2 Type I compliant, and is actively present across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

The business model is a multi-sided freemium platform. Consumers (students, parents, and adult learners) access the service free of charge with no fees to search or register. Revenue is generated on the supply side through (1) Sponsored Scholarship Listings — a performance-based, enhanced-visibility tier for scholarship providers; (2) Traditional Scholarship Listings — a standard-visibility tier sorted by due date; and (3) referral revenue from financial-services partners, notably SoFi for private student loans. The company also operates a community-led GTM motion via educator and counselor recommendations. Founder Larry Gerber serves as CEO and President.

Name

Scholarships.com

Legal name

Scholarships.com, LLC

Website

https://scholarships.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Scholarships.com is a privately held, free scholarship search platform founded in 1998 that matches students to over 3.7 million scholarships worth approximately $19 billion, monetizing via provider listing fees and financial-services referrals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Financial Aid Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Application Support, Matching Platforms & Scholarship Administration Services (EDAIAOAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Scholarships, Grants & Education Benefits Administration (Financing-adjacent) (FSAKAEAM)

Keywords

• Scholarship search platform
• College financial aid
• Scholarship matching service
• Education funding platform
• Student loan marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Highland Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sponsored Scholarship Listings: Performance-based marketing channel for scholarship providers offering enhanced visibility with scholarships featured above traditional listings. Providers pay for placement to drive high engagement.
2. Traditional Scholarship Listings: Standard visibility listings for scholarship providers sorted by due date. Providers submit scholarships through the platform's listing process.
3. Referral Revenue from Student Loan Partners: Referral partnerships with student loan providers (e.g., SoFi) where Scholarships.com receives compensation when users click links or apply for private student loans through the platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Scholarships.com operates a free online scholarship search and matching platform that connects students to over 3.7 million college scholarships and grants totaling approximately $19 billion. The platform uses a profile-based matching algorithm, a browsable scholarship directory, college search tools, financial aid calculators, and a private student loan marketplace via partner SoFi. Revenue is generated from sponsored scholarship listings, traditional provider listings, and referral partnerships with financial service providers.

Product overview

Scholarships.com is a free college scholarship search platform offering a unified ecosystem of tools for students, educators, and scholarship providers. The core product is the Scholarship Search and Matching Platform (app.scholarships.com), which uses profile-based matching to connect students with qualifying scholarships from a database of over 3.7 million opportunities worth approximately $19 billion. Supporting products include the browsable Scholarship Directory, College Search tool with filter capabilities, Financial Aid Calculators (College Cost, Savings Planner, Monthly Loan Payment), Student Resources with downloadable guides, and a Private Student Loans marketplace powered by partner SoFi. The platform also serves educators and scholarship providers through dedicated portals: the Educator Section for exclusive database access and guidance resources, and the Scholarship Provider Portal with Sponsored and Traditional tiers. Mobile applications for iOS and Android extend access to mobile users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scholarship Search and Matching Platform
• Scholarship Directory
• College Search
• Financial Aid Calculators
• Private Student Loans Marketplace
• Educator Portal
• Scholarship Provider Portal
• Mobile Applications

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 26 million students and families helped find college scholarships
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SoFiminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSoFi (Social Finance) is featured as a recommended partner for private student loans on Scholarships.com. The partnership provides referral revenue when users click links or apply for SoFi private student loans through the platform. SoFi offers competitive rates and features like no origination fees, good grades rewards, and flexible repayment terms.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fastweb: One of the original free scholarship and financial-aid search platforms, operating in the same category as Scholarships.com with a comparable database, matching functionality, and provider B2B model. Highly comparable on product, audience (U.S. students), and revenue mechanics.
• Going Merry: Free scholarship matching and application platform for U.S. high school and college students. Directly competes on the same core use case (profile-based matching) and offers a similar freemium student + provider B2B model.
• Niche: College and K-12 search platform with a sizable scholarship database and matching tools, alongside reviews and rankings. Comparable target audience (U.S. college-bound students) and overlapping scholarship search functionality.
• Cappex: College and scholarship matching platform that helps students find schools and awards based on profile criteria. Overlaps directly with Scholarships.com on scholarship discovery and college search for U.S. students.
• Unigo: Scholarship and college information resource offering searchable scholarship databases and student reviews. Targets the same U.S. high school and college student segment with comparable free scholarship search functionality.

Broad incumbents

• College Board BigFuture: Nonprofit incumbent's free college and scholarship planning platform tightly integrated with PSAT/SAT/AP ecosystems. Competes for the same student audience but as part of a much broader college-readiness portfolio, with structural advantages from College Board brand and data.
• Peterson's: Long-established education services publisher offering scholarship search, college search, test prep, and career resources. Overlaps with Scholarships.com on the scholarship matching product but operates a much wider portfolio of education services.
• Sallie Mae: Major student-loan originator with scholarship search, college planning, and banking tools aimed at the same U.S. student audience. Comparable through its scholarship content and student-loan monetization, though loan origination is the dominant business line.

Emerging players

• Scholly: Mobile-first scholarship matching app focused on simplifying discovery for U.S. students. Overlaps in core matching functionality but with a younger, app-native product experience and smaller scholarship database.
• RaiseMe: Micro-scholarship platform enabling students to earn incremental awards from colleges for academic and extracurricular achievements during high school. Adjacent in serving college-bound students but with a structurally different (achievement-based) reward model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Scholarshipscom
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@scholarshipscom
• Facebookfacebook.com/scholarships.com.info
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scholarships-com
• Instagraminstagram.com/scholarshipscom
• TikToktiktok.com/@scholarshipscom

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scholarships.com