SUNY Geneseo scholarship application deadline on Mar. 1

The deadline to submit a general application for scholarships offered by SUNY Geneseo is Mar. 1. These scholarships are offered to Geneseo students only, and one general application can make students eligible for hundreds of scholarships.   

According to the Geneseo website, the general application is a short questionnaire about general and academic goals, future plans and participation in campus clubs and Greek life.  

Susan Romano, Director of Financial Aid at Geneseo, explained how the application works to apply students to all the available opportunities that they qualify for.  

“It allows all students to be considered for scholarships through our Geneseo Foundation for the next academic year,” Romano said. “The general application asks some simple things about you, and then the student is matched with different scholarships through our foundation that meet their needs.”

There are over two hundred scholarships offered not only by Geneseo, but also several alumni who have established scholarships in their or another’s name. Scholarships established by an individual often have requirements that are relevant to the donor, such as participation in a major or an organization on campus.  

Romano said, “these awards are set up through our Geneseo Foundation and oftentimes there are donors who are maybe establishing a scholarship in their or a loved one’s name. And so, when they donate, the donor establishes the qualifications for the scholarship. There are some set up to be memorials for someone who is deceased, there are some set up for specific majors, some for women in certain fields. As a result, the requirements to be considered can vary a lot from one scholarship to the next.”

The scholarships vary in monetary value, ranging from around $500 to fully covering tuition costs.  

Romano said that not all Geneseo students take advantage of the scholarships offered.

“A pretty small overall percentage of students apply for these scholarships. This is our third year offering scholarships like this, and what I tend to see happen now is that, because the deadline isn’t until March 1, we’ll get a lot of applications right before the deadline,” she said. “Every year we’re trying to get those numbers up.”

Romano said that the previous system of applying for scholarships was too complicated, and that the general application was a fast and easy way for students to apply to multiple scholarships for free.  

“They don’t even have to know the names of the awards. They’re all on the website. You’ll fill out an application and then it will automatically send your application to the different awards that you qualify for. It’s very easy and very little work for the students, they don’t need to know what they qualify for or apply to specific scholarships.” 
The general application can be found on the financial aid portion of the Geneseo website, and Romano encourages all students to submit an application.