Application fees
Be cautious when an opportunity asks for money to apply, claim, process, or unlock a scholarship.
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Safety guide
Scholarship scam warning signs
Most scholarship searches include some uncertainty. Use these checks before sharing personal information, paying fees, or trusting an unofficial application route.
Student-first rule
Confirm every final requirement on the official provider page before applying.
ScholarshipTop helps students search and plan. Official providers control final eligibility, deadlines, selection, and award payment.
Unofficial contact
Provider emails should match a credible organization, school, nonprofit, government, or official program domain when possible.
Pressure tactics
Urgent payment demands, guaranteed awards, and requests to keep an award secret are major red flags.
Red flags to check
- Guaranteed scholarship or guaranteed selection claims
- Requests for bank details before official award confirmation
- Checks that ask you to send money back
- Application fees that are not clearly explained by an official provider
- Provider pages with no clear organization identity or contact information
- Emails from free or lookalike domains that do not match the sponsor
How to verify a scholarship source
- Search for the scholarship on the provider website, not only on third-party pages.
- Check whether the application domain matches the official organization.
- Confirm deadline, eligibility, award amount, and documents from the provider page.
- Avoid sending sensitive documents until the source and application route are clear.