WCC Foundation offers over 80 individual scholarships in addition to our large general scholarship fund. Students can apply for all these opportunities using a single online application. The general application is the only application for WCCF scholarships.

You do not need to research individual scholarships or apply for them individually—we do this part for you! We will contact you if we need additional information after you submit your application.

WCC Foundation scholarships are available to students who will attend Whatcom during the upcoming academic year. While there are some scholarships with specific criteria, most of our awards are available to any student in good academic standing, including full and part time students, Running Start students, and international students. Last year around 50% of our applicants were offered a scholarship. 

Awards typically range from $750 to $5,500.

Currently, we only have one scholarship cycle, January through April. This is when we’ll award our available funding. Students can use the awards for any quarter in the upcoming academic year.

Our application is brief and takes most students 1-2 hours to complete. We will ask you for some basic information that helps us understand which scholarships you qualify for. We will also ask you to upload an unofficial transcript (WCC preferred), request a recommendation survey, and write short essays.

If this is your first time applying for our scholarships you will need to create an account. This account isn’t associated with any of your existing WCC logins. You may save your progress and make changes to your application until the deadline.

You’ll need to add one unofficial transcript to your application. Pick your most recent transcript. If you have recent transcripts from two schools, pick the transcript that you are most proud of.

If you’re a WCC student, you can look up your unofficial transcript here. If you have trouble downloading your transcript, you’re welcome to use screenshots.

If you have no recent transcripts you may upload a document briefly explaining why you don’t have access to a transcript.

We ask recommenders to complete a brief recommendation survey instead of a traditional letter. In the “recommendation” tab of you scholarship application, add your recommender’s contact information and click the “Send Request” button. This will send an email to your recommender with a link for them to complete our recommendation survey.

To submit your application, you will need to request a recommendation. We will still consider your application even if your recommender does not submit their recommendation.

If you or your recommenders have any issues with this, please contact us at foundation@whatcom.edu.

We will notify WCC Foundation Scholarship recipients by email from the end of May through June. 

1. You must accept your scholarship online via Award Spring. This will require you to go back to your application and complete the follow-up questionnaire and click submit. 
2. Claimed WCC Foundation scholarships that are awarded in the primary cycle are split between Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. (For summer distribution please contact the Foundation).  
3. Financial aid applies your scholarship to tuition and fees first and remaining credit balances are provided to students via one of three disbursement methods through BankMobile Disbursements, a technology solution, powered by BMTX, Inc. 
4. Review your CTC Link Financial Aid account after the first day of each quarter to confirm your distribution amount. 

Contact financial aid (finaid@whatcom.edu). WCC Foundation notifies Financial Aid of your award schedule. After that, Financial Aid administers the funds via CTC Link.

Award packages may be prorated for students attending fewer than three quarters of the upcoming academic year and for students who are taking fewer than nine credits per quarter. Forfeited funds will be awarded to another student in need. Please contact WCC Foundation if you think you should receive a prorated award. Rarely, WCCF will make exceptions to this policy for students experiencing exceptional circumstances. Disbursements are based on the following criteria by quarter:

The most important part of your application is your short essays. We are looking to see that you are committed to your goals at WCC, that you can persist in your education when challenged, and that a scholarship will be an investment in your success. The easiest ways for you to be successful are to:

• Make sure that you understand and have responded to the full essay prompt. We want to get to know you. Answer the questions, give examples, let us see you and your work. 
• Reread and revise what you have written. Are your responses clear? Have you responded to the whole question?
• Check that your recommendation has been submitted. You can receive a scholarship without a recommendation, but they help us to learn more about you and your strengths.  
• Reach out to the Writing Center. Student staff are standing by to talk with you, to help you plan, and to read your writing for this application.
• Check your email. We will reach out to you throughout the application process if we need additional information from you, and all award decisions will be announced via email.