Why I'm Building BigScholars: The First Scholarship Partnership Business

Millions of students worldwide turn to scholarship directories to find scholarships; yet, over $100M+ in scholarships go unclaimed every year.

This paradox has fascinated me for years. How can there be so much money available while students struggle with overwhelming debt?

My Research: A Deep Investigation to this Problem

As a student myself who spent hours in high school obsessing over scholarships, I wanted to uncover where the problem truly lied. After speaking with 25+ students on campus, I found clear patterns:

  1. Students often end up spending 20+ hours searching through multiple scholarship directories
  2. Students say scholarship directories are "random," "useless," or "like winning the lottery"
  3. Students would feel "frustrated," "heartbroken," "salty," or would even "crash out" if they found out they missed $5k+ in opportunities
  4. Yet, almost all students believe they'd win more with a system that found scholarships for them

Many students I interviewed felt lost and didn't win as much as they thought they could. But interestingly, a few stood out…

➡️ Those who won big didn't just grind more hours in directories. They built support systems.
➡️ Some had help from counselors; one even hired someone to find scholarships for him.

There is a clear separation between the winners and losers: those with the support they need take all the bag while "average" applicants drown in the noise and give up.

The scholarship application process today is broken. It's no wonder $100M+ in Scholarships Go Unclaimed Every Year.

The Big Issue: An upside-down business model

Most scholarship directories operate on a simple model: partner with a select few scholarship organizations, market them to students, and hope for the best. But this approach has fundamental flaws:

  • Information overload: Students face thousands of scholarships with no clear guidance on where they should spend their effort
  • Irrelevant listings: Most scholarships listed are either luck-based or too competitive for the reward
  • Misaligned incentives: Platforms don't benefit when students actually apply or receive awards

When success is measured by page views and ad revenue, students end up frustrated wasting hours sifting through the noise while scholarship providers struggle to find qualified applicants.

A New Approach: A Scholarship Partnership Business

BigScholars takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of making money off exclusive partnerships, we win only when our students win in a commissions-based model.

When a student partners with us, they get much more than a generic scholarship list. Here's how it works:

  1. Student interview: We interview students 1-1 to find criteria and filter scholarships by eligibility
  2. AI matching: We match, rank, and group scholarships based on reward/effort ratios and essay similarity
  3. Timeline compilation: We curate one finalized scholarship list and review it with the student
  4. E2E application support: We help students navigate the process with our specialized consultation program

By eliminating uncertainty, we empower students to focus their effort on what matters most: winning as many scholarships as possible.

Building for Impact

BigScholars isn't another directory. We're building an outcomes-driven system that moves scholarship dollars from "available" to "awarded."

If you're a student, we can help you:

  • Stop guessing where to spend effort
  • Focus on a smaller set of high-fit scholarships
  • Follow a clear plan from now through deadlines

The directory era is over. The next step is partnerships built around results.

What's Next

We're currently in the early stages, building out the core platform for our first batch of students. If you're a student frustrated with the current scholarship search process, I'd love to hear from you.