Sinclair360

The challenge of finding money to pay for college has become a little simpler for Sinclair Community College students.

Last fall Sinclair implemented a new system designed to match students with scholarships for which they may qualify. It’s called STARS – Scholarship Tracking and Review System – and it’s already increasing the number of students applying for scholarships, said Melissa Reese, associate registrar. A 300 percent growth in the number of students logging onto the system to apply for scholarships was documented in winter quarter 2010.

Potential and current students log on to the STARS site and answer questions that help the program automatically find out which of Sinclair’s internal scholarships they may qualify for. Once a student has verified that he or she actually meets each criterion, the student can then immediately apply for the award online. “I try to tell everyone to use this,” Reese said. “It’s a much easier process.”

In the past students filled out paper applications, and Sinclair staff members manually sorted through a list of scholarships and their criteria to find matches for the applicants.

The system was also implemented to make the scholarship-awarding process easier for the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Employees in that office can now award scholarships and notify recipients by clicking a button.

The Sinclair Foundation manages 152 scholarships listed on the STARS site. The program helps the foundation improve its stewardship with donors, said Sharon Smith, stewardship and annual gifts officer of the Sinclair Foundation. The Foundation’s staff is able to view and update scholarship-criteria quality, to ensure that a donor’s intentions are carried out properly, she said. And it also provides a way for students to show their appreciation to donors, by allowing students to upload thank-you letters that the Foundation can then forward on to the donors.

Chief among the benefits of STARS is the ability to award a higher percentage of available dollars than in the past. Money that may otherwise go unused is finding its way into student pockets – and making a difference in their ability to work toward a college degree. “Some of our students cannot come to school without scholarships and financial aid,” Reese said. “Even if it’s a $50 book scholarship, it’s useful.”

By Tracy Staley

Tracy Staley is a Dayton-based writer whose work has appeared in the Dayton Business Journal, the Nashville Business Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader, among others.