Directory / Access Scholarships
Access Scholarships
Access Scholarships is a free scholarship search site with a database of 10,000+ scholarships. Its search page filters by state, field of study, award amount and GPA, and a longer profile form asks about school level, ethnicity and citizenship. The home page also promotes the site's own giveaways and no-essay awards from partner sites.
Best for: Students who want to narrow a national list of 10,000+ scholarships by state, field of study, amount and GPA without an account.
Limitation: The site promotes its own giveaways and partner no-essay awards, and listings need a check against the sponsor's own page.
Our rating
3.3out of 5
What our research found
Matching Power (3.5 / 5)
- Filters cover state, field of study and GPA.
- An award amount range and name search narrow results.
- A state and field search cut the list sharply.
- Results can be sorted.
Scholarship Quality (3.0 / 5)
- Listings show amounts, deadlines and eligibility.
- Partner no-essay awards sit beside sponsor awards.
- Some recurring awards give no dated deadline.
Ease of Use (3.5 / 5)
- Many links and buttons are small to tap on phones.
- Results list links onward without a separate award page.
- Pages fit phone screens without sideways scrolling.
Privacy & Marketing (3.0 / 5)
- The profile search asks for birth date and ethnicity.
- The site promotes its own giveaways.
- Pages load only Google analytics and a login tool.
How we rate
Matching Power
How well it helps you find the scholarships it lists, by filtering on location, need, merit, major, college and high school.
A 5 means you can narrow the list by where you live, need, merit, major, college or high school, and a big site brings the best fits to the top. A 1 means little or no way to narrow, and in the middle some filters work but many results still do not fit.
Scholarship Quality
How complete, current and traceable its scholarship listings are.
A 5 means nearly every listing is current, links to the real sponsor and gives enough detail to act on. A 1 means most are out of date, incomplete or do not lead to the sponsor, and in the middle you will need to double check a fair share.
Ease of Use
How easily you can understand the controls and reach actionable scholarship information.
A 5 means clear controls and a quick path from the list to a scholarship and its sponsor, including on a phone. A 1 means walls, confusing steps or a broken phone view keep getting in the way, and the middle is workable with some tradeoffs.
Privacy & Marketing
What data it asks for, how much advertising or sign-up pressure gets in the way, and how much control you have.
A 5 means the site asks only for what it needs, says why, keeps ads and partner offers out of the way and leaves you in control. A 1 means heavy data requests, sign-up pressure, loan offers or sweepstakes get in the way, and the middle has some of that pressure but it stays manageable.
Our ratings are our opinion of each site, not an endorsement or a prediction that you'll win.