Scholarships are meant to open doors—not require students to give up deeply personal information in the process.
As more students and families turn to online platforms to search and apply for scholarships, many assume these tools exist solely to help them find funding. What's far less visible is how much personal data some platforms collect—and how that data may be used once it's collected.
Learn more about how ScholarTrail works: Our mission
What Many Families Don't Realize
In order to create a profile or "unlock" scholarship matches, some scholarship platforms ask students to disclose highly sensitive personal information, often well beyond basic academic details.
This can include information related to:
- Race or ethnicity
- Gender identity or sexual orientation
- Religious affiliation or beliefs
- Political or civic interests
- Immigration or first-generation status
- Family background and household income
In some cases, these questions are tied to eligibility for specific scholarships. In others, they are presented as optional—but encouraged—as part of building a more "complete" profile.
The concern is not that identity-based scholarships exist—they absolutely should. The concern is when this level of personal information is collected broadly, stored indefinitely, or used beyond the purpose of applying for a specific scholarship.
Why This Matters—Especially for Students
Student data isn't just another data set. It often involves minors, financial details, and deeply personal aspects of identity—information that can have long-term consequences if mishandled.
Even when collected with good intentions, sensitive data introduces additional risk if it is:
- Shared with third parties for marketing, analytics, or lead generation
- Used to build advertising or interest profiles
- Retained long after a student stops using the platform
- Combined with behavioral data to infer preferences or vulnerabilities
For parents, this raises an important question:
Should students have to disclose personal beliefs or identity characteristics simply to search for scholarships?
If you're a parent, you may find this helpful: Parent Scholarship Guide
"Free" Scholarship Platforms: What's the Tradeoff?
Many scholarship search sites advertise themselves as free. And technically, they are—at least in terms of dollars.
But in many cases, the platform's business model relies on collecting and monetizing user data. That data can include:
- Contact information
- Academic history and interests
- Demographic and identity data
- Application behavior and engagement patterns
Instead of charging users directly, some platforms generate revenue by selling or sharing this information with advertisers, marketers, or third-party partners.
In other words, the "cost" isn't money—it's information.
Transparency Matters More Than Ever
Most platforms disclose their data practices somewhere—typically in lengthy privacy policies that are rarely read in full.
Before using any scholarship platform, families should feel empowered to ask:
- Is student data ever sold or shared for profit?
- Who has access to sensitive demographic or identity data?
- How long is this information retained?
- Can data be deleted if a student leaves the platform?
If these answers are difficult to find or unclear, that lack of transparency is itself a signal.
Read ScholarTrail's privacy approach here: Privacy & data policy
What a Privacy-First Scholarship Platform Looks Like
A privacy-first approach starts with a simple principle: Student data should only be used to serve the student.
That means:
- Sensitive data is collected only when necessary
- Information is not sold or monetized
- Matching focuses on eligibility—not advertising
- Families have clarity and control over their data
Privacy-first platforms treat trust as foundational, not optional.
ScholarTrail's Approach
ScholarTrail was built with a different model in mind.
Our focus is on helping students find legitimate scholarship opportunities without selling or monetizing personal data. We use eligibility-based matching to connect students with scholarships that fit their profile—while keeping transparency and data protection front and center.
Get started: Create an account
Making an Informed Choice
Choosing a scholarship platform isn't just about how many opportunities it lists—it's about how responsibly it operates.
By understanding what data is collected, why it's collected, and how it's used, families can make decisions that protect both opportunity and privacy.
Because when it comes to education, trust should never be the hidden cost.
