Paying for college is a daunting task, and the process of finding scholarships can feel like another full-time job. You see those applications demanding multiple essays, letters of recommendation, detailed transcripts, and hours of work, and it is easy to get discouraged. You might think, “I just don’t have the time to write five different personal statements this week.” That is a completely understandable feeling, and it’s why so many students miss out on what we call easy money.
The truth is, not all scholarships require a huge investment of your time. A growing number of organizations and companies offer “no-essay” or “easy-entry” scholarships that function more like a monthly sweepstakes or a simple registration process. While the competition for these awards is generally higher, the time investment is so minimal—often just two minutes—that it is a high-value activity. If you spend five minutes applying for a scholarship, and your chances of winning are one in a thousand, you have a better return on your time than spending twenty hours on a single scholarship with a one in ten chance of winning. You just have to play the numbers game, and these twelve options are the best places to start building your application momentum right now.
The primary characteristic of these easy scholarships is that they are sweepstakes-style. This means the winner is often chosen at random from the pool of eligible applicants. Your GPA, your extracurricular activities, and your deeply personal story often don’t matter at all. What matters is that you meet the basic eligibility criteria—usually just being a current or prospective student—and that you hit the submission button before the deadline.
One of the most widely available and easiest scholarships to apply for is the Niche $50,000 “No Essay” Scholarship. This is a massive award that runs on a recurring schedule, often quarterly or annually, and the application requires little more than setting up a free account and clicking a button. Niche’s entire business is built around connecting students with colleges and financial aid, and this scholarship is their way of generating interest in their platform. For a potential fifty-thousand-dollar award, spending five minutes creating a profile and entering is an absolute no-brainer. This is the definition of a high-reward, low-effort activity, and the kind of opportunity you should enter every time it opens.
Another fantastic option for consistent, low-effort money is the $2,000 No Essay Scholarship by Sallie. This scholarship is particularly reliable because it is typically offered on a monthly basis. This means you can add it to your monthly financial checklist. Eligibility is usually very broad, covering high school students, undergraduates, and graduate students. The application usually involves a simple online form, and there are no essays, no GPA requirements, and no letters of recommendation needed. Winning a $2,000 prize every month is obviously unlikely, but since your application only takes two minutes, applying twelve times a year is a smart strategy to increase your odds.
Following the same monthly pattern, the Edvisors $2,500 Monthly Scholarship is another sweepstakes-style award that requires minimal effort. Edvisors is a well-established resource for college planning, and their monthly giveaway is designed to drive traffic to their site. Again, the beauty here is the predictability and the low barrier to entry. They make it clear: no GPA requirement, no essay, no hassle. Simply signing up or completing a very quick form automatically enters you into the drawing for that month. When you are building your easy-entry scholarship strategy, look for these monthly or quarterly programs because they offer continuous chances to win.
Another popular choice among students looking for quick wins is the Bold $25,000 “Be Bold” No-Essay Scholarship. Bold.org is a large scholarship platform, and their “Be Bold” scholarship is a prime example of a sweepstakes award that promotes engagement on their site. While they might select a winner based on who has the “boldest profile,” the core application requirement is simply joining the platform and creating a profile, which is a very low-effort task. For a $25,000 award, a few minutes of filling out profile details is a small price to pay for the chance at such a life-changing amount of funding.
The $1,000 Appily Easy College Money Scholarship is a great, easy option specifically aimed at high school students. This is another monthly drawing where the eligibility is very broad, focusing on current high school students across various grades. Appily’s goal is to help students connect with colleges, and they use this simple scholarship as an incentive. For high schoolers just starting the college journey, this scholarship is a perfect way to dip your toes into the application process without the stress of writing a college-level essay.
For students who are interested in the digital and finance world, the SoFi $2,500 Scholarship Giveaway is another excellent choice. SoFi, a major financial services company, often runs a monthly sweepstakes for students, sometimes specifically aimed at current college or graduate students. Applying generally involves registering on their platform or filling out a quick entry form. Since SoFi’s primary business is student loan refinancing, this is a way for them to build a list of future customers, but for the student, it is a risk-free shot at $2,500 that takes barely a minute to submit.
A clever and unique type of easy scholarship is one that asks for very little effort but demands a specific kind of creativity or simple opinion. For instance, the “10 Words or Less Scholarship” is a fantastic example. While the requirements can sometimes be slightly different depending on the platform hosting it, the core concept is the same: you have to write a very short response—literally ten words or fewer—explaining why you deserve to win. This takes mere seconds to write, and it is a fun, stress-free way to enter a drawing. These types of micro-submissions are a great way to break up the monotony of filling out basic profile forms.
Another example of a scholarship that asks for a creative, but very minimal, submission is the CampusReel Virtual Tour Scholarship. This scholarship sometimes awards money for simply watching a virtual campus tour video or answering a very simple related question. The organizations that create these scholarships are focused on data collection and user engagement. They are using the scholarship money as a hook, but for the student, it’s a quick task that has a cash reward attached. Watching a short video is certainly easier than writing a 1,000-word essay.
The BigFuture Scholarship program, run by the College Board, is a slightly different but highly accessible form of “easy money.” This scholarship is won not by writing an essay, but by taking concrete steps toward college planning. For example, completing steps like building a college list, exploring career options, or completing the FAFSA can automatically enter high school students into monthly drawings for thousands of dollars. While it requires slightly more effort than a pure sweepstakes, it rewards you for doing the planning work you should be doing anyway, making it incredibly high-value.
For those using specific scholarship search engines, you will often find platform-specific no-essay scholarships. For instance, ScholarshipOwl frequently offers a no-essay scholarship, sometimes with a large award amount, simply for signing up and using their service. CollegeVine also offers recurring no-essay scholarships that simply require you to create a free account and complete your admissions profile. These are essentially rewards for platform engagement, and since using these tools makes the rest of your scholarship search easier, it is a win-win situation.
Finally, while not a monthly sweepstakes, many local or regional scholarships through your high school guidance office or local community foundations are “easy” simply because they have very low competition or highly specific criteria. For example, a scholarship for students graduating from your specific high school who plan to major in agricultural studies will have a tiny pool of applicants compared to the national Niche scholarship. While the application might still ask for a transcript, it requires zero extra essay writing and offers a much higher chance of success. Always prioritize these hyper-local, high-specificity awards alongside the national sweepstakes.
The strategy for success with easy scholarships is simple: volume and consistency. Set aside twenty minutes once or twice a month to apply to every single no-essay, sweepstakes, or profile-based scholarship you qualify for. You are playing a lottery, so the more tickets you hold, the better your odds. Every $1,000 or $2,500 win chips away at your total tuition bill, reducing the amount you have to cover with loans. Do not underestimate the power of these small, consistent efforts; they are the financial equivalent of finding free money scattered on the ground.
