Each academic year, the WSU Foundation awards over 900 scholarships to Winona State University students.

These scholarships total over $1.4 million, but not many students are aware of the opportunities that these scholarships offer.

According to Jennifer Jonsgaard, the WSU Foundation Scholarship coordinator, only 4,000 students applied for the WSU Foundation Scholarships last year. This year, Jonsgaard hopes to raise this number to 4,500 students.

“Over the last year, I have really put together some new marketing,” Jonsgaard said.

The new marking includes “Scholarship Stops,” which are aimed at informing students about scholarship opportunities and even helping students apply. The stops will be tables set up in various populated areas of campus.

“Over the next four weeks I will be set up somewhere on campus where students can come and [ask questions about] scholarships if they don’t understand how to apply, [if they] want advice or help, we will be there for two hours,” Jonsgaard said.

The “Scholarship Stops” aim to make the scholarships more visible and attract students to stop by the booths and ask questions.

There will also be more of a social media presence by the WSU Foundation in order to make more students aware of the scholarships.

“There were two articles written over break that talked about three different areas about scholarships,” Jonsgaard said. “I am also hopefully going to be getting more social media support through a couple of outlets, like Instagram and Snapchat.”

Sarah Schake a senior majoring in business administration, has applied for 75-100 WSU Foundation Scholarships and has been awarded five scholarships that have totaled $18,500.

Schake first found out about the WSU Foundation Scholarships when she was a senior in high school.

“I received an email from the university about the substantial number of scholarships available to students and I knew that I should take advantage of those opportunities,” Schake said. “Once at [Winona State], I heard about scholarships every December through an email and through advertising around campus.”

Schake encourages students to apply for the WSU Foundation Scholarships, as they are a great opportunity for many students in financial need and are fairly easy to apply for.

“I would encourage students, regardless of their year in school, to apply for these scholarships. The process is extremely simple, and what a lot of students don’t realize is several of the scholarships ask the same questions so you don’t have to write 25 essays; you can write only one and slightly change it to fit each unique scholarship,” Schake said. “In addition, the financial weight that was lifted from myself and my parents because I was awarded several scholarships made my time at WSU more enjoyable because I did not have to worry so much about my financial situation.”.

The deadline to apply for WSU Foundation Scholarships for 2019 is Feb. 15.