Student Scholarship Program

Personal essays should clearly, articulately, and intelligently describe why your selected topic—pandemics and the future of online learning; policing, social justice, and solutions; or truth, credibility, and “fake news”—is important to you, as well as why it is an important topic in the context of higher education and/or society at large.

Consider the following questions as you write your essay:

• What experiences have you had on campus related to the topic you selected? Describe a specific experience or interaction related to the issue (either positive or negative). How did you react to the experience? Why was it an important moment for you?
• In relation to your selected topic, what do you feel needs to change, either in the higher education community or in society, so that humanity can progress and/or evolve? How might you inspire or effect this change?
• How can others learn from your personal experiences and your unique perspective? How can your voice and your story have an impact?

While you may not be able to address all of the above prompts in an 800 – 1,500-word essay, the more you can cover, the better! Essentially, we want to know why the topic is important to you on a personal level, what changes you’d like to see in higher education or society to support a better future for students like you, and how you’d recommend we, as a society, go about that change.

Please list your name, academic program/major, university name, and word count (excluding your title) in the upper left-hand corner of your submission.

Center your title on the page, and justify the proceeding text in your essay to the left. Please indent the first line of each paragraph and double-space between lines.

Use 12-point black type and limit your font choices to Courier, Times New Roman, or Arial.

When you save your essay file, please use the following naming convention: LastName_FirstName_2021Scholarship (ex – Doe_Jane_2021Scholarship).

To submit an essay, fill out the form provided in the Submit an Essay section below by 5pm, PST, on Sunday, February 28, 2021. You may attach your essay to the form as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.

Please use the following naming convention when saving and submitting your essay: LastName_FirstName_2021Scholarship (ex – Doe_Jane_2021Scholarship).

If you experience any technical difficulties or have questions regarding the submission form or the required format or file type for your essay, please email scholarship@cognella.com

All essays must be submitted by 5 pm, PST, on Sunday, February 28, 2021.

A panel of individuals will evaluate each essay in accordance with the essay criteria. This panel will also score each essay according to word count adherence, punctuation and spelling, writing style and voice, the clarity and persuasiveness of your message, and creativity. The panel will include members of the Cognella Editorial Team.

*One winning essay will be selected per topic: pandemics and the future of online learning; policing, social justice, and solutions; or truth, credibility, and “fake news.” Accordingly, three students will win academic scholarships from Cognella in Spring 2021.

Winners will be notified by Friday, March 19, 2021, via email. Delivery of the monetary reward (in the form of a check from Cognella, Inc.) will be arranged at that time.

Winners will be announced publicly via the Cognella website and the company’s social media accounts the week of March 29, 2021. When you submit an essay to Cognella, you give us permission to post your essay publicly, along with your name, university, field of study, and a photo of you (to be supplied to Cognella if your essay is selected for a scholarship). No further information about you will be used or posted in any way.

Please note, all Cognella academic scholarships are of a taxable amount. If you win a Cognella scholarship, you’ll receive a 1099 Form that you can use to report this amount on your personal taxes for the 2020 calendar year. If you have any questions about how this amount may impact your personal tax filing, please consult an accountant or tax expert for advice.

*If we do not receive a suitable entry for a particular topic (ie – all entries are disqualified), Cognella reserves the right to select additional winners from one of the other topical areas. In any case, three students will be awarded scholarships.

If you have any questions regarding the program or application process, please contact the scholarship team at scholarship@cognella.com.