Sacramento State’s Financial Aid and Scholarships Office is hosting a series of application workshops throughout February to help students prepare for the deadline on March 2. The first session, held Thursday in a hybrid format, drew students both in person and on Zoom.

The workshops guide students through Sac State’s general scholarship application that uses a single submission to be considered for more than 760 scholarships. The sessions focus on navigating the application portal from the Sac State website, understanding specific scholarship requirements and improving students’ personal statements.

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Grace Riley, a freshman biology major, said she was new to campus life and how to navigate the scholarship process. During the workshop, she said she was curious about steps to completing the general application and what questions to focus on as a biology major.

“Having scholarships and internships would be really useful for my career,” Riley said. “A lot of the information was useful because I am not fully used to being in a college environment and navigating it.”

Jennifer White, associate director of the Scholarships Office, said over the years low application submission rates were the initial inspiration for creating the workshops. White said that to remove the stress of the application, the workshop covers the common mistakes and questions students have.

“Out of the 30,000 students that we have here on campus, probably only about 6,000 fully submit their scholarship application,” White said. “So there’s a need to kind of get everybody to try to apply.”

White encouraged students to apply even if they are unsure about their eligibility, noting some scholarships go unawarded each year because of a lack of applicants. White said workshops like these are designed to accommodate all demographics at Sac State.

“The worst thing that anybody can ever tell you is no,” White said. “If you don’t try, then you’re not even going to get that.”

White said the move to hybrid and virtual workshops have increased accessibility and student participation, with Thursday’s session drawing more attendees over Zoom than in person. According to White, the office began the year with in-person workshops before adding a hybrid format, leading to higher engagement.

Tyler Woodhull, a freshman health sciences major, said he had questions about scholarship disbursement dates, navigating the portal and looking for additional scholarship opportunities when entering the workshop in person. Woodhull and other participants had questions like these answered in a Q&A session after the initial presentation, followed by direct application assistance from White.

“Primarily, I was looking for just a bunch of answers to my questions and then if there were any third-party scholarship places I could apply for too,” Woodhull said.

Sacramento State’s Financial Aid and Scholarships Office is hosting its final round of application workshops for the 2026-27 school year with the deadline for general applications approaching on March 2, 2026. (Courtesy of Jennifer White.)

Additional workshops will be held virtually on Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. and in a hybrid session in Mendocino Hall room 2008 on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. The Scholarships Office also collaborates with campus programs and colleges to host workshops tailored to specific student groups.