Congratulations on Your Scholarship!
Your hard work, passion, success, and future aspirations helped you stand out amongst your peers, and CSU joins you in celebrating your achievement!
Throughout the year, University Advancement shares the remarkable work of scholarship recipients like you with donors as a way to showcase the impact of scholarships within our community. The most important part of these communications is the voice of CSU students – your voice! Donors love to hear about who you are and what you’re up to. Sharing a bit about yourself is a great way to show off your amazing accomplishments while connecting with donors, alumni, faculty, and staff. Plus, your words just might inspire additional philanthropy, expanding opportunities for outstanding Rams like you in the future.
We invite you to continue exploring this page to learn more about a method of sharing gratitude and impact that feels comfortable for you.
Your CSU Story Matters
As unique and amazing as you are, so is your story! The big and small moments that led you to CSU and decorate your CSU journey matter to the community of Rams eager to support and cheer for you. There are several ways for you to share your story below, and we encourage you to choose the ones that feel most comfortable to you. Please watch this video to learn about Briana’s CSU story, and consider sharing your own!
“Having a vibrant, diverse, and robust scholarship program at CSU aligns with our land-grant mission and our Principles of Community. Through scholarships, we affirm and reaffirm that students of all backgrounds and abilities belong here at CSU.”
– Rick Miranda
Our Scholarship Philosophy
At CSU, students are the focus of all scholarship efforts, and scholarship recipients are equal partners with University Advancement in our work connecting donors to the impact of their generosity. Scholarship recipients are invited to say thanks and highlight impact to donors in ways that feel safe, comfortable, and transparent, but they are not required to share any more than their name, major, minor, concentration, and class level. CSU is working diligently to create a scholarship environment that is transparent, equitable, and free of undue emotional labor. A student’s scholarship status and/or eligibility for future funding are not impacted by a student’s level of participation in any advancement activities.
Please email donorrelations@colostate.edu if you have questions about CSU’s scholarship stewardship Philosophy.
CSU Scholarships and Student Privacy
All CSU students, including scholarship recipients, are protected by the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. University Advancement may share a scholarship recipient’s name, major, minor, concentration, and class level with the stewardee(s) of their scholarship(s), as this is considered relevant public (directory) information; however, UA will not disclose contact information or any private information without the explicit consent of the scholarship recipient. Please visit registrar.colostate.edu/student-privacy-ferpa to learn more about FERPA and the differences between directory vs. private information.
Common Scholarship Terms
Scholarship
A scholarship is an amount given or awarded to a student for the purpose of educational study. At CSU, scholarships are based on future or continuing education, do not require the performance of a service, and are not compensatory.
Office of Financial Aid
The Office of Financial Aid provides resources and information on ways to pay for education, including scholarships. All questions about applying for and receiving scholarships should be directed to FinancialAid@colostate.edu and/or your college’s scholarship coordinator, which can be found under “CSUSA Scholarship Contacts” at financialaid.colostate.edu/csu-scholarship-application-csusa/.
CSU Scholarship Application
All levels of prospective and current students are encouraged to apply for scholarships using the Colorado State University Scholarship Application, which covers both need-based and merit-based scholarships. The CSUSA is available from Oct. 1 to March 1 (11 p.m. MST).
Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
All CSU students, including scholarship recipients, are protected by the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that governs the privacy of student education records. Please visit registrar.colostate.edu/student-privacy-ferpa for additional information.
RAMweb
RAMweb provides online access to application status, registration, financial information, personal records, jobs, and more.
Academic Works/BBAM
Academic Works, also known as Blackbaud Award Management or BBAM, is the platform CSU uses to manage scholarship applications. Students access this platform via RAMweb.
University Advancement
University Advancement is responsible for donor and alumni engagement, including fundraising and stewardship.
Stewardship
Stewardship involves managing philanthropic gifts as donors intended and updating donors on the progress and impact of their gifts.
Stewardee
A stewardee is the individual associated with a specific gift or fund, to whom University Advancement reports back about the progress and impact of the gift/fund. A stewardee is usually the donor who made the gift/established the fund.
Scholarship Impact Survey
The Scholarship Impact Survey is an optional way for students to share how scholarships have impacted their CSU experience. Survey responses are used to create stewardship reports for University Advancement to share with the stewardee(s) associated with a student’s scholarship. Completing the Scholarship Impact Survey is optional and has no impact on a student’s eligibility to receive future funding, but is highly encouraged. All questions about the Scholarship Impact Survey and other stewardship projects should be directed to donorrelations@colostate.edu.
Donor Connect
Donor Connect is UA’s online portal where students can complete the Scholarship Impact Survey, located under the scholarship tile. Students login using their CSU NetID.
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Accessibility Transcript 1: Scholarship Infographic
Thirty-four percent of scholarship recipients are first-generation students. 5,500-plus community members support scholarships each year. $21.2 million was given to support scholarships at CSU during academic year 2022-2023. Eighty-nine percent is the graduation rate of scholarship recipients.
Accessibility Transcript 2: Scholarship Responsibilities Infographic
It’s CSU’s responsibility to spend money according to donor’s intent; give gratitude to donors; provide accountability/reporting; and manage donor expectations and set healthy boundaries. CSU cannot accept money with illegal, unethical restrictions or that are contrary to CSU’s mission; CSU cannot allow donor to control money after it’s given; CSU cannot force donor/recipient interactions.
It’s the donor’s responsibility to provide gifts without illegal, unethical, or unnecessary restrictions; understand the relationship is with the organization, not the recipient; and maintain realistic expectations of organization and donor. Donors cannot expect quid pro quo treatment or influence on organizational decisions; donors cannot demand interaction with recipients; donors cannot feel ownership over recipients.
It’s the recipient’s responsibility to partner with the organization in sharing impact and participate in ethical storytelling. The recipient cannot expect a relationship with the donor; cannot be required to thank the donor; cannot participate in any unwanted interaction with the donor; and cannot feel indebted to the donor.