Easy No-Essay Scholarships: Quick Ways to Win Money for College | CollegeXpress
A notepad with Essay Writing written out then crossed out

Easy No-Essay Scholarships You Need to Know About Right Now

Skip the long writing prompts. Explore easy no-essay scholarships, simple sweepstakes, and quick monthly contests to win free money for college fast.

Many scholarships feature long-winded essay questions, and it’s often hard to know where to start. And maybe you just aren’t an essay writer. That doesn’t mean you should lose out on great opportunities for college scholarships. With a little digging around online, you can find great no-essay scholarships that are not only easy to apply for but often fun to do too. These quick and easy contests will have bigger applicant pools and may be harder to win, but somebody has to—and you can’t win if you don’t apply!

Check out the ones below to start and continue to do your own research to find even more no-essay scholarships that could be hiding in all corners of the internet. Before applying to anything, make sure you read all the rules and policies for each scholarship using the links provided!

Register for a website

All of these scholarships just require you to register for a website, and most of them are popular college search sites, so you can get some extra college research done while you’re there.

Black keyboard with button reading Register with clipboard icon

Appily Easy Money Scholarship

Monthly $1,000 scholarships? Sign us up! No, literally—just sign up and you’re entered for Appily's monthly giveaway. In a few short minutes, you’ll be on to your next scholarship.

Amount: $1,000
Awarded:
 Monthly
Deadline:
 Last day of the month
Check out Appily's Easy Money Scholarship.

Encourage for Students Sweepstakes

Like everyone else in this category, My College Options and myOptions Encourage offer a monthly scholarship that only requires registering on their website to apply, as long as you're between the ages of 14 and 18. The winner will be selected randomly, and there's no minimum GPA requirement—although they do still ask you to report it. 

Amount: $500
Awarded: 
Monthly
Deadline:
 Last day of the month
Check out the Encourage for Students Sweepstakes.

No Essay Smart Owl Scholarship

With Scholarship Owl, creating an account helps you apply to a lot of scholarships all with a single form. So create an account for the No Essay Smart Owl Scholarship and you won’t need to do a bunch of extra work to apply for more! 

Amount: $1,000 each to four winners a month (six winners in December)
Awarded:
 Monthly
Deadline:
 Last day of the month
Check out the No Essay Smart Owl Scholarship.

No Essay College Scholarship™

This scholarship from Niche has “no essay” right in the name! Admittedly, this one requires a smidge more work than just registering. But logging in monthly for a chance to win every month is a small task for the cash.

Amount: $2,000
Awarded:
 Monthly
Deadline:
 Last day of the month
Check out the No Essay College Scholarship™.

Christian College Scholarship Drawing

If you’re interested in Christian colleges and universities, do a quick registration on this website for a chance to win $1,000 and learn about great colleges that share your faith. If you end up deciding on a Christian college, for a chance to win even more money, fill out their “Christian College Connector” registration to be entered in their $5,000 giveaway.

Amount: $5,000
Awarded:
Annually 
Deadline:
May 31
Christian College Scholarship Drawing.

Ascent No-Essay Scholarships

Register on Ascent’s website to make an account, follow them on any one of their social media platforms, tag them in a comment with #AscentSponsored, and you’re done. This is a breeze because you’re probably already scrolling through social media anyway.

Amount: $1,000
Awarded:
 Monthly
Deadline:
Usually last day of the month (dates may vary)
Check out the Ascent Scholarship Sweepstakes.

Barbizon’s $10,000 College Tuition Scholarship

Barbizon Modeling and Acting awards $10,000 to one lucky winner to make their college dreams a reality. Applicants have the whole year to get entries in every time the new scholarship cycle opens. The most recent cycle opened in January of 2025 and will be closing in December, with winners announced sometime the following year. All students have to do to enter is complete the application, and the winner will be chosen by random drawing. 

Amount: $10,000
Awarded: Annually
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Check out the Barbizon College Tuition Scholarship.

CampusReel Student-Led Virtual Tours Scholarship

CampusReel is all about encouraging students to get to know schools through campus tours, even if they can't make it to campus in person. Applicants just have to make a free account on CampusReel's website and watch one student-led virtual tour to enter for a chance to win this scholarship. This easy opportunity is a win-win! 

Amount: $2,000
Awarded: Annually
Deadline: Dates vary
Check out the CampusReel Student-Led Virtual Tours Scholarship.

10 Words or Less Scholarship

We said no essays; we never said no words. You can swing 10 words. All you have to do is tell them why you think you deserve the scholarship in 10 words or fewer. It’s as easy as posting a Facebook comment (which is exactly how you enter). Leave a comment, give them a like on their Facebook page, and you’re in!

Amounts: $1,000; $500
Awarded:
Twice Annually
Deadlines:
April and November
Check out the 10 Words or Less Scholarship.

Use your creativity

Are you better with visuals than you are with words? Well, these scholarships are looking for that creative energy!

Computer desktop made of scraps of paper with traditional art tools sitting on top

Doodle for Google

This is Google we’re talking about, so you know they’ve got big bucks. Not only is this an opportunity to win $55,000 for school, but the winning doodle will also be featured on Google for a day and they will donate $50,000 to your school to help with technology resources! And even if you don’t win the big money, you still have a chance at one of the $5,000 runner-up scholarships.

Amount: Up to $55,000
Awarded:
 Annually
Deadline:
December
Check out the Doodle for Google contest.

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest

If doodling for Google didn’t expend all your creative juices, you can also create a greeting card. Take photographs for it. Design it with artwork. The creative medium is up to you, and the general public votes on the winner in the early rounds, so rally your friends and family to help you with this one.

Amount: $10,000
Awarded:
 Annually
Deadline:
March 
Check out the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest.

DoSomething.org Easy Scholarships

DoSomething doesn’t have just one easy scholarship—they have a ton! Most of them are creative and require you to make some sort of impact on others, whether big or small. Get your task, complete it, and send in a picture for proof for a chance to be their randomly chosen winner! Then rinse and repeat for their other tasks with coordinating scholarships. The age range for participants is 13 to 25 years old. 

Amount: Up to $1,500
Awarded:
Annually
Deadline:
Varies (Different for each featured scholarship)
Check out all of DoSomething.org's easy scholarships.

Answer some questions

Sometimes websites just want people to fill out their surveys, and they’ll give you money for school just to do it. Or maybe the organization wants you to learn about something that they do. Either way, these scholarships just require answering a few questions to enter.

White hand clicking answers on survey on cellphone

The $1,000 SuperCollege Scholarship

What’s easier than answering questions about yourself? Fill out an application and tell SuperCollege what you’re going to school for and other academic-related questions, hit submit, and you’re done.

Amount: $1,000
Awarded:
 Monthly
Deadline:
 Last day of the month
Check out the $1,000 SuperCollege Scholarship.

$1,000 School Survey Sweepstakes

Another one that requires a bit of writing, but it’s certainly no essay. You can be entered into Niche’s monthly $1,000 giveaway just by filling out a short survey about your high school. Even your parents are allowed to enter this one! 

Amount: $1,000
Awarded:
 Monthly
Deadline:
 Last day of the month
Check out the School Survey Sweepstakes.

Sallie Monthly Scholarship

Sallie is another scholarship and financial aid website that gives away scholarships to students every month throughout the year. Just complete a short entry form with info including which college you’ll be attending and when you anticipate graduating. This application even allows parents to enter for their children. As long as you're 17 years old, you should apply to this one now! 

Amount: $2,000
Awarded:
 Monthly
Deadline:
 Last day of the month
Check out Sallie's Monthly Scholarship.

Student-View Scholarship

This one skips the application process and gets right to the questions. Fill out their survey to get entered into their random drawing. Students fill out the surveys based on their state of residence, so please note that students from Washington, DC, are welcome to choose either the Maryland or Virginia survey. The big winner gets $10,000, and if that’s not you, you could still be one of two $1,000 winners or one of five $500 winners. 

Amount: Up to $10,000
Awarded:
 Annually
Deadline:
April 23, 2025
Check out the Student-View Scholarship.

While this may be a long list of easy no-essay scholarships, there could be even more on the internet that we didn’t find, so keep doing your research (and let us know if we missed any using our contact form!).

Eager for more opportunities to win money? Use our Scholarship Search tool to find other scholarships you’re qualified for!

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About CollegeXpress

CollegeXpress

Welcome to CollegeXpress, your one-stop college shop! We’re a free college planning website used by millions of college-bound students, parents, and counselors—anyone who needs help navigating the college search and application process, financial aid opportunities, and more. 

You’ll find comprehensive College Search and Scholarship Search tools, tons of articles and expert advice, unique college Lists & Rankings, and lots of other resources to help make your life easier. Teen Vogue even named us one of the 7 Best College Search Websites!

Current college students and recent grads also love CollegeXpress for our Graduate Program Search tool and endless information on student life, internships, and beyond. We really have something for everyone, no matter where you are in your college journey.

Create a free CollegeXpress account to start connecting with colleges, winning scholarships, and simplifying your life as a student!

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

Moody Bible Institute

Chicago, IL


Kelly Nogueiro

Kelly Nogueiro

Counselor

For me, CollegeXpress has given me a valuable tool to use with my students to explore colleges easily beyond objective data. It helps me find colleges for students that fit their needs and wants that aren’t quite so black and white. It's a wealth of knowledge, and the Type-A side of me loves all the lists and the fact that I know they're coming from folks who know what they're talking about. I share it with colleagues and students alike, and it's always well received.

Priscilla Yeboah

Priscilla Yeboah

High School Student

I was afraid and timid throughout my search for colleges, but I finally found the college that was fit for me and luckily I got accepted. One of the most influential things that helped me was the articles and advice on CollegeXpress. They've helped me a lot and benefited me as a senior to make the right choices in life. Thank you!

Kayla

Kayla

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress helped me organize the schools I wanted to choose from in one place, which I could then easily compare and find the school that was right for me!

Sarah Armstrong

Sarah Armstrong

High School Class of 2022

I am a deaf student, and I had always dreamed of going to Gallaudet University. CollegeXpress helped me search though other qualified universities. They helped me know for sure that Gallaudet University was the right choice for me!

Ida Akoto-Wiafe

Ida Akoto-Wiafe

High School Class of 2022

I wanted a school that wasn't too far away from home and could provide me with a full-ride scholarship. CollegeXpress helped me put into perspective the money I had to pay to attend those schools, which ultimately drove me to choose to attend a community college first to get used to being in college before transferring to the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, one of the colleges I was able to research further on CollegeXpress.