SelfScore Announces First-Ever Dedicated Scholarship Program for International Students

SelfScore, an analytics-based lender that provides financial services to international students, today announced that it will begin accepting submissions for the first-of-its-kind scholarship program for international students. This is the only scholarship tailored exclusively toward foreign scholars in the US, who often must pay up to 3x more in tuition than their American-born classmates.

Although international students spend billions of dollars on tuition each year and have gone on to establish some of the most innovative, successful companies of our time, most universities do not offer the same scholarship or financial aid opportunities that American students receive to this demographic, inflicting a significant financial burden on them and their families. This is because financial aid is considered a loan by universities who often are unable to offer grants or loans to students who are not already part of the US financial system.

SelfScore has revamped its scholarship program with expanded features and additional benefits to create an entirely new reward opportunity for this demographic that is often overlooked by the financial aid system. Now through September, twelve qualified applicants are eligible to win $5,000 through their respective universities. On top of filling out online applications, students are encouraged to nominate international student organizations and clubs at their universities which, if chosen, are eligible to win $1,000 grants.

SelfScore first introduced its pilot program last year to help lower the cost of tuition for foreign scholars in the US. Of the thousands of qualified applicants, six undergraduate and six graduate students were selected at random to each receive a $5,000 scholarship. SelfScore also enrolled all applicants in a free Financial Literacy program in order to better prepare them for financial independence. The program is a comprehensive guide that teaches young adults about the evolving dynamics of finance management. The newsletter offers advice for personal and professional success in managing expenses, along with background information and use cases for various financial services that international students may not be familiar with.

The following twelve qualified international students received SelfScore’s scholarship after last year’s pilot program:

• Abdulkadir Y. - UT Dallas - Istanbul, Turkey

• Aditi C. - Carnegie Mellon University - Bangalore, India

• Connor M. - UCLA - Edmonton, Canada

• Gregory S. - University of Chicago - Maraval, Trinidad and Tobago

• Hyeong C. - University of Pittsburgh - Seongnam-si, South Korea

• Muhammad J. - NYU - Lahore, Pakistan

• Nikunj J. - UC Berkeley - New Delhi, India

• Pei Zhuang Y. - Stanford University - Singapore, Singapore

• Shikhar G. - Texas A&M - New Delhi, India

• Yelu Z. - Boston University - Ottawa, Canada

• Yuxuan M. - Columbia University - Nanjing, China

• Zhaoyong Z. - Brown University - Shanghai, China

“It is uncommon to find scholarships within the US that are open to international students, and almost unheard of to find one that caters to them exclusively,” said Connor M., a SelfScore Scholarship recipient who is finishing up his first year of a combined M.A./Ph.D in linguistics at UCLA. “I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of SelfScore in providing this scholarship. It will allow me to make the most of my time at UCLA this year by devoting myself to the work I am passionate about, and will help further the success of my academic career.”

“We at SelfScore are thrilled to extend the scholarship program to a new group of highly qualified individuals who are succeeding academically and making endless intellectual and cultural contributions to this country,” said Kalpesh Kapadia, CEO and co-founder of SelfScore. “We hope that this financial assistance will alleviate some of the stresses felt by international students who have left their families and lives overseas to pursue higher education here.”

“International students bring fresh perspectives to the US and diversify our education system in countless positive ways, however, they are often overlooked or forgotten when it comes to financial aid,” said Amy Griggs Veramay, Lead Advisor for Undergraduate Student Services at the Berkeley International Office. “It is critical that educational leaders advocate for this demographic in all respects, including financial, because if we don’t, we’d stand to lose out on the tremendous contributions they make to our campuses and our communities. Since there are so few financial opportunities available to international students, it is uplifting to see that SelfScore prioritizes this population by offering financial assistance through initiatives such as the scholarship and Financial Literacy Program.”

The company will be accepting applications through its website until September 28, 2017. Scholarships will be disbursed through the recipients’ schools in October 2017.

For more information about SelfScore and the scholarship program, please visit: www.selfscore.com/scholarship

About SelfScore

SelfScore opens the US financial system to deserving but underserved populations using machine learning and data. In 2017, we’re connecting international students with fair credit before expanding into other products and populations. SelfScore is a venture-backed financial startup whose investors include Pelion Venture Partners, Accel, Aspect Ventures, and Fenway Summer Ventures. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, subscribe to our newsletter, The Score, and check out the latest news on our frequently updated blog. Accounts issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah Chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC.

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