Outsourcing Scholarship Administration: What a Third-Party Administrator Does
A third-party scholarship administrator can design a program, run applications and selection, and support students after the award. Here’s what that involves, and what to ask before you choose one.
Organizations that fund scholarships usually reach a point where the program asks more of them than they expected. The budget is approved and the intention is clear, and then come the application forms, the questions from families, the selection meeting, and the students who need someone to check in on them in their first year away.
That’s the moment many sponsors look at outsourcing scholarship administration.
What a Scholarship Administrator Takes On
The work falls into three phases.
Design. Before anything opens, someone has to turn the program’s mission into rules: who’s eligible, what the selection criteria are, how exceptions are handled, who approves what. This phase also covers the application website and the communications that explain the program to the people it’s for.
Launch and administration. With the structure in place, the administrator promotes the program, receives and tracks applications, answers applicants’ questions during the window, evaluates candidates against the criteria, and tells every applicant where they stand.
Student support and reporting. For any award that runs beyond a single payment, the administrator stays in touch with each student, follows their academic progress, checks that payments and invoices line up, and reports to the sponsor.
Some sponsors hand over all three phases. Others keep the design in-house and ask for help with selection alone, or with student support once awards are made.
Why Sponsors Choose a Third Party
The reason we hear most often is independence. When the applicants are employees’ children, or members of a community the sponsor knows well, a selection made by an outside party is easier for everyone to trust.
The second is capacity. Running an application season well takes steady attention for a few intense months, and few HR or foundation teams have that to spare.
The third is expertise in students. Judging an application is one skill. Knowing what a first-generation university student is likely to need in their first semester is another.
Questions Worth Asking
Who holds the money? Some administrators collect and disburse scholarship funds; others leave the funds with the sponsor and track how they’re used. Either can work. You should know which you’re getting. Bennett doesn’t hold or disburse funds. They stay with you, and we confirm that payments and invoices are accurate.
Who will read the applications? Ask about the background of the people evaluating candidates, and how they’ll apply your criteria.
What happens after the award? If your program is meant to see students through to graduation, ask what contact the administrator has with each student, how often, and what you’ll hear about it.
Can they work across countries? If your applicants are in more than one country, ask about experience with different education systems, languages and universities.
What will you receive, and when? Agree the reports before the program opens.
How Bennett Approaches It
Bennett has provided education consulting to families and organizations since 1991, and our scholarship management work grows out of that. Our consultants are former educators. We keep the application and selection process independent and transparent, and we mentor students once they’ve enrolled, checking on their progress and reporting on their performance.
If you’re at the planning stage, our guide to setting up an employee scholarship program walks through the seven decisions to make first.
Weighing Whether to Outsource?
If you’re deciding how much of your scholarship program to hand over, we’re glad to talk through what each phase involves for a program of your size.
See how Bennett designs and runs a scholarship program, phase by phase →
Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities, including schools with particular programs, such as special needs support.
