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CTCL Scholarship Application

2025 Application Now Open

The Colleges That Change Lives Scholarship was established in 2016 to honor the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Loren Pope’s classic book and the 10th anniversary of the non-profit organization, Colleges That Change Lives.

Since first appearing in 1996, four versions of Colleges That Change Lives have been published, each update offering valuable insights about the college search, as well as profiles of 44 small, residential, liberal arts schools that offer high-impact, transformative educational experiences to thousands of students each year. The non-profit Colleges That Change Lives organization is dedicated to preserving the author’s message. 

This scholarship is yet another way to ensure the CTCL experience becomes a reality for even more students, including the recent scholarship recipients.

The scholarship is open to ALL current high school seniors and others who plan to enroll at a CTCL member institution as first-time undergraduates for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Two awards of $6000 will be made. The scholarship is disbursed directly to the recipient’s CTCL institution at $1500 per year for four years.

  1. Part 1 of the application will be completed online and must be SUBMITTED before 11:59 PM (Eastern Daylight Time) March 14, 2025.
  1. Part 2 of the application will be completed by submitting two items before 11:59 PM (Eastern Daylight Time), April 11, 2025:
    • One copy of an admission letter from a CTCL member institution
    • A copy of Page 1 from the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Submission Summary
    • NOTE: International students and those who cannot or will not file the FAFSA may opt out of sharing the FAFSA Submission Summary by selecting Option 2 in the application question related to uploading the FAFSA Submission Summary.

Notification of scholarship decisions will be emailed to all applicants on April 14, 2025.

Please contact CTCL Executive Director Ann Marano with questions at scholarships@ctcl.org.