CollegeCounts Scholarship Program
Offered by CollegeCounts Board of Directors and Alabama State Treasurer
About this scholarship
The CollegeCounts Scholarship helps Alabama high school seniors and first-time college freshmen with financial need begin at an eligible Alabama college. Recipients attending an accredited nonprofit four-year institution receive $4,000, while those attending an eligible two-year institution receive $2,000. The award is one-time and non-renewable, with payments sent directly to the institution across the fall and spring semesters of the recipient’s freshman year. Funds can cover tuition, required fees, books, supplies, course equipment, and qualifying room and board expenses billed through the school. Applicants do not need to own a CollegeCounts 529 account. Selection is based, in priority order, on financial need, ACT score for four-year-school applicants, high school GPA, work and activities, service, and honors or awards. Students planning to attend a two-year institution are not required to submit an ACT score. The official 2027 application opens December 1, 2026 at 12:01 a.m. Central Time and closes February 28, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. Applicants create an account in the ISTS portal to apply and monitor whether every required item is complete.
Eligibility
- Be a high school senior or first-time college freshman beginning college in the award-year fall
- Be a United States citizen and an Alabama resident
- Plan to enroll at an accredited nonprofit two- or four-year college or university in Alabama
- Demonstrate financial need
- Have a minimum high school GPA of 2.75
- Have an ACT score of 29 or below if applying for a four-year-school award; two-year-school applicants need not submit ACT scores
- Submit a complete ISTS application between December 1, 2026 and February 28, 2027