Two Seniors Win $40K BigFuture Scholarship for Taking College and Career Planning Steps

College Board surprised two School District of Philadelphia seniors, Amira Haynesworth from Franklin Learning Center and Richard Chen from Central High School with $40,000 scholarships through BigFuture, the College Board’s online guide that helps students plan for life after high school.

“Congratulations to Amira and Richard on winning the College Board scholarships,” said Tony B. Watlington, Sr., Ed.D. “By taking steps to plan for their futures, they were awarded valuable resources that will help them prepare to have a successful college experience. We’re grateful to organizations, like the College Board, who support our students in preparing them for college and careers.”

Powered by College Board, BigFuture simplifies the path to life after high school by recommending small steps that all students—no matter their high school—can take at just the right time to explore career interests, identify potential majors, find colleges and scholarships, and access financial aid. It rewards the effort students take by providing chances at scholarships.

“Now more than ever, students need simple and credible tools to help them choose the college and career that’s right for them,” said Tarlin Ray, College Board senior vice president of BigFuture. “We’ve integrated these scholarship steps into BigFuture so every student—no matter where they are on their journey to college—can take the steps Amira and Richard have taken to raise their hands and earn themselves a big future.”

All class of 2024 and class of 2025 students are now eligible to win $500 and $40,000 scholarships they can use at two- or four-year institutions. There are no essay, test score, citizenship status, family income, or minimum GPA requirements. Drawings for $500 and $40,000 are held every month. Students whose families earn less than $60,000 per year have extra chances at scholarships and earn double the entries for every drawing. The sooner students complete the following steps and the more steps they take, the more entries they’ll earn:

Start Your Career List: Students explore careers that match their interests.
Build a College List: Students search for colleges and add 6 or more to their list.
Explore Scholarships: Students explore a list of scholarships personalized for them, based on their background, achievements, and future plans.
Strengthen Their College List: Students make sure their list has a mix of reach, match, and safety schools.
Complete the FAFSA: Students complete the free government form to apply for financial aid.
Apply to Colleges: Students apply to at least 2 colleges they want to attend.

College Board has dedicated $25 million to the program that lays out six simple steps all students can take to get to college. More than $16 million in scholarships have been awarded to more 19,000 students since the program launched in December 2018. Class of 2024 and class of 2025 students with College Board accounts in the United States and U.S. territories are automatically entered into monthly drawings for $500 and $40,000 by completing specific steps on bigfuture.org.