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In December 2024, ScholarshipOwl studied the prevalence of AI use among high school and college students, with a particular focus on AI assistance with writing essays for scholarship applications and college admissions. As expected, the majority of respondents (65%) stated that they have used AI to at least some extent to develop their essays. In addition, most respondents have used AI for essay assignments for school, as well as other activities such as note taking, scheduling, and more.
Who participated in the survey?
In December 2024, ScholarshipOwl surveyed 8,542 high school and college students on the ScholarshipOwl scholarship platform to learn more about their extent of their usage of AI platforms.
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Check for scholarshipsAmong the respondents, 61% were female, 38% were male, 1% identified themselves as a different gender identity or preferred not to respond to the question. Half (50%) were Caucasian, 20% were Black, 17% were Hispanic/Latino, 6% were Asian/Pacific Islander, 2% were American Indian/Native American and 5% selected “other” or preferred not to respond to the question.
More than half (53%) of the respondents were high school students, with the overwhelming majority high school seniors; more than one-third (36%) were college undergraduate students, primarily college freshmen and college sophomores; 7% were graduate students and 3% identified themselves as adult/non-traditional students.
How often do Gen Z students use AI to help write essays for scholarships or college admissions?
Most respondents (65%) indicated that they have used AI to help them with their application essays, describing the frequency of their usage in the following ways:
- 10% said often
- 25% said sometimes
- 29% said rarely
- 35% said never
How much do students customize and edit AI-generated essays before submitting them?
Of the 5,516 respondents who said that they have used AI to help write their college application essays and/or scholarship application essays, the overwhelming majority (96%) indicated that they do edit their AI-assisted essays at least a little before submitting them.
- 55% said extensively
- 26% said moderately
- 15% said a little
- 4% said that they submit the essay as-is without editing it
In what ways do Gen Z students use AI-based platforms for their high school or college education?
Most of the respondents have used AI to assist them in other ways related to their education:
- 26% said they have used AI for essay writing assignments
- 51% said they have used AI for note taking
- 45% said they have used AI for answer search
- 6% said they have used AI for test taking
- 44% said they have used AI for scheduling / organization
Key takeaways
The survey results indicate that Gen Z students have already integrated use of AI into their educational experience. And it’s expected that students will only expand their usage of AI over time. As such, our results were not unexpected. In fact, a 2024 Digital Education Council Global AI Student Survey indicates that 86% of students are using AI in their studies, with more than half (54%) using AI at least weekly, and nearly one-quarter (24%) using AI daily.
According to a Carnegie Learning survey, as described by EdTech Magazine, educators see the advantages of using AI themselves:
- 42% reported that AI helps them reduce the amount of time they spend on administrative tasks
- 25% find that AI assists with personalized learning
- 18% see benefits in boosting student engagement
- 17% report that AI enhances student learning outcomes
- Just 1% see no benefit to using AI in the classroom
However, the overwhelming majority (81%) of these same educators are concerned about AI’s overall impact on academic integrity, and the potential for plagiarism and cheating. To respond to these concerns, many school districts and colleges have implemented tools that can detect AI-generated responses in student work.
Should Gen Z students take advantage of AI assistance when writing scholarship application essays?
The ScholarshipOwl platform recently launched a new AI Essay Assistant to make it faster and easier to apply to essay scholarships. This will be a game-changer, because students often avoid applying to scholarships that require an essay due to the amount of time and effort that is typically involved. With our new AI Essay Assistant, students can now:
- Jumpstart the essay writing process by generating a draft essay literally with the click of a button, without leaving the platform. This draft essay will be relevant to the essay prompt, and will incorporate details from the student’s profile into the narrative.
- Review their generated essay and modify it as needed to personalize it further, adding applicable details about their extracurriculars, volunteer service, career plans, etc.
Once the student is satisfied with their essay, they can then apply for the scholarship.
The most important thing that students should know is that they should always review and edit their essay. Scholarships are competitive, so it’s important that students take the time to edit their essay to ensure it is representative of their education, skills and experience, as well as a strong reflection of what they care about. This will boost their chances of earning the scholarship. ScholarshipOwl’s AI Essay Assistant helps students get started on essay scholarship applications, but it is not intended to replace the student’s own efforts.
Interested in trying ScholarshipOwl’s new AI Essay Assistant? If you already have a ScholarshipOwl membership, just login to your account and you’ll be able to access our AI Essay Assistant when applying to scholarships that require essays. If you who don’t yet have a ScholarshipOwl account, go to www.scholarshipowl.com and click the Sign Up button to start a free 7 day trial, which will include access to the AI Essay Assistant.
