Terms of Service

1. What ScholarLadder provides

ScholarLadder provides a digital scholarship-research and organization service, matching explanations, deadline tools and writing support. No physical goods are sold or returned. ScholarLadder is not a school, financial-aid office, scholarship sponsor, law firm or financial adviser. We do not submit applications for students unless a separate written service explicitly says otherwise.

2. The Opportunity Promise, not a winning guarantee

ScholarLadder promises to conduct research during the selected service period and release only legitimate opportunities supported by the student’s confirmed profile. Scholarship volume varies by student, season and questionnaire detail. Paid plans do not guarantee a fixed number of matches. We never guarantee selection, an award, an award amount, payment timing or that scholarships will close a college funding gap. Sponsors alone control their rules and decisions.

3. Accounts and age

• Users must be at least 13. ScholarLadder is not intended for children under 13.
• A parent or legal guardian must consent to paid service and sensitive-data processing for a minor.
• Student, parent or supporter, and owner accounts have different permissions.
• Users must provide truthful information and protect their sign-in credentials.
• The free Starter Stack is limited to one per student per academic year. Possible duplicates receive human review; government identification is not required.

4. Matching, delivery and membership access

Technology may propose scholarships, but a human reviews recommended matches before release. Initial matches are targeted within 1 to 3 business days after the profile is Match Ready; please allow up to 5 business days when research or clarification takes longer. A match released while membership is active remains accessible through its published deadline. Expiration stops new research, releases and next-cycle re-verification, but does not remove an already released match.

5. Student responsibility

Students are responsible for confirming the sponsor’s official rules and submitting complete, truthful applications on time. Deadlines, award amounts and sponsor rules may change after ScholarLadder reviews them. ScholarLadder labels known source types and concerns but does not control external websites.

6. Essays and AI

AI guidance may help with truthful brainstorming, outlining, clarity, grammar, prompt alignment and word count. The student remains the author and must follow each sponsor’s AI rules. A scholarship expert’s personal essay or video-script review is not included automatically and must be deliberately purchased as an add-on.

7. Acceptable use

• Do not submit false information, plagiarized work or AI-invented experiences.
• Do not scrape, resell, reproduce or reverse engineer ScholarLadder’s research, scoring or content.
• Do not access another family’s account or use the service for unlawful, abusive or fraudulent activity.

8. Ownership and privacy

Students retain ownership of their original essays, scripts and uploaded materials. ScholarLadder retains ownership of its interface, research organization, scoring methods, branding and original guidance. Users grant only the limited permission needed to store and process their content to provide the service.

9. Suspension and termination

ScholarLadder may restrict accounts for fraud, abuse, nonpayment, security risk or material violation of these terms. Users may request account closure and data deletion subject to legal, security and transaction-record requirements.

10. Disclaimers, disputes and changes

To the extent permitted by law, ScholarLadder is not responsible for sponsor decisions, changed deadlines, unavailable third-party sites, lost awards or indirect damages. Washington law applies without overriding mandatory consumer rights. Both sides should first attempt a good-faith written resolution. Material policy changes will be dated and communicated as required. Final venue or arbitration language requires attorney review before paid launch.