Binghamton University students looking for financial support for school, research and studying abroad can now find it in a single database.

The Office of External Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards has launched a new online database, the Scholarship and Other Award Resources (S.O.A.R.).

S.O.A.R. is a searchable database which allows students to identify and review information on external scholarships, fellowships, summer opportunities, dissertation support, research support and post-graduation opportunities.

Previously, BU’s internal scholarship database consisted of PDF files that students had to sift through to find what they were qualified for. This was time-consuming and students grew impatient, according to the Office of External Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards director Janice McDonald.

“It wasn’t searchable; it was very awkward to use,” McDonald said. “Over the summer, one of our major projects was to develop a database that was much more user-friendly so that a student can go in, search, use some filters and find opportunities that would directly apply to them.”

According to Ashley Serbonich, assistant to the director, the new database allows students to filter the information based on keywords, discipline/field, year and award period to narrow down their options.

“We want to make something that students will actually use so we want it to be, instead of just a resource that goes underutilized, something that really is used and beneficial,” Serbonich said.

Serbonich also said that not many students have used the new database, but those that have gave positive feedback. News of the update was sent out to all the undergraduate and graduate department directors and appeared on B-Line last Wednesday.

“It’s pretty convenient. Last year I didn’t really know anything about scholarships because when you clicked on it, you just got a giant list that you had to scroll through and it just wasn’t worth the time,” said Aaron Armstrong, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering. “But now that you can sort it out and just pick things that are individual to you, it works a lot better and I was able to find a few things that I was interested in applying for.”

According to McDonald, BU students have been strong competitors for international and national awards and scholarships. Awards like the Goldwater Scholarship have over 1,200 nominees from institutions across the nation and only about 300 receive scholarships. Four BU students were among last year’s recipients.

BU students have also been Truman Scholars, Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships recipients and Critical Language Scholarship recipients. There are also currently three students studying abroad on Fulbright Scholarships.

The database offers separate categories for students interested in pre-health or pre-med tracks with descriptions of the scholarships. The website also offers filters based on race, gender, disability and residency.

Matthew Ehrlich, a sophomore double-majoring in actuary science and chemistry, said the site was still lacking.

“Having looked for scholarships to no avail in the past, the S.O.A.R. database seems to be a great way to give students access to them. However, it doesn’t have the option to narrow scholarship results by major subdivisions,” Ehrlich said.

Henry Kostecki, an undeclared sophomore, said that S.O.A.R. encouraged him to look for financial support.

“Now that I’m a sophomore and I’m really starting to think about funding my education for the future, this will be really beneficial for me because it was overwhelming before,” Kostecki said. “But now S.O.A.R. will streamline my approach into looking for scholarships.”