Is Going Merry Legit? What Students Should Know

Is going merry legit? Yes — Going Merry was a real, legitimate scholarship platform, not a scam. It was founded in 2016 by a team out of Stanford, and in September 2021 it was acquired by the student lender Earnest, which is itself a subsidiary of Navient. Both companies announced that deal publicly through press releases. Nothing in the public record accuses Going Merry of defrauding students.

But there is a big catch, and you need to know it before you go looking for the site. Earnest shut the platform down in early 2026. Earnest’s own announcement told students to finish and submit any in-progress applications by March 5, 2026, and the site stopped accepting new applications after that. So the honest 2026 answer to “is going merry legit” is: it was legit, and it is now closed.

That matters more than it might sound, because a shuttered brand with strong name recognition is exactly what imposters like to borrow. If something calling itself Going Merry emails you today asking for a fee, a bank login, or a Social Security number, that is not the real company — the real one no longer runs a scholarship platform.

This guide walks through what the company actually was, how it paid its bills, what students said about it, and how to tell a genuine offer from a fake one.

Is Going Merry Legit? What the Public Record Actually Shows

When students ask “is going merry legit,” they usually mean one of three things: will it steal my money, will it sell my data, or is it just useless. On the first question, the public record is clear. Going Merry never charged students to search or apply. There is no FTC enforcement action against it, no state attorney general case, and no major news reporting alleging fraud by the company.

The corporate trail is also easy to follow, which is itself a good sign. Earnest announced the acquisition through Navient’s newsroom and PR Newswire in September 2021. Going Merry later ran a publicly announced partnership with ACT. Scam operations do not usually leave a paper trail of press releases, named executives, and partnerships with established testing organizations.

So the answer to “is going merry legit” on the fraud question is a straightforward no-fraud-found. The more useful question in 2026 is whether the name you are seeing today belongs to that company at all.

What Going Merry Was and Who Ran It

Going Merry launched in 2016 as a single-application scholarship platform. You built one student profile, and the site matched you to scholarships you appeared eligible for, then let you reuse that profile across multiple applications instead of retyping everything. It also tracked deadlines and let high school counselors post local, school-specific scholarships — including ones that had previously existed only on paper.

The company was co-founded by Charlie Maynard, who served as CEO, and Raymond Murthi as CTO. After the 2021 acquisition it operated as “Going Merry by Earnest.” Earnest is an education-finance lender owned by Navient, a publicly traded company. Real names, a real parent company, and public SEC-reporting ownership are all things a scam cannot fake for long.

The company publicly reported large usage numbers — thousands of participating high schools and tens of millions of dollars in aid attributed to the platform. Those are company-published figures, not independently audited ones, so treat them as marketing claims rather than verified statistics.

Is Going Merry Legit If It Was Free? How It Made Money

“Free” is what makes students suspicious, and that instinct is healthy. But a free service can be completely real if you can see where the money comes from. Asking “is going merry legit when it costs nothing” is really asking who was paying.

Going Merry’s stated model was to charge the other side of the marketplace. Scholarship providers, foundations, and institutions paid for software to manage and review their applications. The company also stated it did not sell student data. High schools could post their local scholarships at no cost, which is how the platform grew its counselor network.

That structure is normal and legitimate. Compare it to the FTC’s description of scholarship scams: those operations make money by charging students upfront — application fees, processing fees, redemption fees. A platform that bills providers and never touches your wallet is a different business entirely.

Is Going Merry Legit According to Students? What Users Reported

Public student feedback was broadly positive but not glowing across the board. The most common praise: one profile instead of twenty separate applications, deadline tracking that actually worked, and matches tailored to your background rather than a firehose of irrelevant listings. Counselors in particular liked being able to load local awards.

The most common complaints were about substance, not safety. Some students said the match list felt thin, repetitive, or heavy on very competitive national awards. Others noted the same thing you should expect from any scholarship platform: applying takes real work, and matching is not winning.

Worth saying plainly — there was no large, independent audit of outcomes. So when someone asks “is going merry legit,” the fair answer covers safety and honesty, not effectiveness. No platform can promise you will win an award, and any that does is violating the FTC’s most basic red flag.

The 2026 Shutdown and Why “Is Going Merry Legit” Changed Meaning

Earnest published a shutdown FAQ announcing the platform was closing. Students were told to submit anything in progress by March 5, 2026. After that cutoff, no new applications or edits were accepted, and incomplete applications were not forwarded to providers. Scholarship providers were to contact winners directly.

Earnest did not publish a detailed reason for the closure. Absent a stated reason, do not assume one — a company discontinuing a free product is an ordinary business decision, not evidence of wrongdoing. There is no public regulator action tied to the shutdown.

Here is the practical consequence. If you type the question “is going merry legit” today and land on a site that looks like a working scholarship portal under that name, be skeptical. Lookalike domains and revived brand names are a known scam pattern, and a well-known platform that just closed is a prime target.

Real vs. Fake: Telling the Genuine Company From an Imposter

The real company and an imposter using its name behave very differently. Use this table as a quick filter for any scholarship offer, not just this one.

Those scam markers are not our invention. They come straight from the FTC’s consumer guidance on scholarship and financial aid scams, which lists guarantees, upfront fees, “you can’t get this information anywhere else,” and requests for card or bank numbers as classic warning signs.

One more distinction people miss when they ask “is going merry legit.” Criticizing a scam that borrows a company’s name is not an accusation against that company. The real Going Merry, as far as the public record shows, did nothing wrong. Imposters trading on its reputation are a separate problem entirely.

Verify Any Scholarship Offer in Five Minutes

You do not need to be a fraud investigator. Run these steps on any offer, including anything using this brand name.

1. Check whether money flows toward you. If you are asked to pay anything to apply, claim, or release an award, stop. The FTC’s position is that you should never pay to apply for a scholarship.
2. Look at the exact sender domain. Not the display name — the actual address after the @. Hyphens, extra words, and odd endings are the tell.
3. Search the sponsor’s real name plus “scholarship.” Go to the sponsor’s own site directly rather than clicking the link in the message, and confirm the award exists there.
4. Ask your school. Your high school counselor or college financial aid office sees these scams constantly and can usually identify a fake in seconds.
5. Report it. Suspected scams go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general’s office.

On the financial aid side, keep the free-by-law stuff separate from private scholarships. The FAFSA is free at studentaid.gov, and no one needs to charge you to file it. Rules on satisfactory academic progress, disbursement timing, and how outside scholarships affect your aid package vary by school and program — your own financial aid office is the only authority on your specific case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is going merry legit or a scam?

It was legitimate. Going Merry was a real company founded in 2016 and acquired by Earnest in 2021, with no public fraud findings against it. The platform shut down in early 2026, so any site using that name today should be verified carefully before you trust it.

Can I still use Going Merry to find scholarships?

No. Earnest announced the platform was closing, with a final submission deadline of March 5, 2026, after which new applications were no longer accepted. Use your school’s counseling office, your state grant agency, and sponsors’ own websites instead.

Did Going Merry sell student data?

The company publicly stated that it did not sell student data and that it was free for students because scholarship providers paid for its software. There is no public regulator finding contradicting that.

What happened to applications that were still in progress?

According to Earnest’s shutdown notice, applications not completed and submitted by the March 5, 2026 cutoff were not forwarded to providers. Providers were to contact winners of completed applications directly.

Find Money Where You Live

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Sources & How to Verify

The facts on this page are drawn from official government and primary sources. Rules, figures, and program details change, so always confirm the current details with the official agency, your school’s financial aid office, or the program’s own published rules.

• Federal Student Aid: studentaid.gov — the official source for FAFSA, grants, work-study, and aid rules
• FTC Consumer Advice: consumer.ftc.gov — scholarship and financial aid scam guidance
• IRS: irs.gov — how scholarships and fellowships are treated for taxes
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: bls.gov/ooh — official wage and job-outlook data for every career
• Your school’s financial aid office: aid rules vary by school — for your specific situation, their answer is the one that counts

Content last reviewed August 2026. If you notice outdated information, please contact us.

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• College Survival Guide
• All Scholarship Resources
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Informational only — not legal, tax, financial, or academic advice. Spot Scholarships is an independent educational resource. Financial aid rules, scholarship terms, school policies, and licensing requirements vary by school, program, and state and change over time, so always verify the current details with your school’s financial aid office, the official agency, or the program’s published rules before acting. Nothing on this page guarantees admission, aid, or an award.