How can I allow my respondents to save their progress and continue later?

We are trying to create a student portal for a scholarship application.

Can I create a scholarship application template with which a user needs to register a username and password to complete a form?  They should be able to start completing a form, save for later and return back by logging in with their account.  They could then submit the form when they completed it.  

Can I create a portal with which a user needs to register a username and password to complete a form?

Sadly, you can't as this will go against our Terms of Use. Although you're not collecting user credentials per se, you're still asking your users for a username and password that they intend to use (or could have used elsewhere).

They should be able to start completing a form, save for later and return back by logging in with their account. They could then submit the form when they completed it.

Your respondents won't need an account (so your first question above won't be needed) to save their progress and continue later. You have 2 choices on how you want to approach this if you're using JotForm Classic:

1. Browser-based method

Easy to setup, but relies on the Browser's Local Storage. It's also commonly known as Autofill.

Meaning, if a user started filling out your form using Chrome, left their desktop/laptop, went back and re-opened the form on a different browser, then their progress is lost. Using that same Chrome browser again would allow them to continue where they left off.

Complete guide: How-to-Enable-Auto-Fill-on-Forms

2. Session parameter method

A bit complicated setup since it requires 2 forms to work.

FORM 1: The first form where the user will need to fill out the name and email field. The session URL will be created here and the email field will be used as the session ID.

FORM 2 (Main Form): This is the main form where all the necessary and important fields will be collected. The main form needs to have PAGE BREAKS. The progress on each page will only be saved when the "Next" and "Back" buttons are clicked.

Complete guide: How-to-Save-Forms-and-Continue-Later 

Have a look at the guides above and decide which better suits your needs.

And if you're using JotForm Cards, this option is already built-in 😊 Just navigate to SETTINGS > FORM SETTINGS > click the SHOW MORE OPTIONS button > enable the CONTINUE FORMS LATER option > then just pick what you prefer to use (Save & Continue Later or Autofill).