20 Scholarships for Native American Students to Apply For in 2024
There are many scholarships available for Native American students. Scholarships are essential because they offer students financial support. If you are left-handed, the first to attend college in your family, an athlete, or a chess player, you could qualify for a scholarship. You’re now wondering what type of scholarship you can receive as a native American student. It’s the last week of high school, most of your friends are going to top colleges, and you’re finally deciding that you want to attend college. You plan to spend the next few months of summer applying for scholarships.
The Best Scholarships for Native American Students
Don’t Fret; you are not the only one dealing with this. There is still plenty of time for you to apply and submit scholarship applications before the deadline. Thankfully, tons of scholarships are available for those who want to pursue a college education. You must submit the applications for these scholarships by the deadline. Check out some of the scholarships available to you, and Congratulations on the next steps in your career.
Buck Beneschott Native American Scholarship
This scholarship is a gift from Buck Beneschott and is a celebration of the work he did. In an essay write about yourself and how you plan to make a positive impact on the world through your career after college.
- Award Amount: $500
- Deadline: February 25, 2022
- Winners Announcement Date: April 20, 2022
Peter T. Buecher Memorial Scholarship
The scholarship seeks to award Minnesota high school seniors and undergraduate students who play sports and have a good moral character. To Apply, write a little bit about yourself and how you seek to enrich the lives of people in your Minnesota community.
- Award Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: May 23, 2023
- Winners Announced: June 1, 2023
“Be Bold” No Essay Scholarship
The world is shaped by the bold, the fighters, the risk-takers, the earnest overachievers who won’t take no for an answer. This scholarship is a no-essay scholarship that awards the applicant with the boldest profile who is interested in using their scholarship for their college education.
- Award Amount: $25,145
- Deadline: July 1, 2022
- Winners Announced: November 30, 2022
First-Year College Students: Jennie Gilbert Daigre Education Scholarship
This scholarship intends to provide college funding to first-year college students with textbooks and other educational material. You must be an undergraduate student at a 2-4 year institution. Submit an essay that explains how you plan to impact the world through your career in education.
- Award Amount: $500
- Deadline: September 1, 2022
- Winner announced: September 30, 2022
Chris Jackson Computer Science Education Scholarship
This scholarship is open to native communities and honors the legacy of Chris Jackson. The Chris Jackson Computer Science Education Scholarship will financially support undergraduate students who are pursuing a college education in Computer science.
- Award Amount: $5,000
- Deadline: October 1, 2022
- Winner Announced: November 1, 2022
Bold Future of Education Scholarship
This scholarship supports students who are passionate about education. It would be best if you were serious about ensuring future generations have access to education. This scholarship is open to all students and non-students from any field of study. Apply by writing about one change you could use in education to impact future generations positively.
- Award Amount: $500
- Deadline: June 25, 2022
- Winner Announced: July 25, 2022
Empowering Women Through Education Scholarship
This scholarship seeks to support low-income women so they can afford higher education and pursue careers in education. Any female high school or undergraduate student with low income is eligible to apply. Please write an essay explaining why education is important to you.
- Award Amount: $500
- Deadline: June 30, 2022
- Winners Announced: July 31, 2022
Robert F. Lawson Fund for Careers that Care
This scholarship seeks to support high school seniors and undergraduate students who intend to use their careers to help people. Apply by writing an essay introducing yourself and how you hope to help the world with your career.
- Award Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: April 16, 2023
- Winners Announced: May 16, 2023
Jared Ethan Trueba Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship seeks to honor the life of Jared Ethan Tueba b supporting students at Cibola High School who embody Jared’s love for school, music, JROTC, sports and community involvement.
- Award Amount: $500
- Deadline: April 1, 2023
- Winners Announced: May 1, 2023
Education is Bling: The Moore the Blingyer Scholarship
This scholarship supports high school seniors from Washington who are planning to pursue environmental studies.
- Award Amount: $2,000
- Deadline: April 1, 2023
- Winners Announced: May 1, 2023
Learner Education Women in Mathematics Scholarship
This scholarship exists as an opportunity for women in STEM. This scholarship is an excellent opportunity if you are interested in math studies or teaching math.
To be eligible, you must be a high school senior planning to study Mathematics or related fields or an undergraduate currently studying these fields.
Write about why math draws your attention and how certain principles in math have shaped your understanding of the world around you.
- Award Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: August 1, 2022
- Winners Announced: August 26, 2022
Education Matters Scholarship
This scholarship is open to all motivated and driven undergraduate students in any field of study.
To apply, please write about a time you overcame adversity and what the experience taught you about yourself.
Please also write about your education and career goals.
- Award Amount: $15,000
- Deadline: August 23, 2022
- Winners Announced: August 27, 2022
Marcarelli Community Spirit Scholarship
This is a no-essay scholarship that aims to support high school students in Maryland who are involved in their communities and are passionate about giving back.
Applicants who have volunteering experience are more likely to be chosen for this award.
- Award Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: March 30, 2023
- Winners Announced: April 30, 2023
@ESPDaniella Debt Grant
This scholarship seeks to alleviate the burden of student loan debt by helping current students, and graduates, and those who dropped out to pay off their student debt.
Any undergraduate senior, graduate student, college graduate, or previous student who dropped out of college is eligible to apply.
Winners will be asked to show proof of student debt.
- Award Amount: $3,300
- Deadline: July 8, 2022
- Winners Announced: August 8, 2022
Network After Work No-Essay Grant
This is a no-essay scholarship that helps you get started; it is for young professionals and graduate students to have the tools they need to develop a strong network.
When you apply, you will access an exclusive network of leading professionals, entrepreneurs, and executives that will give you opportunities to grow.
- Award Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: July 1, 2022
- Winners Announced: July 31, 2022
HSINTELLIGENCE Minority / Indigenous Nurse Leader Scholarship
This scholarship aims to support one student with Neurofibromatosis or a learning disability.
To apply submit a video or write an essay that tells about your experience with NF or your learning disability, make sure to write about your motivation for pursuing higher education and why you feel you are a good candidate for this scholarship.
- Award Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: March 21, 2023
- Winners Announced: April 21, 2023
Carlynn’s No-Essay Coming to America Scholarship
This no-essay scholarship seeks to support all international students attending school in the United States so they can overcome obstacles and fund their degrees.
- Award Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: November 1, 2022
- Winners Announced: November 30, 2022
Expand Your Horizons Scholarship
This scholarship exists to help students broaden their world experience and other cultures. To apply, ensure your profile demonstrates an openness to learning about different cultures and sharing your own.
- Award Amount: $2,000
- Deadline: August 18, 2022
- Winners Announced: August 22, 2022
Cardel Love Scholarship
This scholarship is in memory of Cardel Love and intends to support first-generation BIPOC students from New York so they can pursue higher education.
- Award Amount: $500
- Deadline: September 9, 2022
- Winners Announced: October 9, 2022
JoLynn Blanton Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is for a hardworking, low-income student, either a high school senior or an undergraduate student. To apply, explain how education has shaped your view of the world.
- Award Amount: $700
- Deadline: July 1, 2022
- Winners Announced: July 31, 2022
What Are Scholarships for Native American Students?
If you are a courageous undergraduate with Native American heritage you can qualify for many unique Native American scholarships. Most scholarship winners are minority students who are ambitious and awarded based on the quality of their applications. You want to first do a search on the types of scholarships you would like to apply for.
About Scholarships for Native American Students
If you are a high school senior, or an undergraduate and graduate student, you want to look for scholarships that you are eligible for. Bold.org has a good range of scholarships that you can apply for.
Make sure to look out for the education level because many scholarships are available, and you want to apply to the ones that are right for you.
The American Indian College Fund also provides scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native undergraduate and graduate students seeking higher education opportunities.
Check out the American Indian College fund, if you are a student seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees at tribal colleges, nonprofit, and accredited schools. Read more about our 75-year-old scholarship program.
How to Find Scholarships for Native American Students
Nowadays, it’s reasonably simple to apply for scholarships. Twenty years ago, students had to fill out scholarships that were long thick paper applications, and the students’ submissions were usually sent through your school or the mail. Now it is pretty easy to log online, search for the scholarship of your dreams, and apply to the scholarship of your choice. Finding a scholarship is relatively easy, and you can find some that don’t require much from you as far as qualifications are concerned.
What Qualifies Students for Native American Scholarships?
When you are looking for scholarships specific to the major you are interested in, things can be competitive. Quite a few organizations and people giving out scholarships require students to have reached some academic achievement and to have at least a B average and experience in the major they are aspiring to enter. Top high school seniors get a recommendation letter from a community leader, teacher, or counselor. Doing this appeals to their application because the teacher is endorsing their skill sets. Getting a recommendation could give you the upper hand or the best chances of getting the scholarship of your dreams.
Tips on Winning Native American Scholarships
For college scholarship opportunities, you may be required to write an essay expressing why you are a good candidate for this opportunity. Suppose you are a high school senior without much professional experience. In that case, you can write your essay about why you want to go into the career field you are interested in, what type of impact you would make with your degree, and how you will give back to the community.
Your answer must stand out from the others because this is how you can have more chances of winning scholarship opportunities. Ensure you include as many details as possible about why you want to further your education. Another thing to recognize when searching for scholarship opportunities is the academic achievement requirements. Most scholarships ask that you have at least a 3.0 GPA or higher. They may also require you to have done some extracurricular activities or community service.
The first step in getting as many scholarships as possible is good grades. You must have exemplary academic achievements to receive the best scholarships. They want to provide scholarships to serious students who care about their future careers. Having outstanding grades is a must and will help you beat your competition.
How To Qualify for Native American Scholarships
Native Americans are welcome at all colleges. If you feel unprepared for college a good way to get prepared is through college preparation courses. Pitzer College and Western University sponsor a program that supports Native American students’ transitions from high school through college. The courses they sponsor are excellent for high juniors as well. Matter of fact their programs are designed to help students from grades 9th through 12th. They motivate students to complete high school, strengthen their self-esteem and prepare them for college. If you are a full-time student, you can find other college preparatory courses for Native Americans here.
An excellent way for minority students to get scholarships is to stay on good terms with their teachers. This can benefit high school students because your teachers may write you a letter of recommendation, which adds the perfect touch to an application. Your teacher may also recommend you to their colleagues for voluntary or work experience.
Frequently Asked Questions About Scholarships for Native American Students
How many scholarships can you get?
Good News! There is technically no limit to how many scholarships you can get. Some scholarships will be for specific majors, such as Business or Nursing Majors, but you can get as many scholarships as you need to cover your tuition and room and board. Remember, scholarships usually have many applicants, so meeting the expectations for the scholarships that interest you is vital.
It may be wise to do some volunteering service to give your application a little more sparkle than the others. In 2020, 58% of families used scholarships to pay for college. There are around 1.7 million private scholarships; the most extensive federal scholarship is the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid to 7.5 million students.
Are scholarships taxable income?
Technically your scholarship may or may not be taxable. Usually, a scholarship or fellowship is tax-free if you are a degree candidate, and the award you receive pays for tuition and other required fees. These fees could include school books, supplies, and equipment. However, some scholarships are not exempt from taxes. Using your scholarship to pay for room and board or a stipend for living expenses is taxable.
Many restrictions ensure you don’t overuse your benefits and take advantage of Education Tax Benefits. IRS 970 discusses scholarships and deducting work-related educational expenses. This Tax benefit is called the American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. You can usually use these credits on your taxes from freshman to senior year. Your financial aid application could be called for verification randomly, and you will be asked to submit IRS Form 4506-T, which is a Request for Transcript of Tax Return
