20 Scholarships for Women to Apply to in 2023

For anyone pursuing a college education, it can be a costly endeavor. Whether a female graduating high school senior or a graduate student looking for financial aid opportunities, these 20 scholarships for women can help relieve the stress of achieving a college education.

Best Scholarships for Women to Apply to

Whether in high school or medical school, it is costly for anyone to further their education, but scholarships help offset some of these costs. For female students looking for a way to narrow down their scholarship search to help their chances of winning, you might be interested in trying to look for scholarships for women college students.

Lucky for you, we have gathered a list of 20 scholarships for women and female students to help fund your college education. Most scholarships are open to undergraduate and graduate female students, but some are available for graduating female high school seniors to apply to. For female college students attending an accredited college who demonstrate financial need for financial aid, these scholarships can help them afford tuition, cover books, and be put toward academic purposes.

Virginia Jeanette Drummond Kissane Women in STEM Memorial Scholarship 

The Virginia Jeanette Drummond Kissane Women in STEM Memorial Scholarship is a scholarship that seeks to give $3,000 to support women pursuing a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career. This scholarship is only open to alumni of Girls Middle School of Palo Alto, California, or alumni of Presentation High School of San Jose, California.

• Amount: $3,000
• Application Deadline: November 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: November 30, 2022

Texas Women Empowerment Scholarship 

To combat the unequal representation of Texan women in state government and reduce the financial burden of Texan women who pursue a college education and a college degree, this scholarship seeks to award $4,000 to two college students ($2,000 each) who are going into fields such as pre-law, political science, public health, medicine, and other related fields.

• Amount: $4,000 ($2,000 each)
• Application Deadline: October 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: November 1, 2022

Show your Mettle – Women in STEM Scholarship 

To support female students with a significant financial need pursuing degrees in Information Technology (IT) or STEM, this scholarship seeks to award one student $1,500.

• Amount: $1,500
• Application Deadline: September 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: September 30, 2022

Dynamic Edge Women in STEM Scholarship

This is another scholarship from a sponsor that wants to do its part to address gender disparities in the STEM workforce and vocational education. The $4,000 award ($2,000 each) will go to two women (one in Michigan and one in Tennessee) who plan to pursue a STEM undergraduate or graduate degree or certifications.

• Amount: $4,000 ($2,000 each)
• Application Deadline: September 15, 2022
• Winner Announced: September 30, 2022

Women in Business Scholarship Fund

The Women in Business Scholarship Fund is a $1,500 financial award given to one female student pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree at Purdue University Northwest.

• Amount: $1,500
• Application Deadline: August 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: September 1, 2022

Empowering Women Through Education Scholarship

To support low-income women who want to pursue higher education, this scholarship will award $500 to a female high school or undergraduate student who is low-income.

• Amount: $500
• Application Deadline: June 30, 2022
• Winner Announced: July 31, 2022

SKH Empowering Scholarship for Women 

Like many others, the SKH Empowering Scholarship for Women recognizes the need for equal representation of women in business. It will award $1,000 to a female high school senior or returning undergraduate student at a four-year college pursuing a business degree in Massachusetts with at least a 3.2 GPA and community commitment.

• Amount: $1,000
• Application Deadline: June 29, 2022
• Winner Announced: July 29, 2022

Women’s History Scholarship 

The Women’s History Scholarship, sponsored by Bold.org, seeks to honor the work of women who have been fighting for gender equality for women by awarding a female high school senior, undergraduate, or graduate student with $500.

• Amount: $500
• Application Deadline: August 31, 2022
• Winner Announced: September 7, 2022

Ida Nickelson 104 Memorial Scholarship

This memorial scholarship, created in honor of Ida Nickelson, seeks to support low-income women graduating high school seniors or undergraduate students studying in New York City with $500 to pursue a degree.

• Amount: $500
• Application Deadline: September 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: September 30, 2022

Taking Up Space Scholarship

This $500 scholarship aims to empower women to “take up space” in historically male-dominated fields. Any first-generation female student who is an underrepresented minority, such as Black, Indigenous, Person of Color (BIPOC) or LGBTQ+ female pursuing a male-dominated field, such as STEM, software development, or the trades are encouraged to apply.

• Amount: $500
• Application Deadline: July 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: July 31, 2022

Charlotte Emery Memorial Scholarship 

This memorial scholarship seeks to honor the legacy of Charlotte Emory by awarding a Black, female, first-generation high school senior or undergraduate student attending a two or four-year college with at least a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) or higher $1100.

• Amount: $1,100
• Application Deadline: July 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: July 31, 2022

Feltus Impact Fund Scholarship

This scholarship is open to female undergraduate or graduate students in Texas pursuing STEM, political science, or social science and will award seven applicants $1000.

• Amount: $1,000
• Application Deadline: July 20, 2022
• Winner Announced: August 20, 2022

Surya Education Assistance Scholarship

Surya Rayaprolu was an avid supporter of women’s advancements. His $500 memorial scholarship seeks to support female students dedicated to pursuing their education to attend college at a two- or four-year college.

• Amount: $500
• Application Deadline: June 28, 2022
• Winner Announced: June 28, 2022

Shoot Less, Throw More- Girls Wrestling Scholarship

This $2,000 scholarship will award two female students $1,000 who are high school or undergraduate students with a 3.0 GPA or higher, non-profit or volunteering experience, and at least two years of high school wrestling experience.

• Amount: $1,000
• Application Deadline: July 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: August 1, 2022

Taylor Coleman’s “More than a Conqueror” Scholarship Award

To support female students with autoimmune diseases, this scholarship aims to award one of these female students $500 to support their pursuit of higher education at a two- or four-year college.

• Amount: $500
• Application Deadline: June 15, 2022
• Winner Announced: July 15, 2022

Linda Hicks Memorial Scholarship

This $1,000 memorial scholarship was created to honor the life of Linda Hick, a survivor of childhood abuse and domestic advisor. The scholarship seeks to support other Black and African American women pursuing an undergraduate degree or associate’s degree who have been directly impacted or have a loved one who experienced an abusive relationship or substance addiction.

• Amount: $1,000
• Application Deadline: July 27, 2022
• Winner Announced: August 28, 2022

DejSlays SlayBabe Scholarship

Making the transition from high school to college can be difficult financially. To help offset some of the costs associated with college, this scholarship seeks to award $1,500 to two young women ($1,000 to one and $500 to the other) who are embarking on the transition from high school to college. Hence, they have the resources necessary to complete their degrees.

• Amount: $1,500 ($1,000 to one and $500 to the other)
• Application Deadline: August 25, 2022
• Winner Announced: September 25, 2022

Servela Theodore Memorial Scholarship

In the generous spirit of its namesake, this scholarship seeks to award a female student pursuing a career in human services $700 to help cover college expenses.

• Amount: $700
• Application Deadline: November 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: December 1, 2022

Lisa Seidman Excellence in Writing Scholarship

This memorial scholarship seeks to honor the work and accomplishments of Lisa Seidman by awarding $500 to a student following in her footsteps by pursuing a career in writing.

• Amount: $500
• Application Deadline: September 1, 2022
• Winner Announced: October 1, 2022

EmPowered Women Scholarship

The EmPowered Women is another scholarship that was created to be part of the solution to gender inequality. This $750 scholarship is open to applicants who are rising female high school girls who are BIPOC, will be first-generation college students enrolled at a community college, two-year or four-year college, have non-profit or volunteering experience, and are pursuing accounting or finance.

• Amount: $750
• Application Deadline: October 15, 2022
• Winner Announced: November 15, 2022

About Scholarships for Women

It can be expensive to invest in your education, and scholarships can be a helpful way of offsetting these costs for female college students. And you can never go wrong when you’re supporting female students who are often underrepresented in their chosen major. 

Covering the cost of this investment by having your parents help or taking out loans is not always an option for prospective female students. That’s why financial awards like educational scholarships are so important and helpful for allowing female students to go to college with as little debt after graduation. Most scholarships support and aid women are pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree by attending higher education.

What are Scholarships for Women?

Scholarships for women are a form of financial aid given to female college students attending an accredited college. Scholarships for women are only for female students enrolled in a community college or two- or four-year institute. For some scholarships for women, female high school seniors can apply for future aid in attending college, while some are for college students to aid them during their current journey of pursuing higher education.

What Qualifies as Scholarships for Women?

Scholarships for women are scholarships that are only open to women applicants. All scholarships have specific requirements that applicants must meet to be considered for the award, which can usually be found in the scholarship description or in the prompt of the essay entry if there is a writing component. 

Scholarships for women are typically for female students who are female high school seniors and undergraduate and graduate students.

Types of Scholarships for Women That Are Available

Scholarships for women come in a variety of types. There are academic-based, merit-based, athletic-based, identity-based, and more. Some scholarships for women are specifically for high school seniors, while others are for undergraduate or graduate students. Scholarship funds go to helping pay college tuition or covering the cost of textbooks so female students can pursue a college degree without the added stress of paying for everything out of pocket.

Academic merit-based

These scholarships are based solely on your proven academic ability. These can be decided on the applicant’s grade-point average (GPA), standardized test scores (ACT, SAT, AP exams, etc.), or other academic scores.

Colleges may have academic merit-based scholarships for female students who are part of their incoming class, so they’ll receive these scores when you apply. But, other organizations have academic scholarships, so you will have to submit these scores too. 

If you accept recurring award money from an academic scholarship from a college, you are enrolled in or intend to enroll in. You may have to meet a minimum GPA requirement each year to keep getting the money each year or semester. 

Athletic

Athletic scholarships are based on a student’s athletic ability, usually within a given sport. Often, coaches from interested schools will scout female students performing well during their sport’s season and decide whether or not to make an offer.  

The conditions for accepting award money from an athletic scholarship will likely be that you must pay for the college women’s or co-ed sports team of the school sponsoring the scholarship. This will be a considerable time commitment, so consider if you can handle a college course load alongside time on the court or field.  

Identity-based

Scholarships with the qualification partially based on the applicant’s identity are open only to people within those groups. Scholarships that are only open to applicants who are women are identity-based scholarships already. But, other t identity-based scholarships are available to women applicants. For example, there are scholarships for black women or women from disadvantaged backgrounds.

These scholarships exist from trying to help female students from disadvantaged backgrounds and marginalized communities by giving awards to female students who share the same characteristics as someone who has passed in their honor. 

Major-based

Major-based scholarships are financial awards only available to female students who have declared a particular major. These scholarships can be as broad as only STEM majors or foreign language majors, or they can be as specific as only open to neuroscience majors. 

Female graduate students may also earn scholarships for the departments that they are studying under rather than a declared major.

How to Find Scholarships for Women to Apply for?

Looking for women’s scholarships can be long and challenging, especially if you don’t know where to look. Still, many resources are available to help students look for scholarships and specific types, such as scholarships for women. 

The internet is the best place to start if you need help looking for scholarships for women. It can be overwhelming when you first begin looking just because of the massive number of online scholarships, but using the internet can also help you find the best scholarships for you and keep them organized. 

Many websites are dedicated to collecting and showcasing scholarships to female students. These websites are helpful because you can filter out scholarships you know you won’t qualify for. You can also bookmark scholarships you don’t qualify for now but maybe suitable applicants in coming semesters. 

If you’re already in college or a graduate program, your advisor or other female students within your major or degree program are also great resources to find scholarships. Consulting with your advisor is always a good idea as their job is to help you succeed. If they can’t help you with applications or places to look for scholarships, they can refer you to another administrator or school resource for help. 

Another good place to look for scholarships is local businesses or organizations that women lead to see if they sponsor scholarships for female students who are women. This is an excellent idea if you live in a city where the college has a significant presence, even off-campus. 

Tips for Winning Scholarships for Women

So now you have a good idea of where to look for scholarships, but now you have to get selected to win. There is no way to guarantee that you’ll win all the scholarships that you apply for, but there are ways that you can increase your chances. 

For scholarships requiring an essay or extended response, ensure that what you write answers all parts of the prompt. Also, make sure that your writing is clear and engaging. Having an essay that is boring and hard to read is an easy way to lose the sponsor’s attention. 

If you have to talk about your experiences as a woman, ensure your response is meaningful but concise. Not only will keeping your stories straightforward help with clarity, but it’ll keep you from exceeding the word count. 

Another way to increase your chances of winning is to go for scholarships with smaller award amounts. Many undergraduate and graduate students go for the big-ticket dollar amounts in hopes of “winning big” and getting the most money possible, but going for smaller award amounts makes the pool of undergraduate students and graduate students that you’re competing against more minor gives you a better chance of winning. 

Another way to decrease the number of undergraduate or graduate students you are competing with is to apply for scholarships that are only open to a particular type of applicant. Think about how many undergraduate and graduate students can apply to a scholarship available to any STEM student who is a woman versus a scholarship that is only open to women who major in computer science.  

Frequently Asked Questions About Scholarships for Women

Still, have scholarship questions? Here are some common questions that you may have. 

Are scholarships for women legit?

Yes, scholarships for women are legit. There are scams out there, so it is essential to be careful when applying for scholarships, especially if you are doing so online. 

An excellent way to avoid these scams is to use reputable sites that you or other graduate students are familiar with. Also, be mindful of the information that you submit when you apply. Scholarships will not require your social security number, credit or debit card number, or bank information. If you are asked to submit any of this information, that scholarship is likely a scam. 

If you’re unsure about whether a scholarship is legit or not, don’t apply. 

How can I improve my chances of winning scholarships for women?

There are several things high school seniors, undergraduate students, and graduate students can do to receive the scholarships they apply for.

• Go for scholarships with smaller dollar amounts
• Apply for scholarships that are looking for a specific type of applicant 
• Fully answer the prompt when an essay is required 
• Check the format requirements for written responses 
• Make sure you meet all the eligibility requirements 
• Make yourself stand out in your response 
• Apply earlier than the deadline  
• Look for awards that give awards to multiple winners 

How many scholarships for women can you get?

You can apply for and accept as many scholarships for women applicants as you want. There’s no limit to the number of scholarships you can receive. Undergraduate and graduate students can take as many scholarships as are offered. Some scholarships may be specifically for the year students are, such as specific scholarships for postgraduate students.

Are scholarships for women taxable income?

Scholarships are not considered taxable income if the money is spent correctly. For your scholarship money to not be regarded as taxable income, you have to be enrolled at an accredited college in a degree program. You are using the funds for school-related expenses. These expenses include but are not limited to tuition, textbooks, parking fees, and lab fees.

If it is found out that you have used scholarship funds for expenses unrelated to your degree or college expenses, then these funds may be considered taxable income. Check the description and other fine print of the scholarships you apply for to see if there is a requirement for how the awarded funds are used.

What’s the best way to apply for scholarships for women?

Online applications are the best way to apply for scholarships. You can find and filter the scholarships you apply for as well as keep track of these scholarships after you use them. Other women or undergraduate students or graduate students who are applying at the same time can also share links to scholarships that they think you would have a good chance of winning.