If you are a woman planning to attend college, a scholarship can make a difference. There are many scholarships exclusively for women. Some of these are further limited by categories of religious affiliation, race, geography, or area of academic interest. The goal of these scholarships in most cases is to find women of a particular community who are driven to succeed and to nurture their ambitions.
The Jeannette Rankin Foundation provides scholarships to women over the age of 35 who are pursuing a first bachelor’s degree, technical, vocational, or associate’s degree.
The American Association of University Women provides scholarships to female students through its local branches. Each branch establishes its own scholarship criteria. For example, the AAUW branch in Minnesota offers the Rachel Carson Scholarship for Environmental Studies, while the South Carolina branch provides a scholarship for Non-Traditional College Women.
The Business and Professional Women’s Foundation offers scholarships to women over the age of 25 who are within two years of completing their Bachelor’s degree. In recent years, these scholarships have focused on women studying the sciences and on female veterans.
The Patsy Takemoto Mink Education Foundation honors the legacy of the pioneering Congresswoman from Hawaii by providing scholarships of up to $2,000 for low income women with children.
Soroptomist International provides scholarships to women who are the primary financial support for their family, can demonstrate their need, and live in one of the organization’s countries of membership (the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guam, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, China, or Venezuela.)
The Talbots Scholarship Program awards 17 $10,000 scholarships and one $30,000 scholarship to women residing in the United States or Canada who earned their high school diploma or GED before September 2001 and are attending or plan to attend a two or four year college in the following academic year.
American Baptist Women’s Ministries awards scholarships to women who are preparing for full-time ministry in the American Baptist Church.
The Women in Defense Horizons Scholarship Foundation offers scholarships to women who are pursuing educational opportunities related to national security and defense. Applicants must be currently enrolled, have at least 60 undergraduate credits, have a demonstrated need, have a grade point average above 3.25, be female citizens of the United States, and be studying a relevant field such as engineering, physics, mathematics, political science, economics, or international relations.