Featured Scholarships: January 2025

We’re kicking off 2025 with lots of scholarship opportunities for all kinds of students, including a wealth of options from the Seattle Foundation for students in the Pacific Northwest; a full-ride opportunity for high school seniors in Missouri; and a global scholarship program from Hilton Cares. As always, you can find all current open opportunities on our Browse Scholarships page.

Hilton Cares Community Scholarship 

Hilton was founded more than 100 years ago with the belief that hospitality can be a force for good in the world. Today, the company continues to be inspired by that belief, working to make a positive impact and serve as an engine of opportunity for the communities where it operates through the Hilton Global Foundation.

Since the Foundation was established in 2019, it has provided nearly a quarter of a million people with access to clean water, diverted more than 12 million pounds of waste from landfills and distributed 10 million meals. Hilton Global Foundation has also created more than 170,000 learning and career growth opportunities through partnerships with organizations that include Jobs for Americas Graduates, Homeboy Industries, Punlaan School, and ROLE Foundation.

This year, the Hilton Cares program will award 90 scholarships to help students advance their studies at an accredited academic institution or certification program. Half of the scholarships will be awarded to students in the communities around the globe where Hilton operates; the other half will go to members of the Hilton workforce.

Applicants to the Hilton Cares Community Scholarship must be high school seniors or students in their final year of upper or higher secondary school; graduates; or current technical, CEGEP, college or university undergraduate or graduate level students in an eligible country, and must be planning to enroll in a part-time or full-time undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical institution, CEGEP institution (or equivalent) for the entire upcoming academic year. Awards are available to students in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world; visit the application site to learn more.

Applications are open through February 3, 2025. Apply Now >

James L. and Nellie M. Westlake Scholarship

For more than 40 years, the James L. and Nellie M. Westlake Scholarship Foundation has been helping high school and community college students in Missouri turn their dreams of a bachelor’s degree into realities—and applications are now open for the 2025 class of Westlake Scholars.

Recipients of this prestigious and generous award earn renewable scholarships covering the full cost of tuition, plus a stipend for books, supplies and other expenses. Up to 50 Westlake Scholarships will be awarded — if you’re a high school senior or a community college student in Missouri, don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity!

To be eligible, you must be a Missouri resident, and either a graduating high school senior OR a student at a Missouri community college. High school seniors must be planning to enroll in full-time undergraduate study for the entire upcoming academic year at an accredited four-year college or university. Community college students must have completed one or two full years, with sufficient credits to transfer to an accredited four-year college or university at the sophomore or junior level, respectively.

Applicants must also demonstrate financial need, including a family adjusted gross income (AGI) of $60,000 or less and an expected family contribution toward college (EFC) of $7,000 or less.

Academically, high school seniors must have at least a cumulative GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale; community college applicants with one year of transferable credits must have 2.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

If you meet the guidelines and earn the Westlake Scholarship, you can also renew your award for multiple years. For high school seniors, the award is renewable up to three years; for students transferring from two-year institutions, the award is renewable up to one additional year.

Applications are open until February 3. Apply Now > 

Seattle Foundation Scholarships

Seattle Foundation was established in 1946 by Dr. Richard Fuller as he sought to help Seattle through the post-war economic transition. Together with fourteen other civic leaders, he established an endowment to invest in initiatives that would improve quality of life in the city and beyond. From the $8,000 in grants given out in its first year, Seattle Foundation has grown and now awards more than $100 million annually.

The Foundation began awarding scholarships in 1988. This year, for the first time, Seattle Foundation will offer a single application for eight named scholarships, streamlining the process for scholars to apply to the many opportunities administered through a partnership between Seattle Foundation and Scholarship America.

Some of these scholarship dollars are reserved for graduates of specific high schools or attendees of specific colleges in the Pacific Northwest; others are open more broadly and focused on specific fields of study or areas of interest. Thanks to the new application process, however, students only need to fill out one application to be considered for all scholarships they may qualify for.

More than twenty-five students living in the Pacific Northwest will be awarded scholarships of up to $5,000 in 2025 through the Seattle Foundation programs. Whether you’re a high school senior, a currently enrolled undergraduate, or a graduate student, click through to the application to view complete eligibility guidelines.

Applications are open through Monday, February 10, 2025.  Apply Now >