BNSF Railway Foundation Scholarship Program
BNSF Railway Foundation has established a scholarship program to assist children of employees who plan to continue their education in college.
BNSF Railway Foundation Scholarship Program
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.
Eligibility
Applicants to the BNSF Railway Foundation Scholarship Program must:
- Be dependent* children of full-time BNSF Railway employees or BNSF Logistics employees who have a minimum of two (2) years of active, full-time service as of the application deadline date
- Dependent* children of furloughed, retired, disabled, or deceased employees of BNSF Railway, BNSF Logistics, or their predecessor companies who completed the two (2) year employment requirement prior to their death, disability, or retirement are also eligible
- Employees must remain employed with BNSF until awards are announced for their children to remain eligible
- Applicants who have received a scholarship from this Program prior to the start of this current Program cycle shall not be required to meet eligibility requirements concerning any employment with BNSF
- Be current high school seniors
- Plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school for the entire upcoming academic year
* Dependent children are defined as biological, step- or legally adopted children living in the employee’s household or primarily supported by the employee
Students cannot receive more than one (1) scholarship funded by the BNSF Railway Foundation, so recipients of the National Merit Scholarships will be withdrawn from consideration for this program.
Awards
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $2,500 award. Up to 50 awards will be granted.
Awards may be renewed for up to three additional years or until a bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first. Renewal is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance in a full-time course of study and continuation of the program by BNSF Railway Foundation.
Awards are for undergraduate study only.
Awards amounts may be adjusted if award exceeds the cost of qualified education-related expenses.
Notification
All applicants will be notified in May.
Notifications are sent via email. When setting up your account, avoid using a school or work email. Instead, use an active, personal email address that you will continue to have access to.
Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address as safe senders in your email contact list.
Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of BNSF Railway Foundation. Payment is made in August.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:
- Academic performance
- Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
- A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
Financial need is not considered.
Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of BNSF Railway Foundation play a part in the selection. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.
Requirements
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
- A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
- Student name
- School name
- Grades
- Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
Frequently Asked Questions
