Rising Star Scholarship Program
Resident Services, Inc has established a scholarship program to assist residents of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City who plan to enroll in college for the first time.
Rising Star Scholarship Program
The Rising Star Scholarship program was launched in 2009 thanks to a generous contribution from a local donor. The Rising Star Scholarship program is a partnership between Resident Services, Incorporated (RSI), the Resident Advisory Board and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City that provides need and merit based scholarships to students who have been accepted into accredited institutions of higher learning or trade schools.
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 Rising Star Scholarship Program must:
- Be current residents of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC).
- Be high school seniors or high school graduates who plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study for the first time in the Fall of 2026.
Students who have taken college courses or enrolled in Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) full-time are eligible to apply. - Attend an accredited two-year or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school for the entire upcoming academic year.
Certification programs must be a minimum of one semester/term in length, run on a standard academic semester calendar, and recipients must be enrolled at the time awards are disbursed in August. - Have a minimum grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent).
Resident Services Inc. employees and their immediate family members (spouses, children, and grandchildren) are ineligible.
Awards
The authorized distribution for new awards will be $25,500.
Up to five (5) $5,000 Rising Star Scholarships will be granted. The sponsor will consider the response to a Personal Statement from each recipient when awarding one (1) additional $500 Kylla D. Williams Scholarship to one of the Rising Star Scholarship recipients.
Awards are one-time only. Past recipients may not reapply.
Awards are for undergraduate study only.
Notification
All applicants will be notified in May. Recipients will receive notification via United States Postal Service with instructions to accept the award and to verify school enrollment. Non-recipients will be emailed.
Scholarship America may contact you about the scholarship program 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 Resident Services Inc. Payment is made August. Checks are mailed to the student’s home address and made payable to the school for the student’s account.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:
- Academic performance
- Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
- Work experience
- A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
- Unusual personal or family circumstances
- An online recommendation
Financial need is not considered.
Scholarship America will select scholarship finalists based upon the criteria noted above. The sponsor will consider the response to a Personal Statement from each finalist when selecting 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.
One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than March 18, 2026 3:00 PM Eastern Time.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
