Scholarships for Hispanics series_Hispanic Scholarship Fund

Founded in 1975, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for Hispanics and Latinos seeking higher education. It also provides them with networking and resources to help them jumpstart their careers, and bilingual resources for their families.

The Hispanic Scholarship Foundation is funded by private donations, as well as several different organizations including Wells Fargo, Coca Cola, Johnson and Johnson, and many more.

About the award

The mission of HSF is to help students of Hispanic heritage obtain a college degree. Scholarships are available to High school seniors, undergraduate students pursuing a Bachelor’s degree, community college transfers, and graduate students. The award amount varies, from $500 to $5,000, based on relative need of the award recipients.

Eligibility Requirements

Students interested in applying for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund must be of Hispanic Heritage, at least 25%.

HSF scholarships for Hispanic students are primarily merit-based. High school level applicants must have a minimum of 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent), while college level applicants must have a minimum of 2.5 GPA on a 4.0. All students must plan to enroll full-time in an accredited, not-for-profit, 4-year university or graduate school.Enrollment must be planned during the fall quarter or semester of a scholarship year.

All applicants must U.S. Citizen, Permanent Legal Resident, DACA or other Eligible Non-Citizen (as defined by FAFSA regulations). FAFSA-eligible applicants must complete FAFSA, and others must complete state-based financial aid applications.

Additional Information

Applications open annually in December. The deadline is in April of the following year, and selections are made between May and October. Awards are distributed between October and December.

The HSF Scholarship is open to all majors and graduate fields. However, there is an emphasis on STEM related majors considering the massive disparity of Hispanic individuals in these fields.

While most scholarships are a one-time funding source, the HSF is a renewable scholarship. In fact, building a positive history with HSF may increase the award you get each year that you reapply.

In addition to financial support, there are a variety of additional benefits. Awardees will be assigned a mentor. They will also have access to several online resources including a career center platform to connect students with job and internship opportunities with HSF partners in several fields. They will also be connected with volunteer opportunities and extracurricular activities. Students will have to opportunity to attend HSF networking events and other programming, including the Latinos United and Networking for Advancement (LUNA) Conference and the National Leadership Conference (NLC). These events bring together scholars and accomplished Latinos to enrich the education of awardees.