Scholarships
Virginia Union Future Educators Scholarship
Need-based scholarship at Virginia Union University supporting aspiring teachers with a passion for educational equity in underserved communities.
Minority Scholarships
While white students still comprise a large portion of college enrollments, the increasing percentages of minority students enrolling each year are beginning to reshape the higher education landscape. According to the Education Data Initiative, about 15% of all college students are Black, 20% are Hispanic/Latino and about 7% are Asian/Pacific Islander. Native Americans make up less than 1% of college students currently.
An influx of minority scholarships aimed at helping minority students attend college without incurring massive debt has greatly aided this demographic shift. But navigating the new scholarship landscape can be tricky. Read below to see how minority scholarships work, how to find the best options and how to apply.
Application timeline: Varies
The American Chemical Society’s Scholars Award
The ACS Scholars Program awards renewable scholarships to undergraduate students from historically underrepresented groups in the chemical sciences, majoring in chemistry-related disciplines, and intending to pursue chemistry-related careers. Selected recipients are awarded up to $5,000* per academic year. To date, over 3,500 students have received funding from the ACS Scholars Program
UNCF Scholarships
UNCF is the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to minority group members. Each year, we award more than $62 million in scholarships to students attending more than 600 schools across the country, including our prestigious network of 37 HBCUs.
We also manage a variety of scholarship programs, such as the Fund II Foundation UNCF STEM Scholars Program, UNCF/Koch Scholars Program, K-12 Education Fellowship and the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Scholarship Program.
Application timeline: Varies
Don’t Text and Drive Scholarship
Do you know how far you will drive on the freeway if you take your eyes off the road for five seconds, the average time it takes to send a text? An entire football field. According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, texting while driving makes drivers 23 times more likely to get into a “safety-critical event.” The purpose of this scholarship is to help you understand the risks of texting while driving.
Defensive Driving Scholarship
The Defensive Driving Scholarship is a scholarship awarded to a high school senior or college student based on meeting specific eligibility criteria.
The Defensive Driving Scholarship is one-time check-dispensed award to assist tomorrow’s leaders with their financial responsibilities with regards to furthering their education. Only one winner will be selected out of all applicants per scholarship year.
Application timeline: Applications open Fall 2026
HBCUs by the Numbers
$14.8 Billion
134,090 Jobs
25% of African-American
40% of Members of Congress
Among African Americans, HBCU graduates represent
40% of members of Congress
40% of Engineers 50% of Professors of Non-HBCUs 50% of Lawyers 80% of Judges
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