Below is a list of some outside scholarship sites that are not affiliated with Penn, but that may be available to our graduate students. We also encourage students to do their own research, either through the web or the library, for more possibilities. Questions regarding specific scholarship eligibility, status, etc. should be directed to the organization sponsoring the scholarship.
Fastweb.com is as an outside scholarship database. Students will be able to set up their own personalized profile which fastweb.com will use to better determine the outside scholarships they are eligible for. Often these scholarships will vary in type, from something as simple as drawing a name out of a hat to an entire application, portfolio, etc. We recommend applying to as many as possible, you never know what will happen!
Scholarship opportunities are arranged by the following: Discipline, Identity, Region, Community/Social Justice, Academic and Scholarship Resources
Discipline
Architecture:
The Deborah J. Norden Fund. The Architectural League of New York established the Fund in 1995 in memory of architect and arts administrator Deborah Norden and awards up to $5,000 annually in travel grants to students and recent graduates in the fields of architecture, architectural history, and urban studies. https://archleague.org/deborah-j-norden-fund-travel-competition/
Houzz Scholarship. The Houzz Scholarship Program is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older who are enrolled in a design or architecture program at an accredited college or university. Award is $2500. Deadline is June 30th and December 15th annually. https://www.houzz.com/scholarships
The Tile Contractors’ Association of America’s Architecture Scholarship for Professional Degree Candidates $5,000. Tile Contractors’ Association of America (TCAA) has had the honor of awarding annual merit scholarships to outstanding architectural students. TCAA is committed to rewarding high achieving students who will lead their industry, shape the language of design, and create new ways to give shape to their vision for public and private space as art for habitation. https://www.tcaainc.org/scholarships.
The Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architectural Scholarship Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation is intended to recognize and foster students who have a demonstrated talent and passion for architecture. Applicants pursuing a graduate degree in architecture from an NAAB accredited architectural program are eligible for this scholarship. In addition to awarding an annual stipend, a summer internship at one of ZGF’s offices will be offered. https://www.zgf.com/scholarships
The Joseph L. and Vivian E. Steele Architecture Scholarship is available to students who are present or former residents of one of the following Pennsylvania counties: Adams, Bedford, Blair, Centre, Clinton, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder, Tioga, Union, or York, and studying in the final three years of a NAAB accredited Bachelor of Architecture program OR in a graduate program leading to a Master of Architecture degree. This scholarship can award multiple winners up to $5,000 each and applications will open January 1. Students will register and access the application here https://www.grantinterface.com/sl/v4dEKh. The deadline for the application and all supplemental materials is June 1st.
City Planning:
American Planning Association Scholarships. The APA Foundation scholarships aim to make the planning profession more accessible to individuals with limited means and to attract the best, brightest, and most talented individuals to the planning profession. https://www.planning.org/foundation/scholarships/
Fine Art:
Artist Protection Fund. The Artist Protection Fund (APF) is a three-year pilot program at the Institute of International Education. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, APF will make life-saving fellowship grants to threatened artists from any field of artistic endeavor, and place them at host universities and arts centers in safe countries where they can continue their work. http://www.iie.org/Programs/Artist-Protection-Fund
Greater than Gatsby. Open to any visual arts major. Win this annual $10,000 scholarship by submiting 3 photos of your best photogrpahy along with a 500 word essay describing your interest in photography and/or the relation of photography to your chosen career or passion. https://www.greaterthangatsby.com/academic-photography-scholarship/
Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship. Eligible candidates are graduate and post-graduate visual artists and musicians of exceptional talent who wish to pursue advanced artistic studies in Paris, France during the upcoming academic year. Annual deadline of January 31st. https://www.fondationdesetatsunis.org/hhw-scholarship/
Working Artist Org. Provides multiple $1,000 art awards throughout the year to support artists' ongoing art making processes. https://www.workingartist.org/submission-guidelines.html
Historic Preservation:
Mildred Colodny Diversity Scholarship for Graduate Study in Historic Preservation. Provides financial assistance and experiential learning opportunities to individuals preparing for careers in historic preservation. The purpose of the Colodny Scholarship is to increase the diversity of people pursuing degrees and careers in historic preservation in the United States. https://savingplaces.org/colodny-scholarship
Landscape Architecture:
American Society of Landscape Architects Fellowships. The ASLA has a listing of scholarships and fellowships for students pursuing degrees in Landscape Architecture. http://www.asla.org/contentdetail.aspx?id=23766
Garden Club of America. Lists various awards for students of Landscape Architecture. http://www.gcamerica.org/scholarships
Houzz Scholarship. The Houzz Scholarship Program is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older who are enrolled in a design or architecture program at an accredited college or university. Award is $2500. https://www.houzz.com/scholarships
The Smart Service Scholarship. Submit a short video (or written) essay and an application. Deadline to apply is April 15, 2023. http://www.smartservice.com/scholarship.html
MUSA:
Big Data Analytics Scholarship Award. Our organization is offering a bi-annual $2,000 merit-based scholarship to students who plan to pursue or are currently working toward a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the data science field in such areas as computer information systems, business analytics, statistics or computer science. Deadlines for Scholarships are September 1st and February 1st each year. http://www.mastersofbusinessanalytics.com/scholarships/big-data-analyti…
Identity
American Indian Graduate Center. Awards graduate fellowships for American Indians from federally recognized tribes. https://www.aigcs.org/scholarships-fellowships/graduate-students/
Association on American Indian Affairs. AAIA has a long history of providing scholarships to college students, for both graduate and undergraduate students. Funding is made available due to the generosity of donors, therefore the number of scholarships provided varies from year to year. https://www.indian-affairs.org/nativescholarship.html
Chalik & Chalik Injury Lawyers Cancer Survivors Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship will recognize a deserving student who not only survived a devastating illness but now demonstrates a commitment to helping others diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness. Each applicant must submit an essay of 500 to 1,000 words. Deadline to apply is June 15, 2023. https://www.chaliklaw.com/cancer-survivors-scholarship/
Cyprus Children's Fund. This Foundation has a couple of different scholarship options for students who have origins in Cyprus and/or Greece. Please visit their website for application details. http://www.cyprus-childrensfund.org/scholarships.html
Gensler Diversity Scholarships. Awards African-American students enrolled in U.S. not-for-profit NAAB-accredited architecture programs with academic scholarships and summer internship opportunities. http://www.gensler.com/scholarships
Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Open to graduate and undergraduate students of Hispanic heritage, who are US Citizens or legal Permanent Residents enrolled full time in a US university. https://www.hsf.net/scholarship
Japanese American Citizens League Scholarships. The JACL National Scholarship and Awards Program offers scholarships to graduate students who are active JACL Members. https://jacl.org/scholarships
The Korean American Scholarship Foundation. The scholarship recipient is selected on the basis of financial need, academic achievement, school activities, and community services. Each applicant must submit an application to the respective KASF region, in which each region is designated by the state where school is located. https://kasf.org/scholarships/
The Kosciuskzo Foundation Tuition Scholarships support American students of Polish descent for graduate studies at colleges and universities in the United States. Scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $7,000 are awarded on a competitive basis for one academic year.
https://thekf.org/scholarship/tuition-scholarships/tuition-scholarships-for-graduate-studies/
LGBTQ Financial Aid Resources provided by LearnHowToBecome.org. https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/career-resource-center/college-financial-aid-for-lgbtq/
MPOWER Monthly Scholarships for International Students provides $1,000 monthly scholarships to international students. The essay topic for the scholarship application changes monthly and the deadline is the last Friday in each month. https://www.mpowerfinancing.com/scholarships/monthly-scholarships
The Paul & Daisy Soros Scholarship for New Americans honors the contributions of immigrants and children of immigrants to the United States. Each Fellow receives $25,000 in stipend support a year (all stipend awards are capped at $50,000 per year), as well as 50 percent of required tuition and fees, up to $20,000 per year, for one to two years. To qualify, you must be an immigrant or a child of an immigrant. https://www.pdsoros.org/apply
Sallie Mae and MPOWER's Excellence in STEM Award Program provides $1,000 scholarships each month to international graduate students enrolled in STEM-designated programs. https://www.mpowerfinancing.com/scholarships/stem-awards
Veterans & Military Family Scholarship. Write a 500-word essay to win a $1,000 scholarship. http://www.sinklaw.com/veterans-military-family-scholarship/
Region
International Education Financial Aid. Requires no marketing information and is a very comprehensive search engine for international scholarships. http://www.iefa.org
International Facility Management Association Foundation. The IFMA Foundation annually awards individual scholarships ranging in value from $1,500 to $5,000 to students enrolled in facility management or FM related programs (FM related programs include, but are not limited to, construction management, architecture, interior design and some engineering disciplines). In addition to the scholarship value, recipients also receive fully funded travel, accommodations, meals and registration to attend IFMA's World Workplace. https://foundation.ifma.org/students-academics/scholarships/
The Land Conservancy of New Jersey. For 40 years TLCNJ has been proudly supporting future environmental leaders who are training for careers protecting our natural resources. Six $10,000 scholarships will be awarded. https://www.tlc-nj.org/scholarships
The John R. Mott Scholarship Foundation. Students native to the region of Calabria, Italy who are enrolled in any accredited post-secondary school are encouraged to apply. Scholarships for up to $10,000/year are awarded. https://www.mottscholarship.org/Scholar/eligibility-EN.asp
MPOWER Global Citizen Scholarship. Scholarships awarded annually to international and DACA students enrolled at universities MPOWER supports. https://www.mpowerfinancing.com/scholarships/global-citizen/
Plan NH Fellowship and Scholarship. Students studying Architecture, Interior Design, Studio Art, Mechanical Engineering or a field related to planning, design and development of the built environment are eligible to apply for a Plan NH Fellowship or Scholarship. Students must be residents of New Hampshire. https://plannh.org/programs/scholarship-and-fellowship
The Rowe Fund is an educational loan program of the Organization of American States (OAS) that helps citizens from Latin America and Caribbean OAS Member States finance their studies or research in accredited universities across the United States by awarding interest-free loans of up to $15,000 USD. http://www.oas.org/en/rowefund/
Sir James Lougheed Award of Distinction. Scholarship program for Canadian citizens and permanent residents that reside in Alberta, Canada to support graduate study outside of Alberta. https://studentaid.alberta.ca/scholarships/sir-james-lougheed-award-of-distinction/
The Thouron Award is a leading international scholarship program promoting the relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. Graduates of British universities receive support for up to two years for a graduate (post-graduate) degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. http://thouronaward.org
Community/Social Justice
Byron Hanke Fellowship. Awarded by the Foundation for Community Association Research. Available to graduate students working on topics related to community associations. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited master's, doctoral, or law program in the United States of America or Canada. Students of all disciplines are welcome to apply for the Hanke Fellowships, provided their studies and the topic of their proposed community associations research project relate to community associations. http://www.cairf.org/scholarships/hanke.aspx
DoSomething.org offers scholarship campaigns all throughout the year where you can win a scholarship by participating in various volunteering and social justice related work. https://www.dosomething.org/us/about/easy-scholarships
The McKenzie Law Firm, Teen Drinking and Driving Prevention PSA Scholarship. To be considered for the $2,500 scholarship, applicants must develop a PSA for teenagers about the dangers of drinking and driving. The application deadline is August 15, 2024. https://www.davidmckenzielawfirm.com/teen-drinking-and-driving-prevention-psa-scholarship/
Morris Bart, LLC Anti-Distracted Driving Scholarship. To be considered for the $2,500 Anti-Distracted Driving Scholarship, applicants must submit a 90-second or shorter video about the dangers of distracted driving. The application deadline is December 15, 2023. https://www.morrisbart.com/about/scholarships/anti-distracted-driving-scholarship/
Morris Bart, LLC Community Service Scholarship. Awarded to a student who has a history of community service, volunteerism or fundraising in their community. To be considered for the $2,500 Community Service Scholarship, applicants must write a short essay describing what the feel is the meaning of service. The deadline for this scholarship is June 15, 2023. https://www.morrisbart.com/about/scholarships/community-service-scholarship/
Responsify Empowering Others Scholarship. Annual $1,000 scholarship awarded to one student who best demonstrates how their major can be used to empower others through an essay submission. The application deadline is October 5 annually. https://www.responsify.com/scholarship
Academic
The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship is a tuition scholarship and a living stipend awarded to meritorious undergraduate students and graduate students undergoing training in modern foreign languages and related area or international studies, or with the international aspects of professional or fields of study. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States admitted to or enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, or professional programs at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.sas.upenn.edu/flas
Fulbright Program/Institute of International Education (IIE) contains addresses for Educational/Information Centers and Fulbright commissions around the world administering scholarship programs for national citizens. Contact the center from your country directly to find out the latest information. https://www.iie.org/Programs
Scholarship Resources
By Discipline:
Fine Art:
By Identity:
Scholarships for Asian/Pacific Islander Students:
Scholarships for Hispanic Students:
Scholarships for LGBTQ Students:
- http://www.affordablecolleges.com/resources/lgbtq-college-resources/#lg…
- http://www.gograd.org/financial-aid/scholarships/lgbtq/
Scholarships for Minority Students:
Scholarships for Native American Students: