Scholarships for Artists

It used to be that parent’s discouraged their kids from becoming artists. Now, the world of art is broad and can be very lucrative. And if you need another reason to convince your parents you want to go to art school, there are many schools offering scholarships and funding.

Art scholarships run the gamut from drawing to painting to photography to design and even include art of the culinary, musical and literary variety. Many art scholarships are specific to a particular state, county, or even a college in addition to the art major or art interest/ability requirement.

To get you started, here are some resources:

• Your University: Most Art Departments offer scholarships to students attending their schools, either directly through the school or through business, benefactors and foundations that support the school. Many schools also offer them to prospective students.

If you're attending or planning to attend a university, contact your Program Advisor to ask what scholarships may be available through the school or department (if you're already attending, definitely check in with your Art Instructors, too!). Don't forget to look for scholarship opportunities on the university department's web site or on a bulletin board near the Art Department office on-campus, where they also are often posted. Here are some typical departmental scholarship listings:

Baum School of Art
Birmingham Southern College
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Goshen College
Hendrix College
St. Lawrence University

Most universities do offer scholarships to students attending their schools. That's because they really, really want to keep you there. These kinds of scholarships are the easiest to find out about, but somehow overlooked by many students who could benefit greatly from the funding...and from the prestige of winning!

Just to reinforce this idea of funding from your university or college, the Department of Education reports that at public universities, scholarship and fellowship expenditures have risen consistently from 1980 through 1995.

This may be an indication that there are opportunities waiting for you. Again, at the very least, you should ask your Advisor about other sources if there are none available at your university for your circumstance.



• L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of The Future Contest. Established in 1988, the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of The Future Contest is an ongoing merit competition for new and amateur artists. Run on a quarterly basis, an eligible entry is comprised of three science fiction/fantasy illustrations done in a black & white medium rendered from the artist's imagination. Should the artist win with this entry, he is then sent a story from the companion L. Ron Hubbard Writers of The Future Contest for which to render an illustration. This illustration then becomes his or her entry in the yearly Grand Prize competition. More

• Liberty Graphics Art Scholarship - Liberty Graphics is a Maine company, designing and printing t-shirts with concern for the environment. We are committed to the local economy and wish to encourage local talent. Liberty Graphics conducts a yearly juried art contest, and presents the winner with a $1000 award. The contest is open only to high school seniors who are a resident of Maine. Each year the contest theme may change. This year the contest title is "Art and Our Natural Environment". Entries should reflect an appreciation of our natural environment. More

• NFAA Arts Recognition and Talent Search ARTS (Arts Recognition and Talent Search®) is NFAA's core program. ARTS identifies high school seniors and other 17 and 18 year old artists in the disciplines of Dance, Film and Video, Jazz, Music, Photography, Theater, Visual Arts, Voice and Writing for scholarships and financial support. Through ARTS, NFAA annually awards up to $900,000 in cash awards (with individual awards ranging from $10,000 - $100)and makes available $3 million in scholarship opportunities to America's most outstanding high school senior-age artists through its Scholarship List Service (SLS). More

• The Scholastic Art Awards -The Scholastic Art Awards honor students currently enrolled in grades 7-12, recognizing about 50,000 regional winners. Nationally, 800 young artists' individual works receive Gold and Silver awards in each of 14 art categories. Art Categories are: animation, ceramics & glass, computer art, design, digital imagery, drawing, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and video & film. Graduating high school seniors seeking scholarships must submit a body of eight works of art or photography for Portfolio Awards to their regional office of The Awards. More

• The WorldStudio Foundation Scholarship - Applicants must be pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in the fine or commercial arts, design or architecture – one or more of the design/arts disciplines below – and plan to enter a career in the creative professions. Applicants must be matriculated (or planning to matriculate) at accredited colleges and universities in the United States for the fall of the coming academic year and intend on maintaining full-time status for the entire year. International students studying at accredited colleges and universities in the United States may apply. More

• Charitable Foundations - The competition to receive funding from charitable foundations is pretty stiff, even from the local ones. That's because they do a very good job of soliciting applicants, and the awards are often larger than the smaller groups. Nevertheless, there are hundreds of these organizations giving away millions of dollars every year. If you know of any locally, you should inquire. Or, you can take a glance at these, too:

• National Foundations -Andy Warhol Foundation, Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts, Jackie Robinson Foundation
You can see that there's a lot of work involved just to find these opportunities...but that's nothing compared to the work you'll need to put in to win them.

Bottom line: There's plenty of scholarship money available in the arts. You just need to show that you're worth the investment. And, if you are dedicated to pursuing a career in the arts, you may even enjoy the work it takes to stand out from the crowd anyway.

Evelyn Saunders, a retired teacher, is the editor for student-loans.net, a provider of private student loans and information on student loans and consolidation. For more information, please visit http://www.student-loans.net

Math Scholarships For You

Math is a subject you either love or hate it seems. For those of you who love math and excel at it, it is your turn to be rewarded for what you do best. There are many scholarships available for math majors nationally and through state universities.

Several scholarships are linked directly to a student's performance on both the PSAT and SAT. The National Merit Scholarship program offers scholarships based on PSAT performance. Many colleges offer applicants’ scholarships based on high SAT performance. For example, one general requirement of a Benjamin Rush scholarship at Dickinson College, a colonial college located in rural Pennsylvania, is a combined SAT score of 1350 or greater. This scholarship provides qualifying students with $12,500 per year. Contact the financial aid office of the colleges you are interested in attending to determine what scholarships are offered to high-performing students.

Here are just a few National Scholarships Available:

• The Davidson Fellows Scholarship awards $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 scholarships to extraordinary young people under the age of 18 who have completed a significant piece of work. Application categories are Mathematics, Science, Literature, Music, Technology, Philosophy and Outside the Box. Davidson Fellows are honored every year in Washington, D.C. with Congressional meetings and a reception at the Library of Congress.

• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Fellowship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology innovations that can be applied to the DHS mission. This education program is intended to ensure a highly talented science and technology community to achieve the DHS mission and objectives. Eligible students must be studying in a homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

• Science Talent Institute -Each spring, 40 finalists are selected from a nationwide pool of thousands to attend the week-long Science Talent Institute in Washington, D.C. There, students have the opportunity to present their research projects to the general public and members of the scientific community at the National Academy of Sciences, meet with distinguished government leaders and participate in a rigorous judging process. Over $1 million is awarded annually to Intel STS participants and their schools. Awards range from $5,000 scholarship grants and laptop computers for all finalists to the grand prize of a $100,000 college scholarship.

• MATHCOUNTS, a national math competition, is open to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. Participants are eligible to compete for college scholarships. The National Science Foundation is one widely recognized source of scholarships for qualifying students. Through their Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM), talented students can qualify for up to $10,000 per academic year.

• Raytheon is offering several scholarships to middle school, high school, and undergraduate students as well as grants to math teachers and volunteers. Middle and High School students can earn $1000 scholarships and an additional $1000 for their school by answering questions related to their enthusiasm for mathematics and their own math programs. Undergraduates can earn $900 scholarships renewable for up to 6 semesters ($5400 total).

• The Siemens Westinghouse Competition is a leading research-based science and math competition for high school students. The competition awards college scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000. Students may enter as individuals or as members of a team. chance at admission to certain colleges and universities. New York University has consistently offered four-year scholarships to finalists of the Intel Science Talent Search who otherwise meet their admission criteria.

If you plan to attend your state’s university, check with them regarding math related and math oriented scholarships. It is most likely they will have something available.

For those of you who are interested in teaching math, scholarships are available for that as well. Math for America administers The Newton Fellowship Program, which trains individuals with exceptional math abilities to become high school math teachers. A five-year teaching commitment is rewarded with $90,000 (in addition to a teaching salary) and a scholarship covering full tuition to obtain an M.Ed. While this route might be unconventional for some, the $90,000 incentive could be used to pay off any student loans an undergraduate math student acquired during college.

Whatever your specialty or however you may apply your math skills, it is most likely there is funding in the form of scholarships available for you.

Evelyn Saunders, a retired teacher, is the editor for student-loans.net, a provider of private student loans and information on student loans and consolidation. For more information, please visit http://www.student-loans.net

Taking your education abroad – check out these scholarships

If you have always wanted to go to college in another country, study other cultures and practice a foreign langue, there are two outstanding scholarships available for just that.

The first is the David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarships. The National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Scholarships is for undergraduates from the United States so that they can study abroad. The award is for the sudy of world regions critical to U.S. interests (including Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin American & the Caribbean, and the Middle East). The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded.

NSEP focuses on fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. It draws on a broad definition of national security, recognizing that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including: sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness.
International Focus

NSEP also emphasizes the importance of language study as a major component of your study abroad program. Study of a foreign language appropriate to the identified country is an integral part of each proposal. In addition, students must meet any language requirements of the study abroad experience proposed.

Since NSEP encourages students to study in countries whose languages are less commonly taught at U.S. institutions, it is anticipated that many students will not be familiar with the language of their chosen country. Prior study of another language will serve as an indication of interest and aptitude.

If you have an advanced-level proficiency in Chinese or Russian, you are eligible for support under the Boren Scholarship to participate in the Chinese or Russian Language Flagship Overseas Program.


The second scholarship opportunity is the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. The Gilman International Scholarship Program offers a competition for awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000. This scholarship provides awards for U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving federal Pell Grant funding at a 2-year or 4-year college or university to participate in study abroad programs worldwide.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, this congressionally funded program is administered by the Institute of International Education through its Southern Regional Center in Houston, TX.

International experience is critically important in the educational and career development of American students, but it can also require a substantial financial investment. The Gilman Scholarship Program broadens the student population that studies abroad by supporting undergraduates who might not otherwise participate due to financial constraints. The program aims to encourage students to choose non-traditional study abroad destinations, especially those outside of Western Europe and Australia. The Gilman scholarship aims to support students who have been traditionally under-represented in study abroad. The program seeks to assist students from a diverse range and type of public and private institutions from all 50 states.

820 scholarships of up to $5,000 will be awarded this academic year for U.S. citizen undergraduates to study abroad. Award amounts will vary depending on the length of study and student need with the average award being $4,000. Undergraduate students who are receiving federal Pell Grant funding at 2-year or 4-year colleges or universities are eligible to apply.

Students who apply for and receive the Gilman Scholarship to study abroad are now eligible to receive an additional $3,000 Critical Need Language Supplement from the Gilman Program for a total possible award of up to $8,000. 25 Critical Need Language Supplements will be offered to Gilman Scholarship recipients during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Critical Need Languages include:

* Arabic (all dialects)
* Chinese (all dialects)
* Turkic (Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgz, Turkish, Turkmen, Uzbek)
* Persian (Farsi, Dari, Kurdish, Pashto, Tajiki)
* Indic (Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Sinhala, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Sindhi)
* Korean
* Russian

Evelyn Saunders, a retired teacher, is the editor for student-loans.net, a provider of private student loans and information on student loans and consolidation. For more information, please visit http://www.student-loans.net