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Application Guide & Tips

Scholarship Application Guide & Tips

Please consider this a useful guide to help you prepare for the scholarship application.

APIA Scholars offers a range of scholarships to support Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students who are underserved, with a focus on those who are living at or below poverty level, are first-generation college students, and who represent a geographically or ethnically diverse AANHPI community. Awards range from one-time $2,500 awards to multi-year $20,000 awards. Our vision is to provide scholarships to AANHPI students so they can cultivate their academic, personal, and professional success regardless of their ethnicity, national origin, or financial means. 

At APIA Scholars, we offer a variety of scholarships designed to meet the diverse needs of AANHPI students, supported by different partners and organizations. Some scholarships are tied to a specific major or field of study, while others are dedicated to students attending particular campuses or types of institutions, such as community colleges, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), or four-year universities. Certain scholarships focus on students with an intended career path in areas like STEM, or healthcare.

The great news for applicants is that they don’t need to worry about applying for these scholarships separately—one application covers all APIA scholarships. APIA Scholars is focused on making the process as easy and stress-free as possible for students.  The 2025-2026 APIA Scholarship application includes only one essay question and does not require any documents such as recommendation letters.

Eligibility Criteria

All applicants must:

• Be able to describe their ethnicity, heritage, or ancestry in relation to the countries, territories, or lands in Asia or the Pacific Islands

• Be a citizen, national, or legal permanent resident of the United States; citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau are also eligible to apply

• Be enrolling or continuing as a degree-seeking undergraduate student in a U.S. accredited college or university in fall 2025

Note: students pursuing an associate or bachelor’s degree are eligible to apply. Full-time and part-time degree-seeking students are eligible, as well as students who plan to enroll in online courses at accredited institutions. Students who are pursuing a second bachelor’s degree or a graduate level program are not eligible to apply.

Application Requirements

  • Complete the APIA Scholarship online application by Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 5pm Eastern Time
  • Scholarship recipients will be asked to complete an online scholarship confirmation form to prepare for the award disbursal process

Application Process & Timeline

Friday, November 15, 2024 :

Application opens

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 5PM ET:

Application closes

Spring 2025:

Scholarship recipients notified to confirm and accept award

TIP: Don’t start your application last minute and take advantage of upcoming school breaks to work on it! If you have any technical problems with the online application form, you can reach out to help@mykaleidoscope.com. Email applicant@apiascholars.org if you need help with application or eligibility questions. As the deadline approaches, however, there may not be capacity to assist in this matter.

Scholarship Application Guide

Here is a brief overview of what to expect from the APIA Scholarship application. This has been redesigned to be a streamlined process for the 2025-2026 Academic Year!

Tell Us More About You

General information such as name, address, birthdate, race/ethnicity, gender

TIP: For contact information please use a permanent email address that you check regularly and will have access to until fall 2025. We will use this email to send you reminders and important updates!

Academic Information

Education information such as the high school or college you are currently enrolled in and enrollment plans for the upcoming year, as well as education background of household members

Financial Information

Questions covering dependency status, adjusted gross income, household size, and financial status

Activities, Interests, and Community Involvement

Share information for up to five of your extracurricular activities, work experiences and/or family responsibilities during your academic journey in order of importance to you with a short description of each one’s impact on you

TIP: We want to hear about what makes you unique. We understand life circumstances like illness, income restraints or childcare responsibilities etc. may restrict opportunities like extracurricular activities. Don’t shy away from telling us here!

Essay (maximum of 500 words)

Prompt for the one required essay: What do you believe you need to accomplish your goals? What does it mean to thrive in your life? We welcome you to share more of your story, background, identity, interests, or talents that are meaningful to you and not captured elsewhere in this application. Be specific and provide examples; these could highlight academic, professional, and/or personal development.

TIPS FOR ESSAY:

Brainstorm! Map it out, draw, create bullet points, free write – do whatever works for you to get your initial thoughts on paper. 

Spend time on your essay – you may not need all 500 words to answer, but you will need more than a few sentences. Work on your essay in a separate document outside of the application to ensure that you have a backup copy. You can copy and paste the final text into the application when you are ready.

Ask family, friends, teachers and others you trust to read over your essay. Do they see the unique and remarkable person you are shine through in your writing? 

Make sure to proofread carefully – Read it out loud – sleep on it and come back to it. 

Answer every part of the essay question. We look forward to learning more about you!