Microsoft College Scholarships for Minority Students

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Microsoft scholarship, you must be an undergraduate seeking a degree in computer science or computer engineering, or related disciplines such as physics, math or electrical engineering. In addition, you must be attending school in the United States, Mexico or Canada and must have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a scale of 4.0. You also are required to apply for a summer internship through Microsoft. To apply for a minority scholarship, you must be an African American, Native American or Hispanic student.

Microsoft awards both partial- and full-tuition scholarships each year. These scholarships are paid directly to the institution you are attending, and are not transferable to other academic institutions. They can be used only to defray the cost of tuition -- not to cover other costs such as fees, textbooks or room and board. Scholarships are awarded for the duration of one year.

To apply for a Microsoft minority scholarship, you must submit an application packet to the Microsoft Scholarship Program. Five items must be included in your application packet: a resume, a transcript, a letter of referral from a faculty member or academic adviser, a printed confirmation page from your online application to the Microsoft Internship Program and the answers to four essay questions. Be sure to specify on your online application that you are applying for the scholarship as a minority student.

In order to be considered, all application materials must be postmarked by Feb. 1 of the year in which you plan to attend school. Once received, applicants will be judged in terms of eligibility, quality of application, interest in the software industry, commitment to leadership and financial need. If you are a scholarship recipient, you will be notified by March 18. Due to the high volume of applicants, Microsoft may only be able to contact scholarship winners.