The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program is available thanks to the generosity of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was established in 1999 with the main goal to provide outstanding African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic American students with an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in any discipline area of interest.
Full Description
The foundation wants to raise awareness that all of America’s citizens must have equal access to opportunity for higher education and that the future leaders who will help build a stronger society are actually among young generations of students.
So, they want to encourage students belonging to nations who have traditionally and historically been denied access to higher education to keep on reaching their goals and high education degrees.
The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program gives them the support needed to complete a college education.
GMS selected 1,000 new scholars each year.
Who's eligible?
However, there are some requirements that interested applicants have to meet so as to be accepted as possible scholarship winners besides identifying themselves as outstanding African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic American students.
The Continuing Gates Millennium Scholars may request funding for a graduate degree program in one of the following discipline areas: computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science.
The scholarship is a need-based one, so the preference will be given to those applicants who have significant financial need.
The foundation tends to support the first-generation students – the first ones in their families to go to college with the average undergraduate GPA over 3.0.
Otherwise, they will be considered ineligible and their applications will be rejected.
How to Apply
Before you start your Gates Scholarship application, you will need to gather some important information and those are your full academic record, your cumulative GPA, your class rank and your Enrollment Verification.
You will also need some family financial information, including the following:
- Your status as either a dependent or independent student
- Your personal gross annual income from the past year
Next, the applicant has to provide a list of his/her leadership roles and experiences, community service experiences and employment experience, as well as his/her SAT/ACT scores.
All applicants must make an online account to apply.
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