Scholarships Search Strategy

Scholarship information provided by SF State:

• Search the Office of Financial Aid's comprehensive database of scholarships administered by the university through AcademicWorks. Click on the top right "Sign in" button to submit your student information and learn about scholarships for which you are eligible.
• The Office of Financial Aid also posts a select list of upcoming scholarships, mostly offered by external funders.
• Check with your college and department for scholarships they sponsor not listed elsewhere.
• SF State's Department of Foreign Languages and Literature maintains a list Scholarships for Foreign Language Majors.

Other Scholarship Resources

• See UC Berkeley's Scholarship Connection, a searchable scholarship database.
• Financial Aid Finder's Scholarship Postings is a resource that emphasizes corporate scholarships.
• UCLA's GRAPES is a database of scholarships, grants, fellowships, and postdoctoral awards, free-to-search for applicants to any graduate program, to graduate students working on a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation, and to postdoc scholars.
  • Gradfellowships-L Subscription allows applicants to subscribe to emails about fellowship opportunities.
• Sallie Mae offers lists of scholarships for professional degrees (at San Francisco State, this will be of interest to graduate Business, Nursing, and Public Health students); scroll down to Specialty Graduate Programs.

International Students and Undocumented/DACA/AB540 Students

In addition to the above resources, 

• See San Francisco State’s Office of International Programs list of Scholarships for International Students.
• And see U.C. Berkeley's International and Undocumented Students Scholarships list.

• "Dreamers"/AB540 and other undocumented students will want to begin by reviewing the CSU's Resources for Undocumented Students.
• Also useful is Immigrants Rising California In-State Tuition Tool, which will help you determine if you qualify for in-state tuition, or to learn how to qualify in the future. 
• AB540 students will be interested in applying for SF State's Graduate Equity Fellowship. 
• See also: the Immigrants Rising Mental Health Career Program, and the Immigrants Rising Entrepreneurship Fund for sustainable projects designed to creative positive social change.

• Consult these scholarship lists as many of the scholarship and award programs they identify either do not require citizenship information or are specifically targeted to undocumented students:
  • 10,000 Degrees Outside Scholarships List,
  • Immigrants Rising lists of Scholarships and Fellowships.

Scholarship Essay Guides

If you have not previously written scholarship essays, refer to these sites for “how to”:

• How to Write a Scholarship Essay: 9 Essential Steps
• Scholarship Essay Writing Tips
• Steps in Writing the Essay
• Writing a Strong Scholarship Essay
• Essay Writing Tips
• Steps Towards a Better Scholarship Essay

Scholarship Essay Samples

These sites have some sample scholarship essays, so that you can see what a strong essay looks like:

• Sample Essays
• Scholarship Essay Samples and Tips