Category: Gay scholarships

Gay scholarships for gay students.

University of Michigan Gay and Lesbian Scholarships

University of Michigan Gay and Lesbian Alumni Society Scholarships are gay and lesbian scholarships for the LGBT student who will be attending the U of M.

 

U of M lesbian and scholarships
University of Michigan Gay and Lesbian Scholarships

If you will be attending the University of Michigan, or you are already a student at this school, and you are lesbian or gay, you need to be aware of the University of Michigan Gay and Lesbian Alumni Society Scholarships that are available. Although these gay and lesbian scholarships do not award huge amounts of funds, they are still important, and very competitive.

The University of Michigan Gay and Lesbian Alumni Society is not the same as the University of Michigan Alumni Association. These are two separate organizations. The University of Michigan Gay and Lesbian Alumni Society was established for the purpose of creating a supportive and positive environment for LGBT students and their allies at the University of Michigan. Equally, the organization also strives to eliminate discrimination and homophobia that is directed towards the LGBT community on campus and elsewhere.

The University of Michigan Gay and Lesbian Alumni Society does not just exist for past students, it also exists for present students, faculty, and other staff at the University who are also a part of the LGBT community.

The UMGALAS offers two gay and lesbian scholarships each year. The first is the Detroit Eagle Gay Community Award, and the second is the Jim Toy Award. The Detroit Eagle Gay Community Award was created by Frank Blondale. The Jim Toy Award was created for the purpose of honoring Jim Toy for twenty four years of service to the LGBT community as one of the coordinators of the Lesbian, Gay Male and Bisexual Programs Office at the University of Michigan.

The two awards are presented twice each year – once in the fall, and once in the winter. Each award is $500, and the numbers of available awards that are given each year are dependent on the funds that are available from the endowment. The winners of the awards will have been heavily involved in activities, organizations, events, and issues that affect the LGBT community, and it seems that preference is given to support and activism in the LGB communities of color.

In order to be eligible for this gay and lesbian scholarship, you must be a full time student, and you can be a graduate or undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Your activism and participation in the LGBT community must be documented as normally does with all LGBT scholarships. You must also agree to allowing the organization to use your name, and possibly your likeness, in the media should you win the award.

Applications for the U of M lesbian and gay scholarship must be submitted by February of each year. If you meet all of the eligibility requirements, your chances of being selected as a winner will weigh heavily on your activism and the essay that you submit with your application. While other factors are important, these two factors are extremely important. Winners are notified by the end of March each year.


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The Markowski Leach Gay Scholarship Fund

The Markowski-Leach lesbian and gay Scholarship is a legacy from a gay couple. The gay scholarship program came from a bequest left by Jim Leach.

Gay and lesbian scholarship
Markowski-Leach Scholarship

Throughout the years, many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people have left bequests and legacies behind when they passed on, and most of those legacies exist for the purpose of helping other LGBT people to succeed through education. The Markowski-Leach Gay Scholarship is just such a legacy.

The Markowski-Leach Scholarship is named for a gay couple, Tom Markowski and Jim Leach who wanted to leave a legacy behind. The initial funds for the gay scholarship program came from a bequest left by Jim Leach, and at his request, the fund was set up in both of the men’s names. The purpose of the scholarship fund was to assist gays and lesbians in their quest for further education. Both Tom Markowski and Jim Leach died of AIDS, two years apart. The fund was established in 1989, and more than $200,000 has been awarded since that time.

While being gay or lesbian is a requirement to win the award, there is much more to it than that. The bequest stated that the award should be made to gay or lesbian students who would most likely make a substantial contribution to society and improve the image of gay and lesbian people everywhere.

The gay scholarship award is available to any student who meets the qualifications regardless of their chosen field of study, and regardless of proving financial need, however the student must be attending or plan to attend the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, or San Francisco State University. You can be a graduate student or an undergraduate student to qualify for this scholarship for being gay.

Since the bequest made for this scholarship award stated that the award should be made to an gay student who shows promise for making a substantial contribution to society, it is vital that your personal statement include information as to how you plan to make such a contribution, or how you are already working towards that end. This plays a vital role in the selection process. Any past work that you have done to make such a contribution will also be strongly considered, so be sure to include this information.

While the award amount varies from year to year, the average amount of the award is about $1250, but the full amount is not paid at one time. Instead, the award is divided by the number of terms or semesters in the award year. You must be or plan to be a full-time student to quality, and you must continue to have academic excellence in order to remain eligible during the award year. Your GPA must be 2.5 in order to apply, and you must maintain that GPA.

The application deadline for the Markowski-Leach Gay Scholarship occurs around the middle of April each year, but applications are usually available and accepted as early as February. Selections for the winners are made in the early part of May each year.

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Gay Scholarships from FFBC

A Gay Scholarships program from the First Friday Breakfast Club FFBC was created to improve the image of gay men through education.

Gay Scholarships from FFBC
FFBC Gay Scholarships

On the first Friday of each month, a group of gay men meet for breakfast. Those men form the club that has become known as the First Friday Breakfast Club, which has become a non-profit corporation. These men meeting for breakfast once a month is not insignificant, as they have established the FFBC, or First Friday Breakfast Club Gay Scholarships program. While this gay scholarship fund was created to improve the image of gay men through education, it is not solely intended for gay students.

The First Friday Breakfast Club is based in Iowa, and is actually the largest breakfast club in the state. The member list of the club is kept private, and the purpose of the club scholarships program is to further the education of future leaders to improve the image of gay men everywhere. The scholarship is funded almost completely by donations from members as well as non-members of the group, but fundraisers are held throughout the year for the fund as well. The organization feels that education is the biggest key to ending racism, discrimination, and intolerance for all people.

The First Friday Breakfast Club is awarded in the amount of $2500, and is available to high school seniors. It is not limited to gay teenagers at all, however. Instead, it is available to any person, male or female, who can show that they have actually worked in the efforts to increase awareness and tolerance for the gay and lesbian community. Your race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, creed, or marital status plays no role in the selection process for this gay scholarship. While your GPA does matter, your involvement in activities and organizations that work towards equality and tolerance for all seems to be what matters the most to the selection committee for these gay and lesbian scholarships.

Aside from this requirement, the applicant must also reside in Iowa, but the winner is free to attend any college or university, including trade schools, in the World. It is important to realize that the scholarship information does not state that you must attend a school in the United States, but the school must offer post-secondary level education, and it must be accredited by a governing agency. It also does not state that you have to be a citizen of the United States – only that you must reside in Iowa.

The deadline for applying for the FFBC gay and lesbian scholarships is March 31st of each year, and no application materials will be accepted after that date. The Award is made on May 1st of each year. If funds allow, more than one $2500 gay scholarship will be awarded each year, but this is not guaranteed, as it depends on how much the First Friday Breakfast Club Scholarship committee is able to collect through fundraisers and donations throughout the year.


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Colage Scholarship Program for Children of the LGBT Community

Colage scholarship for those students who have parents or guardians that are gay, lesbian, or transgender. The LGBT Scholarship program for the Gay community.

LGBT Colage scholarship program for children of gay parents
Colage Scholarship

Ali Nickel-Dubin was the founder of Colage, and upon his death, a memorial scholarship program was implemented, in an effort to help with the education expenses of those students who have parents or guardians that are gay, lesbian, or transgender. The LGBT Scholarship program was named after his father Lee Dubin. Lee Dubin was a gay man, with children, and he saw the importance of supporting the children of lesbians, gays, and transgender people, which makes the Colage Scholarship Program very essential to the LGBT community and their children.

The Colage Organization was not created for members of the LGBT community, but specifically for the children of those individuals, who have always faced a great deal of opposition from discriminatory people and organizations. The Colage organization works to support these children in a variety of ways. The Colage organization offers events, publications, leadership opportunities, activism opportunities, advocacy programs, and online communities for the children and young adults that it serves.

The Leadership Internship, named the Felicia Park-Rogers Summer Internship is also offered through Colage, which allows young people between the ages of fifteen and eighteen to help organize and lead a variety of events through the organization each year. This, however, is not a part of the Lee Dubin Memorial Fund, but it can set you up to be a winner of that fund at a later date, so it is a good idea to find out more about this ten week leadership internship that is offered through the organization.

Colage manages the Lee Dubin Memorial Fund, which awards four gay scholarships each year, in the amount of $1000. Preference is given to students who have parents who are a part of the LGBT community as well as those who show financial need. However, the organization states that any undergraduate is welcome to apply, and that there are no discriminations made during the selection process for these awards. With that said, preference is also given to students who have actually worked towards combating homophobia, racism, and other types of discrimination.

In order to be eligible for one of these four awards, you must be an undergraduate student, or about to enter college as an undergraduate. Graduate students will not be considered. Additionally, you must have a parent who is gay, lesbian or transgender, but the person could be your legal guardian as well. If you have not yet enrolled in college, you are not eligible. You must have and maintain at least a GPA of 2.0.

Additionally, if you win one of the Colage Scholarships, you must be willing to be named publicly, in connection with Colage, Horizons, and the LGBT Community. The deadline for applying each year for one of these four awards occurs in late April.

How to Find Gay Scholarships for College

As a gay person, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender person, you could be eligible for gay scholarships. Included are some of the top LGBT scholarships.

Finding Gay Scholarships for LGBT
LGBT Scholarships

Attending college is extremely expensive, and most students need some level of financial aid. Along with looking into grants or student work-study programs you may want to apply to the numerous gay scholarships available for even more financial aid to fund your education. As a gay person, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender person, you may be eligible for more gay scholarships for LGBT than you ever imagined. Included in our website are some of the top sponsors of LGBT scholarships and we explain each one to help see if you would be a candidate to apply to any of them. Here are some of the better and most lucrative gay college scholarships to apply for along with the first steps to take when looking for student financial assistance to help you pay for your tuition. We will be regularly adding newer ones as we discover them so stop by often.

1.Start with financial aid in the form of grants. Go ahead and fill out the FAFSA form and submit it through the financial aid office at the school you will attend. This enables the school to put together a financial aid package for you, and may help to reduce the number of scholarships that you need to apply for and win.

2.Apply for all scholarships that you are eligible for academically. Consider what you will be studying, and look for organizations that are connected to that field that offer scholarships. Consider your place of employment, as well as the employment of your parents and see if there are scholarship opportunities there.

3.Turn to the LGBT community, and you will be amazed at what you find. Numerous organizations that work to support the LGBT community offer scholarships for those who are members of this community, as well as their children. Many of these awards are quite lucrative, but they are competitive.

4.Understand exactly what is being asked on your application. For the scholarships that are offered specifically for the LGBT community, your contributions to this community in terms of time and effort will almost always be considered. Being gay, lesbian, or bi-sexual isn’t enough to win you a scholarship, but if you can show that you are active in the community, and that your education will further benefit the community, you stand a good chance of winning one of these awards.

5.Don’t just check out organizations. Talk to other students who are members of the LGBT community as well, because they will often know of scholarship opportunities that may be missed. If your community knows that you need funding for your education, you may be surprised at the help that essentially falls into your lap!

6.Don’t limit yourself to LGBT organizations. Also consider organizations that serve to eliminate discrimination and prejudice on all fronts. Also consider your own heritage, and look to organizations that support your culture to see if they have scholarship programs available.

Finally, make sure that you consider scholarship for gay opportunities that are not just designated for LGBT students. Consider scholarships that are available to you based on your heritage, your program of study, organizations that you belong to inside and outside of school, your parent’s line of work, your line of work, and more. This will take a great deal of thought on your part if you are to leave no stone unturned, but in the end, the effort is well worth it, and you will miss fewer scholarship opportunities and possibilities.

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