Minority College Grants

Because minorities often have great hardships — perhaps they live below the poverty line, come from single-parent homes or large families, have parents who don't speak English, or any number of other problems — there are a wide variety of college grants that are available to minorities, both ethnic and non-ethnic. Regardless of the reason for your hardship, many agencies do their part to make sure you will have an equal opportunity for education by providing grants for college specifically for a certain minority or for minorities in general.

As a member of almost any minority, you can find "free money" for your college education. The federal government provides grants for Native American, Mexican (and other Latin American and South American cultures), blacks, Asians, Cubans, Arabs, and more access to funding based on need and hardship. Aside from ethnic background, other minorities are also assisted due to difficulties presented to them in life, including the disabled; gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered individuals; deaf, blind, and mute students; and women.

Some of the offerings by major players in helping minorities to benefit and receive equal opportunity for education are the Actuarial Scholarships for Minority Students, the American Bar Association Legal Opportunity Scholarship Program, and the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program. Of course, there are also many private businesses and entities that assist in providing grants to less privileged races, ethnicities, religious individuals, women, disabled people, and any other minority distinction, based on need and specific criteria determined by the awarding party or parties.

List of Minority College Grants

• Gilbert Rios Memorial Award — $5000 awarded each year to 1 male and 1 female Puerto Rican/Latino undergraduate students.


• Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Minority Summer Grant — Unnamed grant awarded each year to 1 Hispanic or other minority heritage undergraduate student.


• Jose Marti Scholarship Challenge Grant Fund — $2000 awarded each year to 63 Hispanic-American students.


• Koniag Education Career Development Grant — 2 grants awarded each year to 1 Alaskan Native freshman for career development; amount determined by application.


• National Leadership Development Grants — $500 to $5000 awarded each year to minority member of United Methodist Church undergraduate students.


• Osage Higher Education Grant — $300 to $1200 awarded three times per year for varied number of Osage Indian descent undergraduate and graduate students.


• Sons of Italy National Leadership Grants Competition General Scholarships — $4000 to $25,000 for 10-13 Italian descent undergraduate and graduate students.

Paying for school is not easy, but we are here to help. OEDb's student finance section will help you find the money you need to pay your tuition and other college expenses. We cover scholarships, college grants, and student loans. Scholarships and grants are both forms of "free money", meaning they don't need to be paid back. Scholarships are typically awarded by businesses or individuals, with the money being earmarked specifically for tuition. They can be awarded based on a student's location or by religious affiliation, such as Catholicism or Islam. Grants are typically awarded by governments or non-profit organizations and the money often can be applied to several different expenses a student may incur, not solely tuition. They can be awarded based on location or ethnicity, for instance African American or Hispanic. Loans are not considered "free money", because unlike scholarships and grants, they do need to be paid back after graduation. Common federal loans include Perkins and Stafford. Loans are also available by location.