Scholarships

icon of handing holding dollar signScholarships are financial aid that you do not need to repay after graduation. Most scholarships are merit-based and awarded according to your academic performance, community involvement, athletic ability or other achievements.

On this page:

Institutional Scholarships

UA Foundation Scholarships

  • Eligibility: first-year, current, transfer, returning, graduate
  • Residency Requirements: Alaska residents, nonresidents, international students
  • Amount: varies
  • Deadline: application period is October 1–February 15 each year

Apply for UA Foundation Scholarships

The UA Foundation awards $5M each year in scholarships to UA students. Applicants must complete the General Application through the UA Scholarship Portal by February 15.

Note: Incoming freshman students are not required to complete an application to be considered for UA Foundation freshman-only scholarships. This is optional application for incoming students.

Seawolf Persist

  • Eligibility: current students who received the Seawolf Persist scholarship the previous academic year or who received the Seawolf Start scholarship in Fall 2024
  • Residency Requirements: Alaska residents, nonresidents
  • Amount: $500–$1,000/semester
  • Renewable: yes
  • Max Amount: $7,000

Applicants must submit their FAFSA by July 15 and register for classes by semester deadlines as well as satisfy other Seawolf Persist eligibility requirements.

Review Seawolf Persist Eligibility Conditions

UA Scholars Award

  • Eligibility: Alaska high school graduates
  • Residency Requirements: Alaska residents
  • Amount: $1,875/semester
  • Renewable: yes
  • Max Amount: $15,000

For Alaska high school graduates in the top 10% of their class at the end of their junior year. Awardees must apply for admission to a UA campus by May 1 of their senior year in high school. Find out more about the UA Scholars Award.

Review UA Scholars Award Eligibility Conditions

National Merit Scholarship

  • Residency Requirements: Alaska residents, nonresidents
  • Amount: $1,000/semester, for up to eight semesters
  • Renewable: yes

Administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, applicants must take the PSAT/NMSQT in October of their junior year of high school. If notified that you are a National Merit Scholar and you'd like to attend UAA, submit a copy of your National Merit Letter to the UAA Honors College and contact the UAA Office of Financial Aid.

State Scholarships

Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS)

  • Eligibility: Alaska high school graduates
  • Residency Requirements: Alaska residents
  • Amount: $3,000–$7,000/year
  • Renewable: yes
  • Max Amount: $28,000

APS includes three scholarship levels with differing GPA or SAT/ACT/Workkeys test scores, and curriculum qualifications. Learn more about APS.

Review APS Eligibility Conditions

Register to attend info session about APS at UAA

Private Scholarships

While not an exhaustive list, following are Alaska-specific and national private scholarship sources to consider. Basic eligibility and details are listed; find more detailed and up-to-date information through provided links. The University of Alaska Anchorage does not post scholarship advertisements for entities/organizations not affiliated with the University of Alaska unless UAA has worked directly with them in the past.

Scholarship Search Services

The following scholarship search services have been used by UAA students in the past. Some are free while others may require a fee.

Tip: Some search engines sell email addresses for commercial purposes. To avoid an influx of spam email, consider setting up a dedicated email address when searching for private scholarships.

  • Alaska Career Information System aims to teach students the steps in the financial aid process and creates a personalized list of scholarships, grants, and loans for each student.
  • Appily is a free online college and scholarship resource for high school and college students. They maintain an extensive scholarship database to help students cover the costs of their tuition.
  • College Board locates scholarships, loans, internships, and other financial aid programs from non-college sources that match your education level, talents, and background.
  • Education Corner provides information on scholarships, grants and fellowships including current articles.
  • FASTWEB provides access to over 1.5 million scholarships. This free service allows you to scholarship match by targeted goals like strengths, skills, interests, religion, gender, etc. You can also search by scholarship deadlines.
  • Finaid Scholarships provides information regarding the Federal Financial Aid programs available on this site.
  • GoingMerry is a free scholarship and financial aid platform that uses personalized matching to thousands of scholarships and grants. You can fill out one application to apply for multiple awards.
  • Nursing Explorer is a searchable scholarship database specifically for nursing students.
  • Sallie Mae's Scholarship Search Tool provides access to an award database that contains more than 3 million scholarships worth over $16 billion, and is expanded and updated daily.
  • U.S. Department of Labor One-Stop is a one-stop scholarship, career exploration, training & jobs site. Any UAA scholarships listed when filtering by "Alaska" refer to our UA Foundation Scholarship Application open each year October 1–February 15.

Tips to Avoid Scholarship Scams

You may be solicited by mail, email, or phone by malicious entities claiming to be scholarship service companies. These entities are often attempting to gain access to personal information such as social security numbers or bank numbers. It has become increasingly more difficult to separate the legitimate offers from those that are seeking to mine valuable data from students. Following are Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice resources that can help you differentiate authentic scholarship service companies and phishing scams:

Remember:

  • You should never give out your personal information without verifying the security of the data.
  • You should never pay an entity offering any financial aid (including scholarships) even if funding is "promised." All applications from reputable entities will be free.

Visit Federal Student Aid's comprehensive resource on Avoiding Student Aid Scams and how to report when you suspect your information has been compromised.

Alaska Scholarships

Alaska Community Foundation Scholarship

  • Offers: A wide range of scholarship opportunities.
  • Eligibility: For Alaska students pursuing educational and career goals, from technology education to nursing.
  • Amount: Varies
  • Deadline: Varies
  • Find out more and apply: Alaska Community Foundation

Alaska Space Grant Program Scholarship 

  • Offers: A variety of scholarships and fellowships.
  • Eligibility: For students (U.S. citizens) majoring in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics).
  • Amount: Varies
  • Deadline: Varies
  • Find out more and apply: Alaska Space Grant Program 

The American Legion Department of Alaska Scholarships

Credit Union 1 - Bill Countryman Scholarship

  • Offers: Bill Countryman Scholarship Program
  • Eligibility: For qualified Alaskan applicants.
  • Amount: Varies
  • Deadline: Application period is January 1–April 1 each year.
  • Find out more and apply: Bill Countryman Scholarship

Mat-Su Health Foundation Scholarships

  • Offers: Academic scholarships to help defray the cost of higher education in health and human services degree programs and vocational scholarships help pay for training and certificate programs in health and human services.
  • Eligibility: For residents of the Mat-Su Borough interested in pursuing health and human services careers.
  • Amount: Varies
  • For deadlines, to find out more and apply: Mat-Su Health Foundation

P.E.O. Sisterhood - Philanthropic Educational Organization

  • Offers: P.E.O. Educational Loan Fund, P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund, P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education, P.E.O. Scholar Awards, P.E.O. STAR Scholarship, P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education
  • Eligibility: For women who are U.S. or Canadian citizens or legal permanent residents. See P.E.O. website for more eligibility requirements for each scholarship.
  • Amount: Varies
  • Deadline: Varies
  • Find out more and apply: PEO International Organization

Military and Veteran Scholarships

Veterans and their families are encouraged to check out UAA’s Military and Veteran Student Services’ External Military Scholarships for further scholarship opportunities.

U.S. Air Force ROTC

  • Offers: Scholarship programs
  • Eligibility: For those interested in becoming officers in the U.S. Air Force or Space Force while earning a college degree.
  • Find out more and apply: Air Force ROTC program at UAA

U.S. Army ROTC

  • Offers: Scholarship programs that cover tuition and fees and help with other expenses and books.
  • Eligibility: For those interested in becoming officers in the U.S. Army while earning a college degree.
  • Find out more and apply: Army ROTC program at UAA 

U.S. Coast Guard

  • Offers: College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) Scholarship Program
  • Eligibility: For motivated college juniors and seniors who demonstrate academic and leadership excellence and a desire to serve in the Coast Guard. To apply, you must be a sophomore or junior at a federally designated Minority Serving Institution (MSI).
  • Find out more and apply: College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (Scholarship Program)

National Scholarships

Foster Care to Success

  • Offers: Multiple scholarships with one application
  • Eligibility: For students under the age of 25 who are former foster youth.
  • Find out more and apply: Foster Care to Success. Also consider contacting the UAA Office of Youth Empowerment, an excellent resource for UAA’s former foster youth.

Look Twice, Save A Life Scholarship

  • Offers: Scholarships for student who best brings awareness to motorcycle safety.
  • Eligibility: For current college student or anyone planning on attending college (or another form of higher education). Must have valid driver’s license.
  • Deadline: December 1 
  • Find out more and apply: Insuranceproviders.com

National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Scholarship

Public Health Scholarships & Grants

  • Offers: Lists multiple scholarships and grants
  • Eligibility: For students pursuing a public health degree; specific eligibility varies.
  • Deadline: Varies
  • Find out more and apply: Public Health Online Scholarships & Grants

Learn about other financial aid options

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