Creative scholarships are merit based awards that tend to reward talents rather than grades. So, if you like to express your creativity, they can be a useful way to pay for college.
Many creative scholarships are for fine arts students with gifts in the visual arts. Visual arts majors are photography or design based arts like painting, graphic design or animation.
But you do not have to be a visual arts student to apply for a creative scholarship. Your artistic interests may lie in music, creative writing, dance, theater or film. It may be a hobby for you rather than your college major.
Either way, applying for a creative scholarship may be quick and simple. In fact, all you might need to do is upload a portfolio, project, photo, short video or essay.
What Creative Scholarships Can Students Apply for?
High school and college students may find many creative scholarships to show off their imagination. These types of awards are really fun to get your creative juices flowing in order to help pay for college.
Dixie Belle Paint Company Scholarship wants to help students succeed and graduate. To do this they offer a new award called the Creativity Leads to Success Scholarship. It is open to all high school, college and grad students who are also US citizens.
To apply, you fill out a quick form and write a 500 word essay that answers the question, “How does individual creativity lead to success?” There will be three winners. One grand prize of $2,500 and two prizes of $1,250 each.
Each year Arts for Life! awards $1,000 creative scholarships to 25 graduating high school seniors in Florida. Winners show their excellence in creative writing, dance, drama, music or visual art. Launched by former First Lady Columba Bush in 1999, the program has awarded scholarships to more than 500 gifted high school seniors.
To apply, you must submit a completed application, a brief essay explaining “How the arts have positively influenced my life” and a portfolio of work in one of five areas. Creative writing, dance, drama, music or visual art.
How a Creativity Scholarship Helps Pay for College?
Scholarships could cover the high costs of pursuing a college degree. Tuition, fees, housing, and other expenses may be paid for by a creative scholarship. Also, scholarships are a better alternative to a student loan.
According to the NCES, the average student loan amount for undergraduates was $7,200 for one academic year. Within the last decade, college tuition has increased by 19% on average. Public institutions tuition and fees went up by 18% compared to private nonprofit schools increased by 15%.
Since college is getting more expensive every year, you should start applying for creative scholarships today! Many creative scholarships tend to be renewable so it may help pay for college until you graduate. That means you might not have to pay out of pocket or borrow more student loans!
List of Creative Scholarships
To help you in your search, here is a list of creative scholarships to apply for. Follow the application guidelines, be mindful of deadlines and let your originality and creativity shine through!
Project Yellow Light is a scholarship competition designed to bring about change. People know distracted driving is dangerous, but they do it anyway. As an applicant you have one clear mission: create a PSA to encourage your friends to avoid distracted driving, specifically using your phone while driving. Whether it’s sending a text, commenting on a photo, or messaging your friends in your favorite app, it’s never ok to message while driving.
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has established two $2500 Scholarships to assist in the professional development of horror writers:
The Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship,
and the Horror Writers Association Scholarship.
These rules also broadly apply to the other scholarships. Please click here for the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship information, click here for rules for the Dark Poetry Scholarship, click here for the Dennis Etchison Scholarship, click here for the Diversity Grants, click here for the Young Adults Write Now Endowments, and click here for The Scholarship From Hell.
The Scholarships are effectively two facets of the same award; applicants enter the same competition using the same application form. A sub-committee of the HWA Board chooses the scholarship winners from that pool of applicants. The Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship is available for those members who identify as women and the Horror Writers Association Scholarship is available for any member, regardless of gender.
The Doodle 4 Google competition is offered annually for students in grades K-12. To apply, one must submit a sketch or image including the Google logo in the context of this year’s theme. All doodles must be sent no later than the deadline. Click here to learn more and apply today!
WEAR & I is passionate about fashion and would like to help you pay part of your tuition fees or provide financial support in fashion! Both high school and college students can apply, and we aim to find candidates who have their own unique insights into fashion and outfits.
We have set up scholarships with a total amount of 3000 US dollars (1500, 1000, and 500 each). We will pay directly to your personal account.
Beauty, regardless of gender, race, body shape, or whether you are rich or poor, we hope you can share your fashion stories to impress every beauty lover??.
At CommandBar, we have always believed in the power of education and its role in shaping the future.
Our company traces its roots to the halls of an undergraduate computer science program, where our founders met. The seed for their first product (a computer science education tool codePost) came from a group project for a computer science course.
Today, our mission is to make the internet more efficient, user-friendly, and enjoyable, with a particular focus on harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance user experience. We know AI has the to change the way we engage with technology — from user onboarding, to universal search, to self-service — and everything else in the world.
In line with our commitment to education and innovation, we’re thrilled to announce the AI Innovators Undergraduate Scholarship for undergraduate students pursuing studies in the field of AI. We hope to encourage students to explore, innovate, and contribute to the field of AI.
Since 2015, millions in the world have been looking, feeling and doing good in BOBS from Skechers…to date, we’ve given more than $10 million to help save and care for 1.9 million shelter dogs and cats! A proud partner of Petco Love and their amazing network of 4,000 animal welfare organizations, Skechers makes a donation for every BOBS item we sell nationwide.
We’re looking for two college students who want to use their creative talents to give back to these animals in need! Imagine your dog or cat print on a BOBS from Skechers shoe sold in the United States that’s helping save the lives of shelter animals…it could be you!
“We are dedicated to providing financial assistance to deserving students who want to build successful, long-term careers in this exciting and rewarding hair care field.”
Innovations in hair care have the power to transform lives, boost confidence, and contribute to a better society. At Biotin Xtreme Hair Care, we believe in nurturing talent and supporting individuals who are passionate about the field of hair care. That’s why we are thrilled to offer an annual scholarship opportunity to one exceptional student.
The Imagine Cup Games Competition is a global contest for the best new student games and the winning team will take home $50,000 (US). Create a desktop or tablet game using Windows, or a mobile game using Windows Phone, or a browser game using Windows Azure and you could win big at the Imagine Cup World Finals in Seattle.
Many of our competitions are intended for teams, so you may also need to create a team to participate. If a competition requires a team, you’ll be able to pick your team right on the Submission page. If you don’t have a team yet, you can create one in just a few moments – you just need a team name and team country, and you’re ready to go.
This competition is intended for a team of experienced coders. As part of this competition, you’ll submit a complete piece of software, usable by our judges, as well as supporting documentation.
To be considered, you must be admitted to DePaul as a first year student and as a declared Art, Media and Design major by February 1. To apply, go to depaul.academicworks.com and login using your Campus Connect user ID and password. You will first need to fill out the “General Application” and then should upload a portfolio containing 10 digital files as follows: nine digital images (one for each of your artworks) and one digital file with your name and resume. All submissions are due by February 1.
Each digital image should be saved as a JPEG file (100 dpi and no larger than 7 x 5 inches) and include your name, the title of the work, medium, size (HxWxD) and year completed. For your resume, please include your name and contact information, schools attended, art exhibitions you’ve participated in, awards you’ve received and any other art-related activities. If you submit a video file, use QuickTime and title the file using the same guidelines outlined above. Submissions uploaded as a PowerPoint will not be accepted.
