Top Scholarships for Girl Scouts
Brian Geiger is a co-founder of Scholarships360. He previously worked on the growth team of a hypergrowth startup and in investment banking. Through a combination of private grants, outside scholarships, and income from freelance writing, Brian earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University with $0 in student debt.Being a member of the Girl Scouts comes with a wide array of advantages, but one that most people don’t know about is the scholarship opportunities. In addition to being a valuable asset for college and scholarship applications, Girl Scout credentials may qualify you for scholarships. Let’s go over all the ways in which Girl Scouts can earn scholarships through their participation in the organization.
The first way is through scholarships that are offered to Girl Scouts across the nation. The second way is through regional Girl Scout scholarships. Many local chapters offer scholarships to their members. Our third category is scholarships offered by specific colleges. Finally, Girl Scouts can earn scholarships by leveraging their extracurricular activity on scholarship applications.
Now, we’ll get into each one of these routes to scholarships and show you exactly how Girl Scouts can earn scholarship money.
Also read: Free summer programs for high school students
National scholarships
Most Girl Scout scholarships are offered on a local level, but there are a few nationwide ones worth applying for. Some even offer very high awards. Here are our top four picks for nationwide Girl Scout Scholarships:
National Eagle Scout scholarships
- Eligibility: Eagle Scouts who are in any school year between their senior year of high school and their junior year of college
- Amount: Up to $48,000
- Deadline: February 2022
Veterans of Foreign Wars Scout of the Year Scholarship
- Eligibility: Currently registered Girl Scouts who are recipients of the Gold Award
- Amount: Up to $5,000
- Deadline: March 1, 2022
Elks National Foundation Scholarships
- Eligibility: Girl Scout Gold Award winners who are high school seniors
- Amount: $6,000
- Deadline: May 1, 2022
Corinne Jeannine Schillings Foundation Scholarship
- Eligibility: Girl Scout Gold or Silver Award winners pursuing a college major or minor in foreign language
- Amount: $1,500 per year, or a stipend for a flight to study abroad
- Deadline: May 13, 2022
Local scholarships
Scholarships through the Scouts
In addition to national scholarships, many local Girl Scout chapters offer scholarships. For example, the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital offers a $1,000 scholarship to Gold Award recipients. To find scholarships offered by your chapter, try visiting your Girl Scout chapter’s website.
You can also talk to your Scout Leaders to find out about any opportunities that might not be posted on the site. For example, some scholarships may be available on a state-wide basis while others are only on a regional basis.
Other scholarships
In addition, many local organizations offer scholarships to Girl Scouts in the region. For example, the Indiana Women’s Education Foundation offers a $1,000 scholarship every year to an Indiana Girl Scout high school senior. The National Girl Scouts website contains a database that includes a host of local scholarships offered by external organizations. This is a great place to start if you are looking for local Girl Scout scholarships.
Also read: How to win local scholarships
Girl Scout scholarships at specific colleges
Girl Scout scholarships are also available on a college-by-college basis. Many of these opportunities can be very lucrative; Millsaps College offers a $15,000-per-year scholarship to admitted Gold Award-winning Girl Scouts. But they are only one college on a list of over 50 that give scholarships to Girl Scouts.
This list on the National Girl Scouts website contains all of these schools and allows you to filter results by state. If you are on the college search and want to find a school that will give you aid for your work in the Scouts, it is the perfect tool. And if you are currently in college and wondering if your school has Girl Scout scholarships, it can also be very useful. You can also try checking with your financial aid office or college’s website.
Using your Girl Scouts experience to win other scholarships
Girl Scouts are at a great advantage when it comes time to apply for scholarships. The Girl Scouts organization emphasizes many of the traits which are most commonly sought in scholarships. Girl Scouts demonstrate leadership and are able to apply their lessons to real-life situations.
If a scholarship asks you to speak about your involvement in your community, your teamwork abilities, or the hobbies you are passionate about, Girl Scouts is a perfect anecdote. It’s an activity that emphasizes responsibility, working as a team, and many other characteristics that are perfect for scholarships.
Students who have remained involved in the Girl Scout organization by the end of high school have shown caring for their community by fostering new generations of scouts. You can use anecdotes from camping trips, from lessons you learned as a child, and lessons you’ve taught newer scouts. If you need any help applying your Girl Scout experience to applications, we’ve got you.
Check out our guides on how to write about yourself and how to write a winning scholarship essay. We can also help you adjust to the length of your given prompt. Whether it’s a 500 or 250 word essay, we’ve got you covered. And if you’re using your Girl Scouts experience for admissions, check out our guide on how to add activities to the Common App.
Next steps for Girl Scouts looking for scholarships
- Apply to the nationwide scholarships for Girl Scouts! These are great opportunities that could help you to pay for college
- Check on your local chapter’s website and ask the leaders of the chapter for local opportunities. Remember, some may be offered by your chapter, but others may be by other organizations.
- Check to see if any colleges on your list offer Girl Scout scholarships. This tool on the National Girl Scouts website will help you figure out what schools are offering Girl Scout scholarships
- Start brainstorming how you can talk about your Girl Scouts experience to win other scholarships. Try talking with other people in your troop to remember the best anecdotes from your time in the Scouts. These anecdotes could help you win scholarship bucks!
- Good luck! As you continue your scholarship search, make sure to try our Scholarship Search Tool. Once you input your interests and information, it will generate custom scholarship matches for you.
