Almost all scholarships available to Native American students only require a certain percentage of their heritage to be from a federally recognized tribe in order to qualify.
The American Indian College Fund provides scholarships to students attending both tribal and mainstream colleges. To qualify, the student must demonstrate tribal enrollment verification or proof of descent. One parent must typically be a member of a federally recognized tribe but multiracial students are potential applicants.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs also offers scholarships to students who are at least one-quarter Indian. The amount available ranges from $500 to $4,000 per year. You can go to The American Indian College Fund at www.collegefund.org, or Bureau of Indian Affairs at www.bia.gov
Many colleges will offer further scholarships upon acceptance to students with a minority or multi-racial background. It is worth speaking with the financial aid department to find out if a student qualifies for additional grants.
Unlike many scholarships for Native American students, many racially-based scholarships determine eligibility based on self-identification. If a student is biracial but considers himself to belong to one minority over another, feel free to call the school in question to find out if there are any stricter requirements for eligibility.
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities offers scholarships for a variety of students. Providing that applicants meet individual scholarship requirements, hispanic descent is not necessary.
HACU
8415 Datapoint Drive, Suite 400
San Antonio, TX 78229
210-692-3805
[email protected]
www.hacu.net
Many schools offer grants and scholarships to students from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds. This can range from scholarships based entirely on ethnicity to those seeking students committed to diversity.
Scholarships and grants are available to students who come from mixed ethnic backgrounds as well as racial ones, giving biracial students another chance for help in funding their education. Ohio University offers a scholarship for both multicultural students and those from "disproportionately represented groups."
It is often easiest for people to find increased scholarship opportunities at larger schools or state universities which tend to have more grants available.