Bank Scholarships

Your Bank May Be Giving Away Scholarships!

While you’re exploring all possible scholarship options, you should consult your personal lender to see what scholarships are given out by your local bank. Scholarships are a traditional means for banks to express gratitude for their communities’ business, and handing them out to personable students is always good publicity. The following information is by no means all-inclusive, because you’ll be able to find other bank-related financial aid, but it is a fair representation of what is currently available.

Commercial Banks

Bank of America

The Joe Martin Scholarship, supplied by Bank of America, goes to dependents of the company’s employees. Both undergraduate and vocational programs are acceptable. The award brings $2,500 each year and it may be renewable, depending on your grades, for your first four years in school.

In evaluating your application, the following factors will be considered: financial need, academic history, personal achievement, and contributions to your community. You may submit an application between December 1 and February 28 every year.

SunTrust

SunTrust has an interesting method of disbursing scholarships, letting students from certain states enter their names to win a $1,000 scholarship. To be eligible for the SunTrust Off To College Scholarship Sweepstakes, you must attend (or plan to attend, if you are a high school senior) a two- or four-year institution of higher education in the United States as an undergraduate.

Fifteen drawings take place over a half-year period, and you may register once for each drawing. Your state of residence must be one of these: Alabama. Georgia, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, or the District of Columbia. That short list includes all the criteria for this scholarship, which sets it apart.

Citigroup

Citigroup does not provide scholarships directly to students, but funds scholarships handed out by other organizations. For example, Citigroup donates to the Point Foundation, which provides scholarship aid to LGBTQ students, aiming to provide the last piece of financial aid needed to complete a college student’s financing plan. Citigroup also gives generously to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, making awards like the HSF General College Scholarship possible.

U.S. Bank

It is recommended that you check with U.S. Bank to determine the current status of the U.S. Bank Internet Scholarship Program, the last activity of which was recorded during the 2011-2012 school year. According to the very brief announcement, both high school seniors and undergraduates already in school were eligible to apply in that year, and about forty scholarships were distributed.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo also offers scholarships by drawing through its CollegeSTEPS Sweepstakes, which requires entrants to sign up to receive marketing information from the company. You can find the basic enrollment form on the right-hand side of the page, and after you sign up for the advertising and the contest you will remain in the pool of potential winners.

You can be a full- or part-time student, you must be in high school or in an accredited post-secondary education program, and you must be at least 13 years old to enter. Wells Fargo gives each winner a scholarship for $1,000.

Government Banks

Federal Reserve

Six of the banks that belong to the Federal Reserve system host regional preliminaries for a national contest called the Fed Challenge, in which teams of students present analyses of the economy and the finance markets together with recommendations for monetary policy. Those deliberations are, of course, part of the Fed’s function, modeled after the meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee, and the goal of the contest is to encourage the type of advanced economic studies that will produce future financial leaders.

The regional teams are college-based, including schools like Bentley University (Massachusetts), American University (Washington, DC), and Lafayette College (Pennsylvania). The winning team members receive scholarships, and you will need to sign up through your school. Here is an example of the type of Fed Challenge page you will find on websites belonging to participating schools.

World Bank

The World Bank sponsors research fellowships for advanced students in its member nations by way of the Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program. The fellowships pay for a brief period (between five and 10 months) of residence at a research institution in another country, in order to work on your doctoral thesis.

You must be under 45 years of age to apply, and since the World Bank was established to facilitate international economic development, your subject matter must relate to that field. Examples of possible choices include natural resource management, economics, and public health. You will submit a budget with your application, and the most you can obtain is $25,000.

Scholarships From Banking Professionals

South Dakota Bankers Association

The South Dakota Bankers Association (SDBA) underwrites 11 scholarships of $1,000 each for students attending South Dakota schools. Four of the scholarships are named (after Herman Lerdal, Joyce Hazeltine, David S. Birkeland, and Alan B. Graff), and those go to college juniors who are interested in banking, finance, or business.

There are seven other SDBA scholarships reserved for certain groups of students at specific schools, such as Dakota State University (for a graduate student in information assurance), Black Hills State University (for a junior majoring in economics and finance), and Northern State University (for a junior or senior in banking and financial services).