Scholarships

College Scholarships: 2020 Edition

Updated regularly, this list features must-apply-for scholarships in 2020.

Shawna Newman

December 10, 2020

College Scholarships: 2020 Edition
Start your year with this selection of college scholarships available in 2020.
Conquer your 2020 college scholarship search! This year, make a plan to apply for more college scholarships than ever before. We get it. Perhaps 2019 wasn’t your year become a scholarship recipient. Perhaps you’re unsure if 2020 will be any different. Perhaps you’re sick and tired of applying for scholarships. Or, maybe you’re assuming you’ll never win simply because you haven’t yet. But, you need college money and we won’t let you give up! Instead, apply more to increase the chances that a scholarship will be awarded to you. Scholarships come to students who apply early and apply often. It's simple: the more you apply, the more likely you are to win a scholarship. Let’s work together to make 2020 your year to win scholarships.
(Already have your sights set on 2021? Check out 2021 Scholarships you can apply for now.)

2020 College Scholarships

$2,222 No Essay ‘You Deserve It’ Scholarship

Deadline: 12/29/20 Available to: High School Freshmen through Graduate Students, Year 5
Award Amount: $2,222 The 'You Deserve It!' no-essay Scholarship from ScholarshipOwl awards $2,000 and takes only one minute to register. Without any further effort, you can apply to hundreds more scholarships automatically. Apply to scholarships without having to fill out repetitive application forms one application at a time. Why spend hours applying to one scholarship when you can apply to hundreds at the same time! On top of that, get automatically reapplied every time a scholarship renews. ScholarshipOwl is the only scholarship service helping you by automating the actual registration process for you. You can also get help from an account manager to help you with your applications, essays, and find more scholarships tailored for you. Don't wait, sign up now and be part of the future of scholarship applications today! Learn more about the $2,222 No Essay ‘You Deserve It’ Scholarship.

$1,000 Easy Scholarship: Share Your Tips on How to Manage Stress During the Holidays & COVID-19

Deadline: 12/31/20 Available to: High School Freshmen through Graduate Students, Year 5 Award Amount: $1,000 You could win an easy $1,000 scholarship by sharing anti-stress tips to support your friends and other students. Between COVID-19, the holidays, family, distance learning, and more, students are super stressed right now. Here’s how you can help: take 2 minutes and share your tips on how you manage stress. Your tips will be added to a crowdsourced guide on fighting student stress that’s by young people, for young people. You’ll make an impact on others’ mental and emotional well being, and you’ll be automatically entered to win a $1,000 scholarship. Let’s Do This. Learn more about the $1,000 Easy Scholarship: Share Your Tips on How to Manage Stress During the Holidays & COVID-19.

Course Hero December Sweepstakes

Deadline: 12/31/20 Available to: High School Freshmen through Graduate Students, Year 5 Award Amount: $4,000 Win $4,000 for college in 5 minutes. Just upload your best study docs to enter. Learn more about the Course Hero December Sweepstakes.

The Earnest Scholarship

Deadline: 12/31/20 Available to: High School Senior through College Seniors Award Amount: $5,000 At Earnest, we believe in helping people realize their hopes and dreams through further education. To help more students get to school, we created the Earnest Scholarship as a way to award 10 students who best articulate how their education will enable their dreams. Learn more about the The Earnest Scholarship.

ScholarshipPoints $1,000 Scholarship

Deadline: 12/31/20 Available to: High School Freshmen through Graduate Students, Year 5 Award Amount: $1,000 ScholarshipPoints will award a $1,000 scholarship to one lucky member this quarter. All you have to do to become eligible is become a ScholarshipPoints member and log in. It's simple, fun, and completely free! Learn more about the ScholarshipPoints $1,000 Scholarship.

December Refer-a-Friend Sweepstakes

Deadline: 12/31/20 Available to: High School Freshmen through Graduate Students, Year 5 Award Amount: 2 $500 scholarships The Fastweb Invite a Friend Sweepstakes is open to registered Fastweb members who are legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and who are at least sixteen (16) years of age. You must log into your Fastweb account to obtain your personal referral link. For each person who registers for Fastweb via your personal referral link during the Promotion Period, you and your referral will entered as a pair into the monthly drawing. Learn more about the Fastweb Refer-a-Friend Sweepstakes.

$2,000 Niche No Essay Scholarship

Deadline: 12/31/20 Available to: High School Freshmen through College Seniors Award Amount: $2,000 scholarships We know you are busy and we know that times are tough. That is why we decided to create the easiest possible scholarship to give something back to students. Students can use the money to help cover tuition, housing, meal plans, books, computers, or any education-related expenses. The scholarship is open to all high school and college students and those planning to enroll in the next 12 months. Learn more about the $2,000 Niche No Essay Scholarship.

$2,000 Scholarship – No Essay

Deadline: 12/31/20 Available to: High School Freshmen through College Seniors Award Amount: $2,000 scholarships Nitro College will award $2,000 each month to eligible entrants. No essay or account profiles required. Learn more about the $2,000 Scholarship – No Essay.

Free Speech Essay Contest

Deadline: 12/31/20
Available to: High School Freshmen through College Graduate Students, Year 5
Award Amount: $10,000 The Free Speech Essay Contest is open to high school juniors and seniors. To be considered, you must explain in a 700 - to 900 - word essay why free speech is so important to higher education, and why censorship undermines the ideals of liberal education and a free society using the prompt on the sponsor's website. Learn more about the Free Speech Essay Contest .

Paradigm Challenge

Deadline: 5/1/21
Available to: Students Maximum Age 18
Award Amount: $500 up to $100,000 The Paradigm Challenge is open to students up to the age of 18. You may work in a team or alone in creating an original and creative way to help solve real-life problems in homes, schools, communities, and/or around the world. Entries may come in the form of posters, videos, inventions, messages, community events, websites, mobile apps, or anything else that will help save lives. Additionally, you must submit a brief statement of your idea (140 characters or less) in order to qualify for this award. Learn more about the Paradigm Challenge.

Pulse of Perseverance Scholarship

Deadline: Varies
Available to: High School Freshmen through College Graduate Students, Year 5
Award Amount: Varies The Pulse of Perseverance Scholarship is available to high school and college students. To be considered, you must read the book, "Pulse of Perseverance: Three Black Doctors on Their Journey to Success" and submit a 250 - word essay focusing on how you are currently making a difference in your community and why you believe you have the #pulseofperseverance. You must also submit a 60 - second video on why you possess the #pulseofperseverance and what the scholarship will mean to you. Get more information on the Pulse of Perseverance Scholarship.

Young Women in Public Affairs Award

Deadline: Varies
Available to: Maximum Age 19 Years
Award Amount: $1,000 The Young Women In Public Affairs Award is available to female students who are between 16 and 19 years of age of April 1st of each year. You must reside in a Zonta district / region, or be a citizen of a Zonta country to be eligible for this award. You must also demonstrate superior leadership skills and a commitment to public service and civic causes. Learn more about the Young Women in Public Affairs Award.

College Partner Scholarship

Deadline: Varies
Available to: High School Seniors through College Graduate Students, Year 5
Award Amount: $5,000 The College Partner Scholarship is open to students who have been admitted to and decide to defer from one of our partner colleges in order to take a gap year. You must demonstrate academic merit in order to be considered for this award. Learn more about the College Partner Scholarship.

Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Award

Deadline: Varies
Available to: High School Seniors through College Freshmen
Award Amount: $1,000 The Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Award is open to graduating high school seniors whose works have received national recognition. You must submit a portfolio of eight distinct art or written works that exemplify originality, technical skill and personal voice in order to be considered for this award. Art portfolios must communicate a single cohesive idea or visual investigation and written portfolios must demonstrate versatility and diversity in writing technique and style. Learn more about the Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Award .

Multicultural Professional Development Grant

Deadline: Varies
Available to: College Freshmen through Graduate Students, Year 5
Award Amount: Varies The Multicultural Professional Development Grant is available to U.S. Citizen undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a college or university. You must be identified as member of the African-American, Latina/Latino, Native American, Asian-American, or Pacific Islander ethnic minority to be eligible for this award. Get more information on the Multicultural Professional Development Grant.

Western Undergraduate Exchange Program

Deadline:Varies
Available to: College Freshmen through Seniors
Award Amount: Varies The Western Undergraduate Exchange Program is open to students residing in states who wish to attend a participating school outside of their state of residence. Participating states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Although this award allows for a reduction in tuition, each institution retains its own requirements for admission. Get more information on the Western Undergraduate Exchange Program.

Optimist International Oratorical Contest

Deadline: Varies
Available to: Students, Maximum 19 years
Award Amount: $1,000 - $2,500 The Optimist International Oratorical Contest is open to students under the age of 19. To be considered for this award, you must prepare a 4 to 5 minute speech on the topic, "Is There a Fine Line Between Optimism and Reality?” to be presented at your local Optimist Club's contest. Learn more about the Optimist International Oratorical Contest .

Gamers Helping Gamers Scholarship

Deadline: Varies
Available to: College Freshmen through Graduates, Year 5
Award Amount: Varies
The Gamers Helping Gamers Scholarship is available to students with an interest in Magic: The Gathering. You must submit a personal statement that touches on your background in Magic, the role Magic has had in your life, why you would be a good recipient and your future academic and career goals. Your statement must also answer the following questions: "What is your favorite magic card or mechanic and why?", "What is your least favorite magic card or mechanic and why?" and "What lessons can we learn from Magic to help us solve real world problems?". Get details on applying for the Gamers Helping Gamers Scholarship.

Diversity Scholarship

Deadline:Varies
Available to: College Freshmen
Award Amount: $10,000 The Diversity Scholarship is available to entering students at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. You must demonstrate a commitment to diversity as it relates to your interest in psychology in order to qualify for this award. Priority is given to applicants who belong to ethnic, racial, religious, cultural, and sexual identity groups that have traditionally been underrepresented populations in the field of psychology. Learn more about the Diversity Scholarship.

Don't Stop There!

It’s important to note that applying for the above college scholarships available in 2020 is a great start to having a successful scholarship search. But, we want to make sure that you don’t forget to continue to check out your scholarship matches throughout the entire year for even more 2020 college scholarship opportunities you qualify for. The best way to do so is by filling out your Fastweb student profile thoroughly and updating it regularly. You can share as little or as much information as you want, but the more information you share, the better your scholarship matches will be. Remember, Fastweb brings you the opportunities all year long, but it’s up to you to follow through and apply for them! And if you're looking for internship opportunities for 2021, we've got you covered there, too. Check out our top Remote Internships for Students in 2021. Note: Be sure to keep checking back because we’ll keep updating this list with new and exciting 2020 scholarship opportunities all year long!

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Shawna Newman

Managing Editor, Contributing Writer

Shawna Newman is the Managing Editor and a writer at Fastweb. She has over 10 years of experience in higher education. Her direct work with college admissions teams, financial aid officers, college deans, ...

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