Taco Bell’s Biggest Live Más Scholarship: $14.5 Million Available

For 10 years, Taco Bell has distributed scholarships to students pursuing a degree after high school. These scholarships have been awarded to employees and Taco Bell fans alike. In celebration of this milestone, Taco Bell has committed to giving away a record $14 million to students during the next application cycle! Fastweb members have found this opportunity in their scholarship matches, applied, and even won. These winners are part of the $64 million legacy that Taco Bell has invested in the next generation.

Taco Bell Live Más Scholarship

This year, Taco Bell will distribute awards ranging from $5,000 – $25,000 per recipient. Even better? The scholarships may be renewable for up to four years. Live Más Scholarships are divided into three categories: • Live Más Scholarship: This opportunity is open to anyone. Scholarships are awarded based on passion, social impact, personal presentation, and educational goals. • Live Más Scholarship for Restaurant Employees: This scholarship is awarded based on the above considerations; however, you must also be a Taco Bell employee to apply. • Live Más Scholarship Renewal: Finally, this award is open to all previous Live Más Scholarship winners. It allows them the chance to renew their scholarship for another year. These can be renewed up to four times. Roughly 60% of this year's applications were scholarship renewals.

Live Más Scholarship Eligibility

The Live Más Scholarship is open to students between the ages of 16 - 26. Applicants must also be a legal resident of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., or the legal dependent of an active-duty U.S. military member. Additionally, applicants must be enrolled or planning to enroll in an accredited post-secondary program. This can be a two- or four-year degree from a community college, college, vocational-technical, or trade school. The Live Más Scholarship for employees requires that applicants be employed at a Taco Bell restaurant. Finally, applicants for the Renewal Scholarship must be previous winners in addition to the above requirements.

How to Enter the Live Más Scholarship Program

Applying for the Live Más Scholarship is a quick and easy process. Applicants must submit a two-minute video that answers the following questions: • What is your passion, and how are you currently pursuing it or planning to pursue it?   • How do you plan to use your passion to make your community, country, and/or world, etc., a better place?   • What steps have you taken to create this change since being awarded a Live Más Scholarship?   • How has enrolling in post-secondary education helped to develop your passion and make the changes you want to see in the world?  Once the video is complete, applicants must submit it on the Taco Bell Foundation’s website along with their contact information. Set a reminder to apply for the Live Más Scholarship in late fall.

Live Más Scholarship Winners

This year, Taco Bell distributed an unprecedented 1,500 Live Más Scholarships. Here are just a few of their stories: One winner, Mariah C., is currently working to make a mark on a very male-dominated field. An aspiring architect, she has already earned architecture certifications and used her skills to support her community, including building a bench for a local hospital. Twins, Leslie D. and Ashley D., were also awarded scholarships because of the impact they have to their community and their drive to break down barriers. Leslie has turned her passion for golf to an opportunity to help others by founding a nonprofit, Birdie Club Golf Shop, which provides equipment and golf apparel to youth golfers to make the sport more accessible. Ashley, who has suffered from hearing loss since she was young, isn't letting her circumstances hold her back from what she loves to do: flying airplanes with Civil Air Patrol.

The Taco Bell Foundation

The Taco Bell Foundation sponsors the annual Live Más Scholarship, one of several initiatives to give back to the community. It also sponsors community grants and educational programming in and around cities and towns that are home to a Taco Bell restaurant. Funds are collected for the Live Más Scholarship, community grants, and educational programming through the Round Up Program. This campaign occurs at the checkout of each Taco Bell transaction, asking customers if they would like to round-up their payment to the nearest dollar to contribute to the foundation. The average donation is just 44 cents, but that is enough to award millions of dollars to students and communities around the country each year. If you are a Taco Bell customer, don’t forget to round up your purchases. It helps send world changers, like Siena and Matthew, to college.