The American Express Scholarship Program was established in 1987 and is currently funded by the American Express Foundation to encourage and recognize academic excellence and help American Express employees fund their children’s undergraduate college education. Scholarship awards may be used for undergraduate study at accredited colleges or universities in the U.S. and Canada.
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarship, tuition assistance, and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor, and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team. Awards for this scholarship are granted to eligible recipients without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin.
Applicants to the American Express Scholarship Program must be:
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of academic record, potential to succeed, leadership and participation in school and community activities, honors, work experience, a statement of goals and aspirations, unusual personal or family circumstances, and an online recommendation.
Once scholarship recipients are selected, financial need will be considered in determining the amount of each award. Potential recipients who demonstrate no need or who do not supply financial data will be eligible to receive a one-time honorarium of $750.
Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of American Express Company or American Express Foundation play a part in the selection. Applicants, recipients and schools are screened to comply with U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) requirements. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients or receive a one-time honorarium. All applicants agree to accept the decision of Scholarship America as final.
If selected as a recipient, a student demonstrating financial need will receive an award ranging from $2,000 to $4,000, and are renewable up to three years or until a bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first. Renewal is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance in full-time study and continuation of the program by American Express Foundation. Recipients who do not demonstrate need or do not supply financial data will receive a one-time honorarium of $750.
Awards are for undergraduate study only and are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin.
All applicants will be notified in early May.
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of American Express Foundation. Payments are made in equal installments in late August and December 15. Checks are mailed to each recipient’s home address and are made payable to the school.
All commitments are made by the American Express Foundation and are not dependent on continued parental employment at American Express Company.
American Express Foundation reserves the right to review the conditions and procedures of this scholarship program and to make changes at any time, including termination of the program.
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than February 9, 2022 4:00 pm CT.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
