Ancestry’s HistoryMakers Scholarship

The application program will be live on or after August 11, 2025. Please return then and navigate to the Scholarship America Hub to register your account and begin your application process!

Live application window: August 11, 2025 through October 23, 2025 3:00 pm CT

Ready to make history?

At Ancestry, we are committed to enhancing education and empowering the next generation of history makers. This is why we’re proud to sponsor the 2025 HistoryMakers Scholarship Fund, designed to support current undergraduate and graduate students who will be enrolled full-time from the Fall 2025 semester through the Spring 2026 semester at universities participating in the HistoryMakers Tour.

By empowering the leaders of tomorrow, we’re boldly doing our part to help enable young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Let’s make history together.

This program is administered by Scholarship America^®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships 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.

Eligibility

Awards

Required Materials

Applicants to the Ancestry’s HistoryMakers Scholarship Program must:

Be a high school senior/high school graduate (entering undergraduate study Fall 2025), current college undergraduate or graduate student
Be enrolled in full-time undergraduate or graduate study at one of the following United States (U.S.) or United Kingdom (U.K.) universities from Fall 2025 semester through Spring 2026 semester:
- United States Universities
  - Bowie State University (U.S.)
  - California State University, Sacramento (U.S.)
  - Florida International University (U.S.)
  - Tennessee State University (U.S.)
- United Kingdom Universities
  - Queen Mary University (U.K.)
  - University of Westminster (U.K.)
  - City, University of London (U.K.)
  - University of Greenwich (U.K.)
Have a minimum grade point average of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale, or its equivalent

Preference will be given to students pursuing a degree in one of the following fields: Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, Life Sciences, Marketing, Finance, Business Economics, Business Management, Cybersecurity, or User Experience.

Ancestry employees and their immediate family members (spouses, children, and grandchildren) are ineligible.

Awards

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $2,500 award. Up to ten (10) awards will be granted.

Provided there are qualified applicants, recipients will be selected as follows:

United States Universities
- Bowie State University – 2 awards of $2,500 each will be granted
- Florida International University – 2 awards of $2,500 each will be granted
- Tennessee State University – 1 award of $2,500 will be granted
- California State University, Sacramento – 1 award of $2,500 will be granted
United Kingdom Universities
- Queen Mary University – 1 award of $2,500 will be granted
- University of Westminster – 1 award of $2,500 will be granted
- City, University of London – 1 award of $2,500 will be granted
- University of Greenwich – 1 award of $2,500 will be granted

If any school does not receive enough qualified applications to grant all the awards, those awards may be granted to another eligible school.

Award amounts are listed in U.S. dollars (USD) and award payments will be issued in USD. Recipients may choose to receive award payments in their local currency when available.

Awards are not renewable, but students may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements.

Awards are for undergraduate and graduate study.

Recipients may be offered internships during pursuit of their degree and/or career opportunities with Ancestry upon graduation.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

Academic performance
Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
Work experience
Unusual personal or family circumstances
1,000-character essay, answering: What does being a ‘history maker’ mean to you and how will your education play a role in the history you create?

Financial need will not be considered.

Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of Ancestry play a part in the selection.

Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

Notification

All applicants will be notified in December.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of Ancestry. Payment is made by January 2026.

As part of your application, you must upload the following:

A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
- Student name
- School name
- Grades
- Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.

Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.

Ancestry has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you to the Scholarship America Student Hub!

Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address provided below in the footer as safe senders in your email contact list.