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The application program will be available again in January. Please return then to view the updated Eligibility and Awards for the 2024 academic year! If you are an applicant who would like to discover more scholarship opportunities you might qualify for, please continue to the Scholarship America Hub and sign up!

Microsoft HOLA Scholarship Program
Application status: Closed

The Seattle Foundation and Microsoft Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) have established a scholarship program to assist current high school seniors who self-identify as Hispanic/Latino decent and plan to continue their education in college or vocational school programs.

The 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.

Applicants to the HOLA at Microsoft Scholarship Program must:

  • Be a U.S. based, high school senior of Hispanic and Latinx descent (for example, Mexican American, Cuban American, Brazilian, etc) of an accredited organization.
  • Be a U.S. citizen, permanent legal resident or be an individual granted deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA).
  • Plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study in Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, or one of the following Business programs- Business Administration, Finance or Marketing at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational school, in the United States, for the entire upcoming academic year.
  • Have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent.

Employees and children of employees of Microsoft are ineligible.

Awards

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $5,000 (renewable) or $2,500 (single-time) award. Up to 13 awards will be granted as follows:

  • Three (3) recipients will receive a renewable award.*
  • Ten (10) recipients will receive a one-time award. Past recipients may not reapply.

*The renewable awards are renewable up to three years or until a bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first, on the basis of satisfactory academic performance maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, full-time enrollment, and continued enrollment in the eligible major.

Awards are for undergraduate study only.

Notification

All applicants will be notified in June.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of The Seattle Foundation. Payment is made in early August. Payments are made payable to the school and mailed to the school.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • Academic record
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Work experience
  • A statement describing how you plan to engage in the technology industry (1500 characters)*
  • Unusual personal or family circumstances**
  • An online recommendation

Financial need will be considered. Financial need will be weighted as 25% of the evaluation and recipients must demonstrate need.

Selection of finalists is made by Scholarship America. Microsoft will select recipients. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

*Essay Topic: Please describe your future plans to either pursue a career and / or engage in the technology industry and explain how you are currently working towards achieving those goals. Also, if you have any notable achievements or experiences using technology during high school, please describe them too. Your response should be clear and concise and should demonstrate your passion for and commitment to the field of technology / STEM.

**Describe any significant and or unusual family, personal, or financial challenges you have faced and how they impacted your academic and personal growth, including school achievement, work experience, or participation in activities. Provide specific examples to illustrate how you have persevered and overcome these challenges.

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 and credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.

NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately.

One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than March 18, 2024 3:00 pm Central Time.

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

The Seattle Foundation 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.