The New York Life Foundation established the New York Life Family Scholars Program to assist the children of employees and agents who plan to attend college or vocational/technical school programs. Renewable scholarships are offered for full-time study at an accredited institution of the student’s choice.
The New York Life Family Scholars Program offers two separate scholarship opportunities: one independently administered by Scholarship America® and another independently administered by National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
This page provides information on the New York Life Family Scholars Program independently administered by Scholarship America. For information on the National Merit Scholarship, visit your high school counseling office and obtain a copy of the PSAT/NMSQT student bulletin. Students may apply for both National Merit and Scholarship America awards, but will only be granted one award. No student who has been awarded the National Merit Scholarship will be eligible for the New York Life Family Scholars Program from Scholarship America in the future.
To begin your application, click on the “Apply Now” button below.
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. Awards are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability, gender identity, or national origin.
Applicants to the New York Life Family Scholars Program must be:
AND
Students who plan to enroll in schools for religious preparation and training or who are college undergraduate New York Life National Merit recipients are not eligible. Previous New York Family Scholars Program Honorarium recipients are also ineligible unless their financial situation has changed.
*Dependent children are defined as natural and legally adopted children or stepchildren living in the employee’s household or primarily supported by the employee or agent. (Any unusual circumstances regarding dependency status of the child should be submitted in writing to Scholarship America for consideration.)
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:
Financial need will be considered in determining the amount of each award. The program will be administered in full compliance with IRS Revenue Procedure 76-47. No more than 25% of eligible applicants may receive awards.
Awards ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 will be given. Students who do not demonstrate financial need (or who do not provide financial information) may be awarded a one-time honorarium of $1,000. Students who demonstrate financial need may be awarded $2,000-$4,000.
Awards of $2,000 or greater are renewable up to three years or until a bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first, on the basis of satisfactory academic performance in a full-time undergraduate nonreligious course of study for the entire academic year.
Honorariums are not renewable; however, students who receive an honorarium may reapply to the program if their financial situation changes and they demonstrate need, provided they continue to meet the eligibility requirements.
Students may receive a New York Life National Merit award or a New York Life Family Scholars Award but are not eligible to receive both awards. (Students will notify New York Life Foundation which award they choose to accept no later than two weeks after receipt of both scholarship offers).
Awards are for undergraduate study only.
Applicants will be notified by Scholarship America in late March whether or not they have been selected to receive an award. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of the New York Life Foundation. Awards are paid in one installment in mid-August. Checks are mailed to the recipient’s home address and are made payable to the school for the student.
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
