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The application program will be available again in February. Please return then to view the updated Eligibility and Awards for the upcoming 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!

PIMCO Future Leaders Graduate Scholarship
Application status: Closed

PIMCO has established a scholarship program for graduate students pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree and/or a future career in the financial services industry.

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 PIMCO Future Leaders Graduate Scholarship must:

  • Meet one or more of the following criteria:
    • Self-identify as Black, African, or African American; American Indian or Alaska Native; Hispanic or Latino; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
    • Be a first-generation college student
    • Be Pell Grant eligible
    • Attend an accredited Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS)
  • Be a current United States (U.S.) Citizen or Permanent Resident
  • Have a minimum grade point average of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent
  • Be intending to apply, awaiting acceptance, accepted, or enrolled in a master’s program (and in good academic standing if currently enrolled) and graduating with a master’s degree between December 2025 – June 2026

    • OR

  • Be a currently enrolled doctoral student in good academic standing and graduating with a doctoral degree between December 2025 – June 2026
  • Plan to enroll in full-time graduate study at an accredited college in the United States (U.S.).
  • Demonstrate an interest in financial services by:
    • Pursuing a relevant degree, including but not limited to business management, finance, computer science, engineering, economics

      AND/OR

    • Pursuing a career in financial services or an adjacent industry (e.g.: financial technology)

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

Awards

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $30,000 award.

Awards are one-time only. Past recipients may not reapply.

Awards are for graduate study only.

Awards can be used for any education-related expenses. Awards will be made payable to recipients and may be considered taxable. Scholarship America will issue IRS 1099-Misc. forms to recipients.

Notification

All applicants will be notified in May.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of PIMCO. Payment is made in late July. Award checks are made payable to the student and mailed to the recipient’s home address.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • Academic performance
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Work experience
  • An essay statement (1,000 characters)
  • A video submission (3-5 minutes in length)

In addition, applicants will be required to upload a copy of their resume. Finalists’ resumes will be reviewed by the selection committee.

Financial need will not be considered.

Scholarship America will select finalists. After reviewing application materials and conducting applicant interviews, PIMCO will select recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

Provided there are qualified applicants, an effort will be made to select finalists who represent the diversity of the applicant pool.

Applicants should exhibit PIMCO’s CORE values of collaboration, openness, responsibility and excellence while demonstrating the potential to excel as a leader.

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

  1. 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.
  2. An essay response*
  3. A video submission** (3-5 minutes in length)
  4. Your master’s program acceptance letter, application, or intent to apply
  5. Your current resume

*Essay topic

What motivated you to pursue a graduate degree? How does this scholarship align with the impact you hope to have in the financial services industry?

**Video topics

Address the following prompts in a 3-5 minute video. You will be able to share the unlisted YouTube URL on the application.
1. Tell us about yourself and describe an experience, project or accomplishment that influenced you to consider a career in financial services?

2. Describe a time you had to face a situation with many unknowns. What did you do? What was the outcome? What did you learn?

3. What type of investments do you think will perform best over the next 3-5 years?

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

PIMCO has partnered with Scholarship America. Select the button below corresponding to your eligibility. You will be directed to the Scholarship America Student Hub where you can begin your application!

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.