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The program is currently closed. Please check back in March for program information for the 2025 academic year. Please return then to view the updated Eligibility and Awards for the upcoming academic year!

Interested in learning about additional scholarship opportunities? Visit the Scholarship America Hub to match with available scholarships.

#RAREis Scholarship Fund
Application status: Closed

The EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases has established the #RAREis Scholarship Fund to help adults with rare diseases in a variety of educational pursuits, regardless of treatment status. Thanks to the support of Amgen, one-time awards of $5,000 each will be granted up to 104 recipients for the Fall 2025 semester.

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.

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Applicants to the #RAREis Scholarship Fund must be:

  • U.S. residents who have been diagnosed* by a physician as having any form of rare disease regardless of treatment status. Applicants will be asked to provide a Diagnosis Verification Form provided by a physician verifying diagnosis.
  • Currently enrolled or planning to enroll full-time or part-time** in undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical/trade school for the Fall 2025 semester.
  • 17 years old or older (no upper age limit, veterans and non-traditional students are encouraged.)

*Undiagnosed applicants may apply with completed Diagnosis Verification Form by a physician.
**There is no minimum amount of credit hours to be part-time (example, one class is considered part time).

Awards
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $5,000 award. Up to (104) awards will be granted. Awards are not renewable, but students may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements. Recipients can receive the award no more than four times.

Awards are for accredited courses; including vocational-technical/trade school, undergraduate, graduate study and single classes verified under an accredited program.

Selection of Recipients
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • An Essay*
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Work experience
  • Academic performance

*Essay topic: Reflecting on your own journey or what you’ve observed in others, what do you believe is the most overlooked challenge in the rare disease community, and how do you think it could be addressed?

Financial need will be considered.

Notification
Applicants will be notified in June. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. Students may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements.

Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of THE EVERYLIFE FOUNDATION FOR RARE DISEASES. Payments are made payable to the institution in one installment in August and sent directly to the individual.

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

  1. Your most recent transcript of grades (high school, GED, college, etc.) Grade reports are not accepted. Unofficial or online transcripts must display:
    • Student name
    • School name
    • Grades
    • Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
  2. A Diagnosis Verification Form | Spanish Diagnosis Verification Form must be completed by a physician and uploaded to your application. No exceptions.

    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. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.

Your application is not complete unless all required documents are submitted electronically. If you have any issues acquiring old transcripts, please contact support at rareis@scholarshipamerica.org.

THE EVERYLIFE FOUNDATION FOR RARE DISEASES has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you the Scholarship America Student Hub to start the application process today!

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.