The Tom Brokaw Scholarship Fund commemorates NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw’s 55 years of service to NBC News. In 1966, Brokaw began his NBC career as the anchor of the late-evening newscast at KNBC in Los Angeles. An acclaimed political reporter, Brokaw was NBC News’ White House correspondent during the Watergate era and covered every presidential election from 1968 until his retirement from NBC in 2020. He anchored NBC News’ “Today” from 1976-1981, and served as sole anchor of “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw” from 1983 to 2004. Brokaw served as interim moderator of “Meet the Press” in 2008 and spent his final years at NBC News as a special correspondent.
The scholarship program, co-funded by NBC and Mr. Brokaw, has been designed to give something back to the men and women who have contributed so much time and energy to the success of the NBCU News Group (NBC News, NBCU Local, MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo Enterprises). The program benefits children of full-time employees who plan to pursue postsecondary education in college and vocational programs. Three one-year $5,000 scholarships are offered for full-time study at any accredited institution of the student’s choice.
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. Awards for this scholarship are granted to eligible recipients without regard to race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, marital status, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy or maternity, medical condition, physical or mental disability, or any trait or status that is protected by law (which may vary from country to country).
Applicants to the Tom Brokaw Scholarship Program must:
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OR
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Only children of NBCU News Group (NBC News, NBCU Local, MSNBC, CNBC, or Telemundo Enterprises) employees, or of NBC employees who spend the majority of their time working for NBCU News Group (NBC News, NBCU Local, MSNBC, CNBC, or Telemundo Enterprises) are eligible for this scholarship.
Scholarship finalists are selected on the basis of:
Financial need is not considered.
Selection of recipients is made by the NBC committee from the finalist pool. Recipients may receive an award one time only.
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $5,000 award. Up to three awards will be granted. Awards are not renewable.
Awards are for undergraduate and graduate study.
All applicants will be notified in March. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. Nonrecipients may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements.
Scholarship America processes Tom Brokaw scholarship payments on behalf of NBC News and Tom Brokaw. Payments are made in August.
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
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.
One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than January 20, 2025 3:00 pm Central Time.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.