Undergraduate HBCU Scholarships Guide

Grants for HBCU Degree Students

Federal grants for undergraduates come from the U.S. Department of Education, and you apply for them by filing the FAFSA. Grants from groups such as UNCF are private aid, not federal aid, so they appear with the scholarships below.

• Federal Pell Grant. For 2026–27, scheduled Pell awards range from $740 to $7,395. The amount you receive is adjusted for how much you enroll, so a part-time student receives less, and some eligible students can receive up to 150% of their scheduled award in an award year, according to the Department of Education's 2026–27 Pell letter linked above. Students with an SAI of $14,790 or more can't receive Pell, except under a Special Rule for eligible dependents of certain deceased servicemembers and public safety officers. Eligibility is set from the information you and your contributors give on the FAFSA, as the Federal Student Aid Pell eligibility guide explains.
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG). FSEOG is for undergraduates who have not already earned a bachelor's degree. It pays $100 to usually $4,000 a year, and colleges select Pell recipients with the lowest SAI first, according to the FSA Handbook chapter linked in the table above.
• State grants. For state aid, the Department of Education tells readers to contact the higher education agency in their state.

Federal grants generally don't have to be repaid. If you withdraw partway through a term, though, your school works out how much of your federal aid you earned, and you may have to return part of the unearned grant money, under the federal return-of-aid rule.

Can You Get a Full Ride to an HBCU? How Pell and Scholarships Stack

A "full ride" usually means grants and scholarships that cover your whole cost of attendance, as your college calculates it. It is often built from several pieces rather than one award.

1. Federal grants come first. Filing the FAFSA sets your eligibility for a Pell Grant (a scheduled award of up to $7,395 for 2026–27) and FSEOG.
2. Outside scholarships are added next. Awards from UNCF, TMCF and the associations in the list below pay toward the remaining cost. Many are one-time awards, so plan to reapply each year.
3. Watch the cost-of-attendance limit. Under a federal rule now in effect, a student can't receive a Pell Grant for an award year in which grants and scholarships from non-federal sources (states, colleges and private groups) equal or exceed the student's cost of attendance, according to the federal rule. Assistance that federal law specifically excludes doesn't count toward that total, and your financial aid office decides which of your awards count. In practice, if the non-federal grants and scholarships that count, including your college's own awards, would cover your full cost of attendance on their own, you can't receive Pell for that year.
4. Report every outside award. Tell your college's financial aid office about each scholarship you receive, and ask how it will adjust your package, so a new award doesn't cost you federal aid you were counting on.

Each college sets its own scholarships; see "Do HBCUs Give Their Own Scholarships?" in the FAQ below.

Scholarships for HBCU Students

The awards below come from the sponsors' own pages. Amounts, eligibility and deadlines are as each sponsor states them. Check the sponsor's page before you apply, since terms can change from one cycle to the next.

• UNCF scholarships (UNCF): UNCF runs many separate scholarship programs, and each one has its own eligibility criteria, application requirements and deadlines, according to UNCF's scholarships page linked in the table above. UNCF lists a filed FAFSA among its scholarship requirements.
• TMCF scholarships (Thurgood Marshall College Fund): For students at TMCF member schools and other eligible accredited colleges. TMCF says most of its awards are one-time and non-renewable.
• UNCF Emergency Student Aid retention grant (UNCF; linked in the table above): Up to $1,000 for students at UNCF member colleges who are at risk of leaving college because of a financial emergency, such as medical bills or car repairs. Students apply online and must show proof of financial hardship.
• NFBPA scholarships (National Forum for Black Public Administrators): $2,000 to $10,000 for minority students preparing for leadership roles in public service. Applicants must be full-time undergraduate or graduate students at an accredited four-year college. Students may apply for more than one NFBPA scholarship but can receive only one.
• Aspiring Writer Scholarship (Go On Girl!): $2,000 for a student entering the sophomore, junior or senior year at an HBCU in the U.S. with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or hold a valid student visa and submit a 5- to 10-page story or essay. The posted deadline is April 1.
• Black at Microsoft Scholarship (administered by Scholarship America): Up to 55 awards of $2,500 to $5,000 for high school seniors who will enroll full time at a four-year U.S. college the fall after graduation to study engineering, computer science, computer information systems, business administration, finance or marketing. Applicants need a 3.0 GPA, financial need, a passion for technology and leadership at school or in the community; Microsoft employees and their children are not eligible. The five $5,000 awards can be renewed for up to three years or until a bachelor's degree is earned, whichever comes first, for recipients who keep a 3.0 GPA, stay enrolled full time and remain in an eligible major; the 50 $2,500 awards are one-time. The program is listed as closed, so check the page for the next cycle.
• AKA EAF scholarships (Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation): One-time undergraduate awards for full-time students in their sophomore year or beyond at an accredited degree-granting institution. Merit awards require a 3.0 GPA and need-based awards a 2.5 GPA; both require community service and involvement and have a posted deadline of April 15. The Thrive award, capped at $1,000, is for students with a financial gap in tuition who need help to advance or graduate; it requires a 2.5 GPA and community service and involvement, with a posted deadline of March 1.

How to Apply for HBCU Scholarships

1. File the FAFSA first. It is free, it decides your Pell and FSEOG eligibility, and UNCF requires it for its scholarships. The 2027–28 FAFSA is now available, and the Department of Education recommends completing it online.
2. Check the UNCF and TMCF scholarships. If your college is a UNCF or TMCF member, look through each organization's open scholarships, described in the list above. Each UNCF program sets its own eligibility, application requirements and deadlines.
3. Add awards for your intended major. Field associations fund students in specific majors. If you plan to study business, psychology or social work, see our guides to business scholarships, psychology scholarships and BSW scholarships.
4. Ask each college about its own aid. The financial aid office at each HBCU you're considering can tell you which institutional scholarships it offers and how it combines them with Pell and outside awards.
5. Track deadlines and reapply. Several awards on this page close in the spring, and most TMCF awards are one-time, so keep a list of deadlines and apply again each year you are eligible.

Avoid Scholarship Scams

Some offers that look like scholarships are scams designed to collect fees or personal financial information. The Federal Trade Commission lists the warning signs in its guide to scholarship scams, and a school counselor or college financial aid office can help you check an offer for free.

6 Tips for Avoiding a Scholarship Scam

• Verify the organization offering the scholarship on its own website before you apply.
• Don't pay a fee to apply for, hold or receive a scholarship.
• Be wary of any award that is "guaranteed or your money back."
• Never give a bank account or credit card number to "hold" a scholarship or confirm your eligibility.
• Ignore notices that you are a "finalist" in a contest you never entered.
• Keep records of correspondence (emails, letters, phone calls) with anyone who asks for your personal information, in case of identity theft.