To be eligible for the AFSA Scholarship Fund Program:

Students must be claimed as a dependent on the most recent IRS tax form by a U.S. government Foreign Service employee (active, retired with pension, deceased or separated) who has served or is serving at least a year with a foreign affairs agency as defined by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (Department of State, USAID, IBB, FCS, FAS or USIA). Children of the AFSA Scholarship Committee members are ineligible for AFSA awards or scholarships. For those high school students whose parents are not in the US Government Foreign Service, please view information on AFSA’s High School Essay Contest.

For an AFSA Financial Aid Scholarship, a student must:

• Attend or will be attending full-time (12 credit hours or more) as an undergraduate at a 2 or 4 year accredited college, university, community college, art school, or conservatory (stateside or overseas).
• Maintain a satisfactory academic record (cumulative 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale).
• Complete his/her undergraduate degree in four years.
• Demonstrate financial need.

For an AFSA Merit Award (Academic and/or Art), a student must:        

• Have at least one parent a member of AFSA or AAFSW.
• Be a high school senior (or in their last year of high school).
• Maintain a satisfactory academic record (2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale or C average).    

General Information

Applicants are required to reapply each year for AFSA Financial Aid Scholarships while AFSA Merit Awards (Art and Academic) are one-time only prizes. AFSA Financial Aid Scholarships are intended to supplement college aid and cannot reduce university scholarships or university grants. Award winners must write a thank-you letter to their scholarship donor or scholarship contact. Students may apply for all three AFSA scholarship programs, if eligibility requirements are met. Applications must be mailed, faxed or e-mailed in one complete package.  No piece-meal application pieces can be sent except where noted. AFSA cannot process any application that is incomplete, and it is the applicant's responsibility to see that all scholarship materials arrive at AFSA by February 6. Applicants are also responsible for updating AFSA on any address changes throughout the year.