Things That Matter

Latinos Need To Keep These 18 Scholarships In Mind When Applying To College And Grad School

By February 7, 2019 at 12:49 pm

You’ve probably heard about all of the rich and famous people facing serious legal consequences for bribing college officials to get their kids into top colleges. While most of us don’t have it like that, we need to fight even harder to take the spots we deserve in those universities. As you apply for colleges, don’t forget about these important scholarships to help you outdo anyone who paid for their place in college.

According to the Pew Research Center, there are fewer and fewer Latino students are going to college. In fact, despite how rapidly the Latino community is growing in the U.S., a widening education gap lands us at half as likely to hold a college degree as non-Latino white adults according to The Education Trust. Why?

Hechinger reports that immigration is the likely factor that’s limiting Latinos.

CREDIT: @scholdotcom / Twitter

While U.S.-born Latinos are on par with non-Latino black Americans’ college attainment (about 30 percent), that drops to just 17 percent when we look at Latino adults born abroad. That gap is likely explained by documentation, which prevents students from qualifying for in-state tuition.

Here are a few scholarships that can make higher education more possible for Latinos.

1. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund

CREDIT: @hsfphotos / Twitter

You don’t have to be a high school student to apply. This scholarship is for graduate students as well, with a focus on STEM majors.

GPA Requirement: 3.0 (high school) and 2.5 (college)

Award: This merit-based scholarship ranges from $500 to $5,000 based on relative need.

2. ¡Adelante! Fund

CREDIT: @smcadelanteclub / Instagram

If you go to scholarships.com, you’ll find a variety of ¡Adelante! scholarships with a range of eligibility requirements. Some require attendance to Leadership Institutes, banquets and all require community service commitments.

GPA Requirement: 2.75

Award: $1,000-$3,000

3. Ann Seki Memorial Scholarship

CREDIT: @coneval_mx / Twitter

With Chevron as a sponsor, you can expect a big chunk of change. Named after the original member of its Hispanic recruiting team, Ann Seki, who worked for three decades to hire Latinxs and diverse employees, this is for you if you’re into almost any kind of engineering.

GPA Requirement: 3.3

Award: $500 to $10,000

4. Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Scholarships

CREDIT: @cxm1k / Twitter

The SHPE offers nine different scholarship opportunities for a variety of differently-aged students with an obvious focus in engineering.

GPA Requirement: 2.75

Award: $2,000-$5,000.

5. Anhelo Project Dream Scholarship Application

CREDIT: @bgcgreatersandiego / Instagram

The Anhelo Project is for Illinois students who are undocumented and don’t have to be registered under DACA. Since 2011, they’ve awarded over $100,000 to more than 50 recipients.

GPA Requirement: 2.50

6. AMS Minority Scholarships

CREDIT: @REMEZCLA / Twitter

This scholarship is for every underrepresented minority, with a specific interest in “atmospheric or related oceanic and hydrologic sciences.”

GPA Requirement: NONE

Award: $6,000 in two installments

7. The Randy Falco Scholarship

CREDIT: @TheEmmys / Twitter

Yep, this comes from the actual Academy, and this scholarship is meant for Latinos pursuing careers in journalism or television only.

Award: $10,000

8. ACS Scholars Program

CREDIT: @LULFOUNDATION / Twitter

This FAFSA-based scholarship is for any graduating high school senior or college student with a major in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, chemical technology, or another chemistry-related science.

GPA Requirement: 3.0

Award: $2,500-$5,000 depending on college grade level.

9. La Unidad Latina DREAM Scholarship

CREDIT: @LULFOUNDATION / Twitter

This scholarship es solamente por los Dreamers. That means you must be registered under DACA, and have already completed one year of undergrad.

GPA Requirement: 2.8

Grant: $500 to $3,000

10. Puerto Rican Relief Scholarship

CREDIT: @LULFoundation / Twitter

The LUL Foundation has also created a scholarship for those Boricuas enrolled on the island. It should help those who have been displaced or affected by Hurricane Maria.

Check out www.lulf.org for more info.

11. Haz La U Program

CREDIT: Untitled. Digital Image. Colgate Palm Olive. 21 January 2019.

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation partnered with monopoly Colgate-Palmolive to offer 31 scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 for Hispanic youth.

GPA Requirement: 3.0

12. National Association of Hispanic Journalists

CREDIT: officialnahj / Instagram

NAHJ describes its scholarship opportunities as “open to college-bound high school seniors, college undergraduates, and graduate students pursuing careers in English or Spanish-language print, broadcast, digital, or photojournalism.”

GPA Requirement:

Award: $1,500 to $5,000

13. Liberty Power Bright Horizons Scholarship

CREDIT: Untitled. Digital Image. Liberty Power Corp. 21 January 2019.

Did you know that Liberty Power is Latino-owned? That’s why it’s offering major scholarships to any student majoring in STEM programs, who are interested in energy and the environment.

GPA Requirement:

Awards: $4,000 to $10,000

14. Actuarial Diversity Scholarship

CREDIT: @ebalexan / Twitter

This scholarship isn’t just for Black, Latino, Pacific Islander and Indigenous Peoples’ who are into books. They want to become actuaries, one of the highest paying accounting professions.

GPA Requirement: 3.0

Award: $1,000-$4,000

15. NBC Universal/LNESC Scholarship

CREDIT: @NBC / Instagram

If you’re already a sophomore or junior college student with an interest in media and entertainment, then you might be eligible!

GPA Requirement: 3.0

Award: $5,000 for ten winners

16. The Carlos M. Casteñeda Journalism Scholarship

CREDIT: @alocuba / Instagram

This scholarship is for Spanish-speaking college graduates looking to get a Masters in journalism. We need you to apply and get out there.

GPA Requirement: 3.0

Award: $7,000

17. CUNY Becas Scholarship Program

CREDIT: @ieltscoach911 / Twitter

The City University of New York Jaime Lucero Mexican Studies Institute offers scholarships to its students who are registered DACA recipients. You have to be committed to serving the Mexican community. Facil, no?

GPA Requirement: NONE

Award: $6,730

18. MALDEF Law School Scholarship Program

CREDIT: @meformagrupo / Instagram

If you’re here for the long civil rights overhaul for Latino-Americans, keep your eyes on this prize. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is offering 15 awards of $5,000 to Latinos in law school who are committed to advancing Latino civil rights as a career.

Plus, so many more!

CREDIT: @van_hyundai / Twitter

It’s easy to find the dozens of scholarships that are geared towards Latinos an other minorities, and every step you take toward closing the education gap for Latinos can only help other Latinos (namely, you to start with). Have you benefitted from one of these scholarships? Share this article and encourage your friends to dream big!


READ: College Is An Incredible Experience If You Do It Right. Here Are 21 Tips To Make The Most Of It

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Rep. Ruben Gallego Broke Down Jared Kushner’s White Privilege In A Twitter Thread About Their Paths To Harvard

Things That Matter

Rep. Ruben Gallego Broke Down Jared Kushner’s White Privilege In A Twitter Thread About Their Paths To Harvard

By October 28, 2020 at 9:51 am
BY  | October 28, 2020 AT 9:51 am
Greg Nash / Pool / AFP via Getty Images

Jared Kushner recently made headlines for saying that Black Americans have to “want to be successful.” Kushner continued in the Fox & Friends interview saying that Trump policies are trying to help them with issues that “they’re complaining about.” Congressman Ruben Gallego of Arizona took to Twitter to call out Kushner and his easy, money-paved path in life after the interview aired.

Rep. Ruben Gallego has a few words about Jared Kushner’s claim that Black Americans don’t “want to be successful.”

Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s husband, was being interviewed by Fox & Friends when he suggested that Black Americans don’t want to successful. He added that the Trump administration has created policies to help Black Americans. Specifically, the Trump administration has created policies to help Black Americans overcome things that “they’re complaining about.”

The interview was immediately slammed by Democrats and activists as being tone deaf. Furthermore, the rhetoric is reminiscent of language used against the Black community for decades to justify policies that disenfranchised and injured the Black community.

Rep. Gallego was one of Kushner’s classmates at Harvard and the two had very different paths to the prestigious school.

Rep. Gallego created a Twitter thread to show the hoops he had to jump through in order to make it to Harvard. As a Latino from a middle class family, Rep. Gallego didn’t have a lot of the same luxuries afford to him like someone of Kushner’s background. The congressman’s story about his way to the Ivy League school is something a lot of people of color can relate to.

The story is an extension and deeper dive into the college admission scandal narrative.

Rep. Gallego detailed his four years in high school with the mission of making it to Harvard. For him, that meant studying for his exams for years with free and used test preps he could get his hands on. There was a community support to make it possible for him to get materials he needed.

According to Data USA, Harvard’s student body is heavily white. The data shows that 41 percent of students are white, 13.5 percent are Asian, 8.19 percent are Hispanic or Latino, and 5.35 percent Black or African-American.

Even the interviewing process was something so many other students didn’t have to contend with.

Some universities, especially ivy league schools, require prospective students to interview with alums and administrators. These interviews weigh heavily in the process and for Rep. Gallego, they were not easy to get to. He had to rely on public transportation to make it to his various interviews around Chicago.

Rep. Gallego spent four years getting ready to go to Harvard.

After four years of hard work and sacrifice, Rep. Gallego was accepted to Harvard. His path to Harvard was filled with friends and family helping him along the way, which is common in Latino communities. It is a story that many of us are familiar with but it isn’t a truly universal story, as Rep. Gallego points out about Kushner.

Kushner’s easy path to Harvard is why the congressman took issue with Kushner’s comments.

Documents show that Kushner got into Harvard after his father pledged a $2.5 million gift to be paid in annual installments of $250,000. Both of Kushner’s parents were also members of Harvard’s Committee of University Resources and donated to the school. In an interview with ProPublica, a former administrator at Kushner’s high school admitted that no one at the school believed that he got admitted on his own merit. The official said that neither his grades nor SAT scores warranted his admission into Harvard.

Rep. Gallego ended his thread asking people to donate to the Biden campaign and the United Negro College Fund.

Rep. Gallego is clearly not letting this story go by without weighing in. Kushner’s comments have set off a firestorm of frustration with people across the nation.

READ: College Admissions Scandal Mastermind Reportedly Told Parents To Lie About Ethnicity To Further Advantage Their White Children

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If You’ve Been Struggling with College During COVID, These Tips Might Help You Cope

Things That Matter

If You’ve Been Struggling with College During COVID, These Tips Might Help You Cope

By October 19, 2020 at 12:48 pm
BY  | October 19, 2020 AT 12:48 pm
fizkes / Getty Images

Covid-19 is changing the all-American college experience. There is no more late-night munchie runs at 3 a.m., house party hopping, or late-night cramming with friends in the library. The spirit has completely changed, but all for the greater good of keeping others healthy and safe.

Still, that doesn’t discredit the fact that we are losing the value of our education by it moving online. We’re no longer able to use the campus as a resource to help fuel ourselves academically or socially. We long for the day we are able to build a sense of community again.

Here’s how Covid has changed the college experience and what you can do to make it better.

The Move to Online

Credit: @gph/ Giphy

Being a college senior myself, remote learning has taken a huge toll on me. My days are lengthened with logging on to Zoom for everything, and yes- even my pair of blue-light glasses can’t keep me focused.

I find myself eagerly waiting for my professor to say “That’s it for today everyone,” and sometimes can only hang in there for half of the time. I’m constantly left feeling anxious and frustrated.

I was sure that universities would begin to understand how different students cope with a very tricky, unstable, and scary situation at hand. However, I’ve experienced the opposite. An overwhelming influx of papers, online assignments, and weekly quizzes quickly presented themselves. Not to mention more group projects. Weekends soon became “working-weekends” and with assignments piling up I truly felt like I was drowning.

It wasn’t long until I had to think for myself. How am I going to cope with the now? I needed to figure out the best plan I could to navigate something out of mine and everyone else’s control. If you too are struggling during this time whether it be financially, academically, emotionally, etc, please know you are not alone. Below are some resources that might help each day go by just a little better than the last, and hopefully give you peace of mind.

Finances:

COVID Emergency Assistance Funds

The last thing that we want to do is pay full price for online learning, especially during a pandemic. So check with your college or university about COVID Emergency Assistance/Relief Funds. This has greatly helped students access resources such as food, housing, course materials, technology, and affordable health care. In some cases, they even pay you to be at home. Additionally, FAFSA is allowing students to get even more aid granted despite if they were already given their semester disbursement- so it’s definitely worth checking out.

Visit your official college website & https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa for more information.

Scholarships

Trust me, we all could use a little help in this area. Luckily, Tuition Funding Sources’s (TFS) database connects students to monthly scholarships based on needs, wants, and qualifications. They have highlighted “scholarships of the day” as well as career aptitude tests that can help your search become even more personal.

Businesses are also partnering up right now to help students around the world get the support they need to further their education. The McDonald’s® HACER ® National Scholarship assists Latino students to be front and center and attain the education they deserve. In 2019, more than $500,000 was granted to 30 students in order to help finance tuition costs. And better yet, The 2020-2021 application period just opened October 5th.

For more information on how to apply for the listed scholarships, visit https://www.tuitionfundingsources.com  or https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/community/hacer.html .

Mental Health & Well-Being:

Headspace

This app is a lifesaver. From brief wellbeing exercises to longer guided meditation, Headspace is offering free downloadable tracks that can help you ease your mind at home or on-the-go anywhere and anytime. Tune in when you need a break or to re-center yourself.  

Visit https://www.headspace.com/covid-19 to see what tracks are available now.

Podcasts

Sometimes hearing someone speak and having an honest conversation about a certain topic is really fun to engage with. It provides us another perspective other than their are own, and it’s interesting to get a glimpse at the way other people live. Taking 30 minutes out of your day to listen to an episode can help ease some stress, reminding you that others are by your side who, too, have felt the same chaos.

For a great selection of podcasts, search Spotify or Apple Podcasts to start the search on some good series.

Be Patient with Yourself

Credit: @nbc/ Giphy

Remember, this pandemic is not forever although it might feel like it right now. Do not feel like you are responsible for the frustration you are undergoing. Take some time to care for yourself and take a step back from the craziness of the world to remind yourself that things will get better.

Talk to a friend, counselor, or therapist if you find yourself in a crisis more than you can bear. Crisis Text Line offers free, 24/7 service to anyone who needs some support and wants to speak with someone. What’s nice is you have the option to either call or text, depending on what’s most comfortable and effective for you. 

Visit https://www.crisistextline.org to get free 24/7 support whenever, wherever. 

Other Tips

Zoom Party

Credit: @snl / Giphy

Get-togethers are looking a lot different right now, but you can still plan an event that will keep all of your friends together. Zoom can be a wonderful platform not only for the classroom, but to catch up with everyone. Plan a “Whine Night” where you talk about all things life or vibe to shared music. Your university should give you an unlimited personal meeting room link so you don’t have to pay a dime for the time.

Virtual Social Hours

Many universities are offering virtual social hours so students can connect to each other and get more of a sense of community as we navigate through the days. Check online on your school’s website to see what types of activities they are offering students at this time, and what events might fit your personal or career interests.  You never know who you might meet!

Find Your Hobby 

Having a go-to hobby during this time can give you something to look forward to and be an escape from all the ongoing chaos. Look into things like surfing, socially distanced yoga classes, cooking, or hiking to get you feeling joyful and inspired. Try one thing out and see if you like it, and if not who says you can’t just move to the next thing? You’ll be surprised at what you discover will be your next “thing.”


The pandemic has definitely made college life and life, in general, a whole lot harder. Know that it is completely normal to feel mad, sad, scared, or anxious about what’s to come. With these tips, my only wish is that they help you cope just a bit more as they have for me. Together we will get through this, slowly but surely.

READ: A 13-Year-Old Student Just Became A California College’s Youngest Graduate

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