Microsoft Disability Scholarships 2019

The disAbility Scholarship at Microsoft delivers on the mission of Microsoft’s cross disability employee resource group to empower and enable people with disabilities. This scholarship enables high school students with disabilities to go to college and target a career in the technology industry. In addition, we hope to contribute to increasing the pool of persons living with a disability enrolling in higher education and, in the long term, decrease the unemployment bias for this demographic.

This scholarship will be awarded to promising high school seniors who plan to attend a vocational or academic college and have a financial need. The amount of this renewable scholarship to be awarded is $5,000 per year, up to $20,000. The scholarship is paid through the Seattle Foundation on behalf of the disAbility Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Microsoft to the recipient’s school’s Financial Aid Office.

Requirements:

To be considered for the Microsoft disAbility Scholarship, you must:

[1] Be a current high school senior with living with a disAbility (as defined by WHO), whether that be visual, hearing, mobility, cognitive, speech or other disAbility.

[2] Plan to attend an undergraduate program in a 2 or 4-year University/College or Technical College in the fall of the academic year following high-school graduation. Schools must be in the USA or have a USA-Affiliate for financial transactions (contact Seattle Foundation to verify non-USA school’s eligibility).

[3] Declare a major in engineering, computer science, computer information systems, law, business, or a related field  (e.g. paralegal, pre-law, finance, business administration, or marketing).

[4] Demonstrate a passion for technology.

[5] Demonstrate leadership at school and/or in the community.

[6] Have a high school cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

[7] Require financial assistance to attend college.

[8] Enrollment status must be full-time or half time.

Application documents:

When applying for this scholarship, the following documents must be submitted:

[1] A Résumé which include:

- Extracurricular activities (school and community related).

- Honors and awards received (if possible, include awards that are technology related).

- Work experience.

[2] Transcript. Include an official "sealed" copy of the current academic transcript.

[3] Three essays:

- In no more than 500 words, describe how you plan to be engaged in the technology industry or technology law or policy in your career.

- In no more than 500 words, please share your vision of how Microsoft can innovate its future devices and services solutions to creatively & successfully support those living with disabilities in the workplace and in daily life to reach their potential.

- In no more than 250 words, demonstrate your financial need for this scholarship.

[4] Two letters of recommendation.