Scholarship Tigers–Students Helping Each Other Find Money for College

April is a busy month for scholarships, and April is also the last month of the semester.

Consider breaking down scholarship applications into bite size pieces, such as 5-, 10-, or 25- minute tasks.

Or if you find yourself working better by time-boxing, set aside sessions of 1 1/2 -3 hours to focus on a scholarship and working on the steps necessary to finish the tasks.

Here are several scholarships that TSU students and potential students should consider.

Tennessee State University Foundation Scholarship are Open!!!

https://tnstate.academicworks.com/opportunities

TSU Foundation Scholarships

The Tennessee State University Foundation Scholarships are open, and only TSU students (and in some cases, those soon to be) can apply for Foundation scholarships.  

For an overview of the different TSU scholarships, click the link above.

Once you have reviewed some of the scholarship opportunities, you can use your TSU username and password to complete the General Application:  https://tnstate.academicworks.com/users/sign_in

As you complete the General Application, save as you go along. Don’t worry if you don’t finish. You can come back to finish later.

Also, once you have completed the General Application, you will see what scholarships you might be qualified for, but some of the scholarships may require additional information, such as 250 word statement of your goals or confirmation of where you live.

How to Make Your TSU University Foundation Application Stand Out         

• Scholarship funding is limited, so you want your scholarship application to stand out and highlight what makes you unique and different.

• Often students just list brief information in what they do. This will severely put you at a disadvantage to those students who go into more detail.

• Think of what you are doing now and what you did in high school and make a list. You will remember things as you go along, and you can add these to your application.

• Identify positions (volunteer, president, co-founder, vice-president, founder, etc.)

• Identify organizations, including briefly what the organization does or is

• Identify responsibilities or activities you did for that organization and go into brief but “telling” detail

• If you held responsibilities that called upon leadership skills, highlight them.

• You want to make sure your grammar and punctuation are consistent and correct.

• You can save and go back to your application, as necessary.

• Once you submit your application, you can then start applying to separate scholarships for which you are qualified. Some of these require answering questions to make sure you are qualified for that particular scholarship or writing a brief essay.

Qualifying for a TSU Foundation scholarship does not guarantee you will receive the scholarship.

Qualifying for a TSU Foundation scholarship does not guarantee you will receive the scholarship.

Several TSU students have set up multiple appointments with writing consultants in the TSU Writing Center to review their applications as they build them, and some have successfully received scholarships from the TSU Foundation.

Up to $5,000 Frame Your Future Scholarship, Deadline: April 15!!!!

Have fun with this scholarship and create a poem, a piece of artwork, a video, an essay, something that creatively shows what you hope to achieve in your life after college.

https://www.diplomaframe.com/contests/scholarship

$5,000 (one awarded); $2,000 (two awarded); $1,000 (one awarded) Frame Your Future Scholarship, D: Apr 15, 2026

“Submit an original entry—your own artwork, photo, essay, or video—depicting what YOU hope to achieve in your personal and professional life after college”

Shawn Carter Foundation Scholarships Open in April!!!

Shawn Carter Foundation Scholarships, open Apr 1, deadline Apr 30, 2026

All high school seniors, students with GED diplomas, undergraduate (2yr or 4yr) college students, and students at vocational or trade schools who meet the requirements below are eligible.

GPA: 2.0 or higher

“Requirements:

• US Citizen or Permanent Resident
• 25 years old or younger
• Minimum 2.0 GPA – First-time scholarship recipients generally have GPAs between 2.0 and 3.0 (students with GPAs above this range are still encouraged to apply)
• Demonstrated Financial Need – On average, selected applicants have an annual household adjusted gross income (AGI) of $75,000 or less
• Students pursuing their first undergraduate degree at an accredited, degree-granting institution

. . . we take many factors into consideration when determining your candidacy for the scholarship. Leadership, community service, socio-economic factors, the quality of your essay and other strengths are all taken into account in the decision making process.

Our typical scholarship recipients demonstrate resilience in the face of hardship, give back to their communities, and have GPAs between 2.0 and 3.0. Students with GPAs above this range are still encouraged to apply.”

TMCF Scholarships, some that are worth up to $15,000, have Deadlines In April!!!

I can’t link to the open scholarships offered by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, so just google TMCF open scholarships.

15 Open Scholarships at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF)

Some scholarships you may want to check out are

Up to $15,000 TMCF/McDonald’s Black and Positively Golden Scholarship, D: Apr 24, 2026; GPA of 2.7 or higher

Up to $1,500 TMCF/Enterprise Access HBCC Scholarship, D: Apr 24, 2026; GPA of 2.75 or higher

Up to $10,000 TMCF/Bridging the Dream Scholarship Program for High School Seniors, D: Apr 24, 2026; GPA of 2.75 or higher, Pell-Grant eligible

Sign Up for Blog Posts

To receive these posts with active links (including any PDF handouts), go to the Scholarship Tigers blog, scroll down on the right side of the page until you find Email subscription.

Enter your email address, and click the button that says, “Sign me up!”

You should get an email with a link to confirm your subscription.

If you don’t see it in your inbox, look for the email in your junk or spam folder.

Where to Find Writing Help and Scholarship Coaching

at the AARC Writing Center at TSU 

The AARC Writing Center at TSU assists students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Tennessee State University.

Appointments can be in person or online.

We can help you with scholarship essays, resumes, applications, or any other writing project. We are temporarily located in the Brown-Daniel Library, room 229, 2nd floor, near the elevator, from 8:00 am-4:30 pm, M-Th, 8:00 am-4:00 pm F

We are temporarily located in the Brown-Daniel Library, room 229, 2nd floor, near the elevator, from 8:00 am-4:30 pm, M-Th, 8:00 am-4:00 pm F.

Our contact information (EAB links, email addresses, and phone numbers) can be found here: https://www.tnstate.edu/asc/writing.aspx

Ms. Rhonda Kavan, Writing Center coordinator; Dr. Shiloh Carroll, Writing Consultant; Ms. Lori Danley, Writing Consultant; and Mr. Mike Turner, Writing Consultant

You can also set up a scholarship coaching session (either online or in person) with Mr. Mike Turner, mjturner@tnstate.edu, where we look for scholarships and other money tailored to your major and your situation.

Find more scholarships to fund a more money, less college debt education at https://scholarshiptigers.com/