Gates Millennium Scholars Program

Last updated

The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program is an academic scholarship award and program for higher education, available to high-achieving ethnic minority students in the United States. [1] It was established in 1999 and funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates Millennium Scholars are provided with a full financial scholarship to attend any U.S. college or university, and are provided with leadership development opportunities, mentoring, as well as academic, financial and social support. [2]

Contents

Background

The scholarship was started in 1999 as a result of a $1 billion grant from Microsoft founder Bill Gates. [1] The program is currently administered by the United Negro College Fund and partner organizations including the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, [3] APIA Scholars (formerly known as the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund), [4] and Native Forward (formerly known as the American Indian Graduate Center). [5] Since its inception, the scholarship has paid for more than 20,000 students to attend colleges and universities, and has awarded more than $614 million for education costs including tuition, fees, books and housing. [2] There exist a total of 20,000 scholars as of the last cohort in the class of 2016. This was the original goal of the Foundation when starting this scholarship in 2000, ending in 2016. [6]

"It is critical to America's future that we draw from the full range of talent and ability to develop the next generation of leaders," said Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [7] "The Millennium Scholars program is intended to ensure that we build a stronger America through improved educational opportunities." [8]

Goals

In establishing the scholarship, Gates Millennium Scholars, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hoped to create a network of future leaders from around the world who would bring new vision and commitment to improving the life circumstances of citizens in their respective countries. [9] [10] Over time, it is anticipated that Gates Scholars will become leaders in all their respective fields, and will help to address global problems related to health, equity, technology, and learning [11] - all areas in which the Foundation is deeply engaged.

Selection

To meet the minimum qualifications for the scholarship award, applicants must be high school seniors with at least a cumulative 3.3 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale, eligible for the Federal Pell Grant, and plan to enroll full-time at an accredited U.S. college or university. [12] Additionally, applicants must be a citizen, national or legal permanent resident of the United States, and be of African American, [13] American Indian/Alaska Native, [14] Asian-Pacific Islander [15] or Hispanic American heritage. [16] [17] Ideally, applicants should be able to provide strong examples of personal success and growth (emotional maturity, motivation, preservation, etc.) and demonstrate outstanding leadership abilities. [18]

The scholarship program is highly competitive with only 1,000 students selected out of over 50,000 applicants. [19] [20] [21] GMS scholars who choose to pursue graduate studies in the areas of education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health and science are eligible to receive continued funding.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNCF</span> American philanthropic organization

UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944, by Frederick D. Patterson, Mary McLeod Bethune, and others. UNCF is headquartered at 1805 7th Street, NW in Washington, D.C. In 2005, UNCF supported approximately 65,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities with approximately $113 million in grants and scholarships. About 60% of these students are the first in their families to attend college, and 62% have annual family incomes of less than $25,000. UNCF also administers over 450 named scholarships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation</span> American private foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the second largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $69 billion in assets as of 2020. The primary stated goals of the foundation are to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty across the world, and to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology in the U.S. Key individuals of the foundation include Warren Buffett, chief executive officer Mark Suzman, and Michael Larson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodes Scholarship</span> International postgraduate award

The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scholarship</span> Financial aid for a students education

A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need, research experience or specific professional experience.

The Koch family foundations are a group of charitable foundations in the United States associated with the family of Fred C. Koch. The most prominent of these are the Charles Koch Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created by Charles Koch and David Koch, two sons of Fred C. Koch who own the majority of Koch Industries, an oil, gas, paper, and chemical conglomerate which is the US's second-largest privately held company. Charles' and David's foundations have provided millions of dollars to a variety of organizations, including libertarian and conservative think tanks. Areas of funding include think tanks, political advocacy, climate change denial, higher education scholarships, cancer research, arts, and science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gates Cambridge Scholarship</span> Scholarship program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship is extremely competitive with around 1.3% of applicants receiving an award in recent years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churchill Scholarship</span> Anglo-American post-graduate scholarship program

The Churchill Scholarship is awarded by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States to graduates of the more than one hundred colleges and universities invited to participate in the Churchill Scholarship Program, for the pursuit of research and study in the physical and natural sciences, mathematics, engineering, for one year at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation</span>

The Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation is an independent executive branch agency to honor Morris K. Udall's lasting impact on this nation's environment, public lands, and natural resources, and his support of the rights and self-governance of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

NORC at the University of Chicago, previously the National Opinion Research Center, is an independent social research organization in the United States. Established in 1941, its corporate headquarters is located in downtown Chicago, with offices in several other locations throughout the United States. Organized as an independent corporation, more than half its board comes from faculty and administration of the University of Chicago. It also jointly staffs some of the university's academic research centers.

Sara Martinez Tucker is a former chief executive officer of the National Math and Science Initiative. She was formerly the Under Secretary of Education at the U.S. Department of Education and a former president and chief executive officer of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF).

Morrow High School is the easternmost secondary school in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. Part of Clayton County Public Schools; it is located in Ellenwood at 4930 Steele Road. The school's teams are known as the Mustangs. Middle schools generally associated with Morrow High are Morrow Middle School, Adamson Middle School and Rex Mill Middle School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rotary Foundation</span> International nonprofit organization

The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guttman Community College</span> Community college in New York City

Stella and Charles Guttman Community College is a public community college in New York City. It is the newest of the City University of New York's (CUNY) community colleges and was founded on September 11, 2011. It opened on August 20, 2012 as New Community College. In April 2013 the college was renamed following a $15 million endowment from the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation.

Fidel A. Vargas is an American financial executive and former mayor of Baldwin Park, California who is CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), a provider of scholarships and services for Latino students.

The Flinn Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship awarded annually to 20 Arizona high school seniors. It provides four years of study at an Arizona public university, study abroad, a funded internship, personal mentorship by faculty and alumni Scholars, and other benefits. The total package is valued at more than $115,000.

Schwarzman Scholars, founded by American financier and philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman, is a one-year fully-funded master's degree leadership program at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The program selects 100–200 scholars per year based on their leadership ability, academic achievement, and commitment to advancing mutual cultural understanding and global progress. Selected scholars pursue a one-year master's degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University, residing at Schwarzman College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yenching Academy</span> University in China

The Yenching Academy is a postgraduate college of Peking University, located in Beijing, China. It hosts the Yenching Scholarship, a fully funded prestigious global scholarship program, designed "to cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding." The academy offers Yenching Scholars, selected annually from around the world, with full scholarships for one or two years of study leading to a master's degree from Peking University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership</span> AAPI public policy organization

Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan educational and professional organization dedicated to building leadership and public policy knowledge within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community." In 1989, Lin Liu, Sandra Yamane, Sharon Yanagi, Melinda Yee, Paul Igasaki, Rod Hsiao, and Chantale Wong, founded CAPAL in Washington D.C. in order to address the lack of Asian American Pacific Islander representation in public service. In almost 30 years, the organization has grown from an all-volunteer nonprofit organization to one with a Board of Directors, Staff, and Advisory Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrés Cano</span> American politician

Andrés Cano is an American politician who served as the House Minority Leader in the Arizona House of Representatives from January to June 2023. Cano was in his third term, having represented District 20 (Tucson) since 2023, and District 3 from 2019 to 2023. Cano is a member of the Democratic Party. On May 6, 2023, Cano announced his resignation both as House Minority Leader and as a Representative in the Arizona House of Representatives to attend the Harvard Kennedy School. His resignation from the House of Representatives was made official on July 4, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering</span>

The Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering is the University of Washington's computer science school, located on its Seattle campus. The school offers undergraduate and graduate level courses, for their BS, MS, and PhD degree programs. Known for most of its life as the Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) department, it was elevated to a school on its 50th anniversary in 2017. It is housed in two adjacent buildings: the Bill & Melinda Gates and Paul G. Allen Centers for Computer Science & Engineering.

References

  1. 1 2 "Home Version 3". GMS. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  2. 1 2 "Three Prince George's County graduates are Gates Millennium Scholars". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Welcome to Hispanic Scholarship Fund | HSF". www.hsf.net. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  4. ↑ "APIA Scholars".
  5. ↑ "Native Forward". Native Forward.
  6. ↑ "UNCF Congratulates The Class of 2016 Gates Millennium Scholars" (PDF). gmsp.org. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  7. ↑ "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  8. ↑ "Bill and Melinda Gates Announce New Millennium Scholars Program to Bridge the Gap in Access to Higher Education". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  9. ↑ "UNCF". GMS. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  10. ↑ "Gates Millennium Scholars Program Awards New Scholarships to 1,000 Low-Income Minority Students". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  11. ↑ "What's New". GMS. Archived from the original on 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  12. ↑ "Gates Millennium Scholars Program". GMS. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  13. ↑ "Gates Millennium Scholars Program 2015". scholarships.uncf.org. Archived from the original on 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  14. ↑ "American Indian College Fund | Native American Scholarships". American Indian College Fund | Native American Scholarships. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  15. ↑ "APIASF: Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. Today's Minds, Tomorrow's Future®". www.apiasf.org. Archived from the original on 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  16. ↑ "The Gates Millennium Scholarship | HSF". hsf.net. Archived from the original on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  17. ↑ "About Us". Gmsp.org. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Gates: Scholarship".
  19. ↑ "Two Lompoc High students to receive Gates scholarships".
  20. ↑ "Fairfield Student Named Gates Millennium Scholar". 27 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "RCPS seniors named Gates Millennium". 24 May 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.