Microsoft Scholarship 2022: Overview, Eligibility & Process

Microsoft Corporation sponsors the tuition fees of meritorious students aiming to study in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and other international locations. The scholarship is available for students studying Computer Science and STEM disciplines and is provided with an aim to nurture intelligent students for the future of the software industry. The scholarship is available for students studying Computer Science and STEM disciplines. The scholarship helps selected students with the tuition fees, which takes off the burden of arranging for the tuition fees. So, students looking to develop skills in development, computer engineering, software development, and related fields can leverage this opportunity, provided they have the score and show the enthusiasm to become better.

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Understanding Microsoft Scholarship and its Variants

The Microsoft scholarship is available to students pursuing full-time bachelor’s degree courses. Students going for a full four-year undergraduate degree program at universities or colleges in the US, Canada, and Mexico can apply. In addition to the standard scholarship, a Women at Microsoft Scholarship is also available. Although the eligibility conditions for both types of scholarships are similar, the applicants who can apply for the same are different. The Woman at Microsoft scholarship provides financial aid to high school senior women and non-binary people. The applicants must plan to attend a vocational or academic degree with a target career in STEAM discipline to apply for the scholarship. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math, whereas STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Under this scholarship, the selected students will receive an award of up to $5000, which is given as a one-time benefit, or it can be renewed for up to four years. However, the renewal depends on the student’s performance during the course. Besides these two scholarships, Microsoft awards tuition fees to students with disabilities. Microsoft has set distinct conditions for what qualifies as a disability, and the same annexure is considered before considering an application for a Microsoft scholarship. Also, the scholarship amount here is $5000, planned to be provided for up to a full four-year college course, taking the total amount to $20,000 subject to satisfactory progress. These scholarships aim to help students from different backgrounds and conditions to take up study streams related to technology.

Benefits Awarded under the Microsoft Scholarship

Selected students under the Microsoft scholarship are given partial tuition fees covering the same for one year. The financial aid is given according to the fees posted by the institution the student is going to study at. This will be a one-time payment, and under no circumstance, the scholarship amount is non-transferable to other institutions. No other component of studying abroad is included in the award. This means that you cannot get help with accommodation, travel expenses, health cover, child care, spouse care, living expenses, etc. Lastly, all universities and colleges located in the United States, Canada, and Mexico are covered under the scholarship.

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Eligibility Criteria for Microsoft Scholarships

The eligibility conditions students need to know about before applying are given below.

Microsoft Tuition Scholarship

• The applicant must be enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program running for four years at a university or college in one of the three applicable countries.
• As these scholarships are based on academic excellence, the applicants must also have excellent academic performance. The minimum GPA required is 3.0 out of an average of 4.0 total score. And 4.0 is the minimum GPA required, where the total average is 5.0.
• The applicant must also show enthusiasm to learn about technology, computer science, and the related STEM discipline subjects.

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Women at Microsoft Scholarship

• The applicant must be a high school senior student and identify as a woman or a non-binary person. Non-binary are gender-fluid people and women of transgender.
• The applicant must show enthusiasm to pursue a career in the STEAM discipline.
• They must have plans to pursue a course under STEAM from an accredited college or university situated in the US only.
• The minimum CGPA required to be considered for the application includes 3.0 or higher.

Microsoft Disability Scholarship

• The applicant must be living with a disability as defined by the WHO. It can be a visual, hearing, mobility, cognitive, or speech-related disability, but the final approval still depends on the committee responsible for the award at Microsoft.
• The applicant must plan to attend a technical university or college for a full 2 or 4-year degree program in institutions in the USA.
• The eligible fields are related to technical disciplines like computer engineering, computer science, etc. Plus, students wanting to pursue courses in paralegal, prelaw, finance, marketing, and administration are also eligible.
• The applicants must have shown leadership skills at their school level.
• The minimum CGPA required here is 2.5.

Before applying for a Microsoft scholarship of any of the three variants given above, make sure to check the eligibility conditions. The next step is knowing about the application process.

Apply for Scholarships at Microsoft

The first step in applying for the scholarship is knowing the deadline. For the Microsoft Tuition scholarship, the applicants must submit the documents required by 31st January. The deadline for the Women at Microsoft Scholarship is 12th March, and the same for Microsoft Disability Scholarship is 15th March. Moving ahead, the applicants need to fill out the online application form. On the respective links, the applicants will be asked to fill in details about their educational background, previous scores, nationality, personal information, and future plans. In addition to this, the applicants are also asked to answer a few questions related to the technical field. In the Microsoft Tuition scholarship, the applicants are asked to explain the toughest technical problem they have worked on. Plus, they are asked to explain their passion for technology. These questions are meant to identify the applicant’s ability to build a good career in the technical field and learn advanced lessons associated with the discipline.

• For the Women at Microsoft Scholarship, the applicants are asked to submit two letters of recommendation and an essay of 500 words. The essay must be about the applicant’s plan to build a career in one of the areas in the STEAM discipline.

• The Disability Microsoft scholarship application must also include two letters of recommendation. Plus, it needs to be added with three essays.
• One essay of 500 words talks about the student’s plan to stay engaged with the STEAM discipline.
• One essay of 500 words on the vision of Microsoft’s ability to innovate its future devices and services.
• One 250 words essay to provide details on the student’s financial need to get the scholarship.

In addition to the scholarship-specific documents and details, every type of scholarship requires the applicants to submit a resume. The resume must include the applicant’s personal details and educational history. It must also be added with extracurricular activities, awards, honours, and work experience. Do not submit any document via email, as it will not be considered for the application process. All documents and details must be provided by the application link and that too before the deadline. The finalists will be called for virtual interviews.

Conclusion

The Microsoft scholarship is available for students of different categories and backgrounds, educational and otherwise. The scholarship provides financial aid for paying the tuition fees on behalf of the student in the selected university. Microsoft provides the financial support to make learning in the technological fields accessible for everyone. These scholarship awards are given to deserving students, which means they are not bursaries. So, to avail yourself of the same, make sure to get good scores in high school, participate in extracurricular activities, and take an interest in technical fields like computer science and STEM-related subjects.

For additional information on different types of scholarships, visit the LeapScholar blog.

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