The Gates Scholarship/Tuition assistance
The Gates Scholarship
Amount variesNot guaranteedLimited number available
A last dollar scholarship covering whatever your full cost of attendance still costs after every other award: tuition, fees, books, housing and food. For seniors from low income households who are Pell eligible with a weighted GPA of at least 3.3. Highly selective, and free to apply for.
Whatever your cost of attendance still costs after your other financial aid and your Student Aid Index. Cost of attendance here means tuition, fees, books, housing and food, and can include some personal costs. For a student with little other aid that is very large, and for a student whose college already meets full need it can be small.
Closed 15 September 2026
What you need
The official page does not list required documents. Check the official page before you apply, since a provider can ask for paperwork it does not publish.
How to apply
- 1Start the profile now, not the applicationThe profile and the application are separate, and the profile is the part that takes a while. Starting it early costs nothing and leaves the writing until later.
- 2File the FAFSA if you have notPell eligibility is a requirement, and the award itself is worked out against your Student Aid Index from the FAFSA. Without it there is nothing to calculate.
Where this comes from
- Official source
- https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/scholarship
- Last checked by SCRN
- 2026-10-11Verified null days ago
- How it was verified
- Checked against the official page by a person at SCRN
- Source level
- Provider verifiedRead from the provider's own page.
- Deadline
- 15 September 2026The application opened on 15 July 2026 and closes on 15 September 2026. After that: semifinalists over December and January, finalist interviews in March 2027, selection in April, awards from July 2027. It is a long process, so applying is the only part with a deadline you control.
- How often
- annual