Bridging The Dream Scholarship program for high school seniors

Sallie Mae, and The Sallie Mae Fund have an enduring vision to make the world a better place. Through strategic grantmaking, scholarships, and employee giving, they can make a difference in our communities. They also offer financial literacy programs to help students gain confidence and succeed in college, career, and community. Learn more by clicking here

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund and The Sallie Mae Fund offer financial assistance to exceptional students who attend an accredited postsecondary institution. One of the scholarships they offer is called the Bridging the Dream scholarship program for high school seniors which I discuss about in this blog post.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund and The Sallie Mae Fund have a partnership and through the Bridging The Dream Scholarship program for high school seniors they proudly offer financial assistance to twenty-five (25) outstanding high school seniors who intend to enroll full-time in undergraduate studies at an accredited university, college, or continuous education program. The scholarship will be up to $10,000.00 for 2022-2023 academic year to the selected scholars. 

Sallie Mae gave $1.1 million in Bridging the Dream Scholarships from 2016-2022 to outstanding high school students. See the inspirational stories of past winners to see how their lives were transformed.

You can also view more information about the Bridging the Dream scholarship program for high school seniors on the Sallie Mae website here.

Is Sallie Mae scholarship legit?

Yes, the Sallie Mae scholarship is legit. Working in partnership with Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Sallie Mae will award 75, $10,000 scholarships to high school seniors over the next three years, totaling $750,000.

Conditions for eligibility:

• For the academic year 2021-2022, be enrolled in high school as a senior
• In the academic year 2022-2023, plan to be a full-time student in a:
  • Two-year Schools
  • Four-year Schools
  • Vocational/Technical certificate/certification program
• Current cumulative grade point average 2.75 or greater
• Be Pell-Grant eligible
• You must be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident and have a valid permanent residence card or passport stamped I-551
• Be a diverse candidate. Diversity shall include
• Gender

• Disabilities
• Race
• Ethnicity
• Being part of an underserved group
• Must also be able to demonstrate leadership abilities
• Demonstrate good moral character in all areas of your life. This includes your personal, professional, and educational lives as well as your online presence.

All applicants must:

• Answer the following question Video Up to 2 minutes:
  • What are your short-term goals? (Academic, Financial, Personal, Professional, etc. What are your short-term goals (academic, financial, personal, etc.) and how can this scholarship help you reach them?

Note: If you want to stand out in your Bridging The Dream scholarship program for high school seniors application to them you can read my post about the qualities that colleges look for here. These qualities for college are the same qualities that scholarship people will also look for in students.

How to apply for the Bridging The Dream Scholarship Program for high school seniors

You can apply online. Applications are available here. The scholarship application period is now closed. Thurgood Marshall College Fund is currently reviewing the scholarship applications we received for the 2022-23 academic year. We’ll make an announcement about our winners later this year. In 2021, the Sallie Mae Fund expanded the Bridging the Dream Scholarship Program for high school seniors to further promote diversity in higher education among minority students and other from historically underserved communities.

About the Sallie Mae website that offers the Bridging The Dream Scholarship Program for high school seniors

Sallie Mae currently boasts a scholarship platform which allows students to access a $24 billion pool of funding, distributed across more than 5 million scholarships. This platform had the highest funding among all those we reviewed. Sallie Mae was also awarded a high score due to the variety of scholarship opportunities available, which include traditional merit scholarships as well as those that are specifically tailored for students with specific hobbies, skills, or interests.

There are many scholarship opportunities on the platform, some with fast-approaching deadlines. You can sort the scholarships by amount and deadline so students can plan their time efficiently to choose which scholarships they want to apply for. Sallie Mae is a great resource for students in the process of funding their education. The scholarship list is constantly updated. These scholarships can be valued from several hundred dollars to full tuition.

Sallie Mae does not provide funding for all students. It simply gives them access to a scholarship list, though it is a large one. The majority of scholarships on Sallie Mae can be found in other scholarship database. Sallie Mae has a few unique funding opportunities. These include the “Bridging The Dream” scholarships for undergraduates ($10,000). There’s also a $1,000 monthly sweepstakes that are open to everyone and a $5,000 sweepstakes every November for National Scholarship Month.

According to here, Sallie Mae scored highly for its wealth of funding options and also received high scores in all “Trustworthiness” metrics. Sallie Mae’s privacy policies ensure that no personal data is shared with any non-affiliates. You can also limit information sharing with Sallie Mae affiliates.

More about the Sallie Mae website

Registering and creating a profile on the Sallie Mae website is all that’s required to access the database. This profile is used to match students to scholarship opportunities. Students are automatically taken to the scholarship search database after completing the registration process. They do not need to be presented with additional offers or go through any unnecessary steps. Sallie Mae’s website is modern and professional. It has a simple, clear design that makes it easy to navigate. Register users have the ability to return to the site to search for scholarships without having to enter their details again. However, they can also update their profile at any time. Sallie Mae’s website is also free of ads. This ensures that the user experience is clear and uncluttered. The focus is on the best scholarships. The Sallie Mae platform is a search database and does not allow students the ability to submit the same application for multiple scholarships. Instead, students are directed directly to the websites of the scholarship awarding organizations.

Students will need to apply for every scholarship individually. This usually involves filling in their personal information and writing at most one essay. Scholarship panels won’t be able to see any applications sent to their own email address or website. They will not see any detailed profiles created by students on Sallie Mae.