Mensa US Scholarship
Scholarship Sponsored by Mensa
Eligibility criteria for applicants include:
- Applicants should be registered in a degree program at a recognized U.S. higher education institution for the academic year subsequent to the application date.
- Applicants are required to submit an application and an essay detailing their career, academic, and/or vocational objectives.
Applicants are given until Jan. 15 to compose an essay of no more than 550 words outlining their career, academic, and/or vocational objectives and their strategies to accomplish these objectives. For additional details, please refer to our scholarship FAQ.
Local Evaluation
Local chapters of American Mensa form evaluation teams of at least three members to assess the applications. The essays are evaluated based on content as well as grammar, structure, and craftsmanship. The Local Scholarship Chair forwards the top local essays to the Regional Scholarship Chair for further evaluation.
Regional Evaluation
At the regional stage, the process is replicated. The regional chair organizes a second round of evaluation for all essays forwarded from local chapters. Regional judges rank the local winners and nominate the top essays for regional and national prizes. These essays are then sent to the National Scholarship Chairs.
National Evaluation
Lastly, the National Scholarship Chairs carry out additional rounds of evaluation to select the regional and national winners. Each applicant can only receive one Mensa Foundation scholarship per year; hence, the winners are selected starting from the highest dollar amounts. The subsequent highest scores receive prizes of the next lower amounts, and this continues until all the winners are selected based on the judges’ scores.
The final list of scholarship winners is presented to the Mensa Foundation Board of Trustees for certification. Winners are informed by mail and provided instructions on how to claim their award. They are required to provide proof of enrollment in a degree program for the following academic year as well as proof of U.S. citizenship. Once the verification is received, the checks are issued and students receive the funds to assist them in their education.
Go to Scholarship Application