A group of Native American students in a classroom.

Search Native American College Scholarships That Honor Culture and Open Doors

Families and educators—discover the only college scholarship search tool designed specifically to help students find Native American college scholarships that honor culture and identity.

Easily filter by Tribal affiliation, cultural identity, major, state, and more to find scholarships that truly align with who your students are and where they’re going.

Current Economic Trends and Native American Families...

1 in 3

Native Americans are living in poverty (American Community Survey).

7.9%

is the overall unemployment rate for American Indians/Alaska Natives, as compared to 3.7 percent for non-Hispanic whites (Office of Minority Health Resource Center).

54%

of Native American students require some type of financial aid to support college attendance (Postsecondary National Policy Institute).

Filter Native American College Scholarships by What Matters Most

CollegeBound Journey® is the only platform that allows you to filter scholarships specifically for Native American students.  Oppportunities include:

Want to see what’s possible? Check out 5 Full Tuition Scholarships for Native Americans featured on our blog. These real examples highlight the kinds of opportunities you can discover using our search tool.

Native American student exploring colleges online
Two educators—one Native American and one non-Native—collaborating at a school desk while reviewing materials. Behind them, a digital screen shows planning sessions and the CollegeBound Journey logo, with a tribal flag and books on shelves.

Empowering Educators with Native American College Scholarship Tools

Counselors use this tool to quickly identify Native American college scholarships for students across grades 9–12, saving valuable time during college planning meetings.

School counselors and Indian Education liaisons can use this tool to:

  • Identify scholarships tailored to individual student needs
  • Integrate into college readiness lessons or one-on-one sessions
  • Host family college nights with built-in search guidance

Ready-to-Use Educator Resources:

  • Funding Your Education lesson
  • Family Financial Aid Night Guide

Students and Educators Share Their Experience

Students and educators have used this platform to successfully find and apply for Native American college scholarships that matched their goals and identities.

Testimonials coming soon…

Families can also explore tuition waiver programs offered by some states and schools. Read our blog 6 Native American Tuition Waiver Programs to Consider to find out which options might apply to your student.

A young Native American student raises their hand during a college night event

FAQs for Families and Educators on Native American College Scholarships

While many scholarship searches offer an option to “check” Native American, the situation is more complex.  Because of federal status, enrollment requirements, blood quantum, and incomplete record keeping, Native American status is not always as simple as checking one box.  

Our database permits students to filter through scholarships based on options like Tribal affiliation, enrollment status, descendancy, and self identification.  Because of this filter option, students can easily find scholarships that meet their personal identity status.

Our consultants have extensive experience within the field of Native American college planning and have accumulated hundreds of scholarship opportunities.  

We update the database as new information becomes known.  Additionally, we review every entry within the database by January of each year.  This ensures that links and deadlines are accurate for the platform users.

At this time, we have restricted our scholarship selections to opportunities available to students beginning their freshman year; however, many of the scholarships can be used at the sophomore, junior, or senior year as well.  At this time the scholarship database only contains scholarship opportunities available within the United States.

Check out on how a scholarship search is completed within CollegeBound Journey.

Start Searching for Scholarships Today

Ready to help students discover meaningful Native American college scholarships? Help Native students access the funding and recognition they deserve. Whether you’re a parent, educator, or community partner—we’ve got tools for you.