Scholarships

The Mensa Education & Research Foundation college scholarship program bases its awards totally on essays written by the applicants. Consideration is not given to grades, academic program or financial need. The scholarship process begins Sept. 15 and ends with the scholarship application deadline of Jan. 15.

The U.S. scholarship program is very large in the geographic area it covers (usually about 75 percent of the country), the number of applications (4,000 to 6,000 in recent years), and the amount of money available for awards (more than $70,000 in 2009-2010). The Foundation's U.S. scholarship program is operated by approximately 400 volunteers around the country with support by the Foundation Director and American Mensa's office staff. Applicants need not be Mensa members.

The Foundation's international scholarship program is open to foreign Mensans or their dependents attending college in the United States.