The Stamps Scholarship: Full-Ride Prestige at Top Colleges
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The Stamps Scholarship offers a 4-year full ride — plus enrichment funds — for top high school seniors. But there’s a twist: you can’t apply directly. Instead, partner colleges use Stamps funding to award their most exceptional admitted students.
🎓 Over 35 colleges participate — each with its own selection process.
Jump to: What They’re Looking For | Academic Profile | Ideal Student | Parent Tools | Sample Winner | Related Scholarships | How to Apply | Limitations
🎯 What the Stamps Scholarship Is Actually Looking For
Stamps Scholars are high-achieving, curious, and community-minded — students who not only lead, but elevate the people around them. The foundation partners with top colleges to support their strongest admits, funding both tuition and enrichment opportunities.
- Academic Excellence: Top GPA, test scores, and course rigor
- Leadership: Strong history of school, community, or civic leadership
- Initiative: Projects, startups, outreach, or original research
- Curiosity: Intellectual drive and hunger for challenge
📊 Academic Profile
| Category | Typical Winner |
|---|---|
| ACT | 33–36 |
| SAT | 1470–1600 |
| GPA | Unweighted 3.9–4.0 |
| Course Load | Mostly AP/IB/Dual Enrollment |
🧭 Ideal Stamps Scholar
The Stamps Scholarship goes to students with both vision and velocity. Think kids who:
- Started nonprofits, civic movements, or major school initiatives
- Lead academic teams or launched independent research
- Mentor others while pushing themselves toward big goals
- Don’t just check boxes — they redefine them
If your kid’s résumé already reads like a future Truman Scholar or nonprofit founder — they’re in the Stamps zone.
🧰 Parent Tools
Create a profile your recommender can actually use 📬 Recommendation Toolkit
Ask for a letter the right way — and make it easier to say yes ✍️ Essay Toolkit
Every prompt, every trick, every tip we’ve got
🌟 Could This Be Your Kid?
Show Sample Winner Profile
Name: Amara — Public magnet school student from Texas
Stats: ACT 35, GPA 4.0 unweighted, top 1%
Story: Amara led a STEM equity nonprofit that brought coding workshops to over 1,000 middle school girls across her state. She was also concertmaster in orchestra, volunteered with a local food justice initiative, and interned at a university research lab. She was selected as a Stamps Scholar at Georgia Tech.
🔗 Related Scholarships
If your kid is a strong candidate for the Stamps Scholarship, check out:
- Cameron Impact Scholarship — full ride for students already making civic impact
- Coolidge Scholarship — full ride for juniors with top academics and character
- GE-Reagan Foundation — high merit + leadership for service-minded seniors
📎 How to Apply
- You must apply to a participating Stamps partner college
- Each school chooses its own process — some require extra essays, some auto-consider top admits
- Finalists are typically interviewed before selection
- Note: There is no centralized application — each partner college selects its own Stamps Scholars, often through their competitive merit process.
View partner colleges: Stamps Scholarship Partner List
⚠️ Limitations & Considerations
- Not all Stamps awards cover full cost of attendance — some cover tuition + enrichment
- You can’t apply directly through the foundation — must go through a partner school
- Some colleges limit eligibility to early action/priority applicants
🎓 College-Specific Scholarships
Many colleges offer generous automatic and competitive scholarships — especially for high ACT scores, GPA, leadership, or music involvement.
Want to see which colleges offer Stamps or other top merit scholarships? Explore our College-Specific Scholarships section.
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