GS-TOP Scholarships

Girl Scouts are recognized around the country as being strongly driven, self-motivated and high-achieving students. Due to this there are many scholarship opportunities available to Girl Scouts some of which are listed here.  In addition, Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains supports girls' dreams of higher education through the GS-TOP Council Scholarship (details listed later on this page).

Girl Scouts of the USA has compiled the a list of universities/colleges, foundations, and Girl Scout councils that offer scholarships, awards, and grants to Girl Scouts.  This list can be accessed at http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/facts/scholarships/

Council Scholarships for Girl Scouts

GS-TOP offers scholarships to graduating high school seniors ranging from $500 to $1,500 awards.  This is a one-time scholarship and is offered only to girls entering their freshman year of higher education.  A letter is mailed to all graduating high school seniors in the spring of each year to notify girls of the scholarship opportunity.  The Letter of Instruction, Scholarship Application and Reference forms are available for download.  For those who wish a hard copy of the application packet, please call Darlene McMurray at 800-582-7272, ext. 1601 or 817-735-5336.  Applications can be submitted to: dmcmurray@gs-top.org or mailed to:

Scholarship Committee
c/o Darlene McMurray
4901 Briarhaven Road
Fort Worth, TX  76109

Quotes from Previous GS-TOP Scholarship Awardees

“Thank you Girl Scouts for making me the young lady I am today. Scouting has shaped my desire to serve, to work hard, my character and my future.” - Alyx R.

“I believe leadership means a lot in society. When I fill out a job application or scholarship application for school, I am proud to say that I have been a Girl Scout for 10 years…I want to show the value of being a leader and role model in my community and show that I can continue to make the right decisions.” - Miracle M.

“Girl Scouts has provided me with numerous skills such as leadership, compassion, integrity, and problem solving, providing a strong foundation for my future career goals.” - Elizabeth D.

State of Texas Gold Award Scholarship Opportunity

The State of Texas offers a scholarship to girls who have earned the Gold Award and are graduating high school. Applications are available in late spring and are mailed to each graduating Girl Scout Ambassador who has earned the Gold Award and filed a final report with their Council office. State Gold Scholarships are presented at the annual State Gold Award ceremony held in Austin in early June.  For more information on the State of Texas Gold Award Scholarship, contact Vivian Cockrell at 800-687-4475 or 806-553-3174 or vcockrell@gs-top.org.

Girl Scouts of the USA Scholarship Information

For additional information on college scholarships, you may want to contact your high school guidance counselor and reach out to the financial-aid office of the school you wish to attend. With some targeted research, you can uncover all sorts of helpful information on securing grants and scholarships. As with any online application, always be careful of the information you share. Before beginning your search, it's a good idea to take the Girl Scouts internet safety pledge.

For additional information, read GSUSA’s College Planning Resources, and see information about the Girl Scout Gold Award.

Additional Scholarships for Girl Scouts

Though women make up just more than half of the population, only 13 percent of engineers are women. They're similarly underrepresented in other science, technology, engineering, and math professions, but there are several organizations encouraging young women to study STEM in college. These groups even offer scholarships for women studying for a STEM undergraduate degree.

1. YSA Grants Want to make a difference? Take action? Solve a tough community problem? YSA can help! Whether you're a kid, teen, educator, or adult mentor, Youth Serve America may be able to help. YSA offers help to power youth-led service and service-learning projects with funding, training, and resource support. Through YSA Grants, you can harness the creativity, energy and unique perspective of young people to grow stronger communities, foster student achievement, and build workplace readiness skills. Each year, YSA supports youth-led service with over $1 million in YSA Grants. For more information, visit www.YSA.org/grants

2. DoSomething.org Seed Grants - Deadline: Ongoing Are you working to start a community action project or program with your friends? Do you need money to put your ideas into action? A $500 Do Something Seed Grant is given out every week to help young people just like YOU! These grants can be used towards project ideas and programs that are just getting started, or to jump-start your program and realize your ideas for the first time. These grants can also be used towards projects that are already developed and sustainable, towards the next steps of your project and organization to help you as you look to expand your project and grow your impact. http://bit.ly/PQYfTr

3. American Legion Girl Scout Achievement Award is for Girl Scout Gold Award recipients(must also have earned a religious award in their faith). Deadline: April 1. Learn More and Apply Here

4. Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship Dr. Anita Borg devoted her adult life to revolutionizing the way we think about technology and dismantling barriers that keep women and minorities from entering computing and technology fields. In honor of Dr. Borg, Google has created a scholarship opportunity for female high school seniors to study computer science when they attend college. Deadline is usually Mid-February each year. Learn More and Apply Here

5. Elks National Foundation offers a scholarship opportunity through their Most Valuable Student scholarship (this award replaces the Elks Foundation Gold Award scholarship). Applications are usually due February 1 each year. Learn More and Apply Here

6. Six Flags Friends Scholarships has teamed up with dosomething.org to award college scholarships to young leaders who are taking action to make their community a better place. Scholarships will be awarded based on past, current and planned action in the community as well as the applicants passion, commitment and proven leadership skills. Six winners will receive a $1,500 college scholarships. Annual Deadline: April 30. Learn More and Apply Here

7. Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Heroes Do you know someone who’s always working to make a difference? A young leader who doesn’t rest until she has made a positive impact on a class, club or community? A social entrepreneur who puts others before herself? If so, nominate them for the Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Heroes program! This program recognizes kids – ages eight to 18 – who provide extraordinary service to their communities or the world. Entry forms are available online at buildabear.com/huggableheroes or at any participating Build-A-Bear Workshop store. You can also nominate yourself! Deadline to apply is usually late February.

8. Chesapeake Energy (for Fort Worth ISD and Johnson County students) http://www.askchesapeake.com/Barnett-Shale/Community/Pages/Scholarships.aspx