2023-05-31 - **Our 2023 winners will be announced on September 21, 2023.** Please stay tuned!

Deadline for applications is on May 31, 2023 at 11:59 PM PST.

The PB&J Scholarship is for students who have experienced personal challenges that may not have allowed them to perform well academically, but who still have the drive to succeed. 

Examples of personal challenges include, but are not limited to: 

* medical issues
* peer issues: bullying, change of school, minority status, etc.
* family issues: divorce, death, lack of income, homelessness, foster care, abuse, etc. 

When in doubt, students are encouraged to apply; this scholarship is meant to be inclusive. 

**Awarding:** Two $1,000 scholarships

**Evaluation & Process**

Applicants will be evaluated based on their essay and letters of recommendation; there is no GPA requirement. Please note: letters of recommendation must directly reference the student’s challenges. If the applicant does not wish to share their challenges with their recommender, then the recommendation must reference the student’s personal character. 

The PB&J Scholarship is distributed by Scholar Sponsor, a non-profit 501c3.

**Why is it called the PB&J Scholarship? The Donor Explains**

When I attended Farrington High School in Hawai’i, my GPA and test scores were low, but I was determined to go to college. I managed to receive ten different scholarships, which helped me fulfill that dream. To give back to future students, I lived off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for one week of every month during my first year in college and saved enough money to fund a $500 scholarship for another student like me. The PBJS is now in its sixth year, and has come a long way. Thankfully, I no longer need to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to fund the scholarship, but I chose to keep the name to honor its humble origin. 

**Recent Recipients** 

**2023** Gabriel Perez

**2023** Layla Brown

**2023** Desiree D Thomas

**2023** Dakota Anderson

**2023** Dominick Thompson

**2023** Jessica Moore

**2023** Emily Scott

**2023** Amy Wiknik

**2023** Vivian Miller

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**2022** Aaliyah Ali

**2022** April Ramirez

**2022** Elleanna Lausch

**2022** Gabriella Martinez

**2022** Janae Davis

**2022** Kaitlyn Myrmo

**2022** Naomi Garcia

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**2021** Adilene Dominguez-Ramirez

**2021** Mark Manolin

**2021** Ariana Eivazians

**2021** Angelica Carbajal

**2021** Timothy O'Brien

**2021** Brianna Christine Webb

**2021** Logan Howard

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**2020** Christian Frahm

**2020** Adol Alinjak Bak

**2020** Marcus K Lo

**2020** Elle Habib

**2020** Victoria Gersch

**2020** Youssef Salib

**2019** Kyla Hansen
 
**2019** Abigail McClintic

PB&J Scholarship

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, NM

Naomi McGee

Laguna-Acoma High School, NM

Is this only for students that have faced challenges that have affected them?

University of Wisconsin - Madison, WI

Meixian Zhao

Shorewood High School, WI

If I graduated early from high school in December in 2019, but I am still count as 2020 graduate student, will I be eligible as a high school senior to apply the scholarship?

Brenau University, GA

Amber brown

Appling County High School, GA

Do we wait until the deadline to be notifed if we have already completed the application?

California State University - Fresno, CA

California State University - Stanislaus, CA

California State University - Monterey Bay, CA

Melissa Arredondo

Hanford West High School, CA

Am I able to submit my application though I am waiting for a reply from a recommender/counselor?

Miranda Butler

Springwood School, AL

patricia Saragosa

Cheviot Hills Continuation, CA

Kalamazoo Valley Community College, MI

Shyann Vincent

Renaissance High School, MI

I am technically a junior in high school, but I have senior credits and actually one class away from graduating. I'm attending college a year early this fall. Would I still qualify for this scholarship?

University of California - Berkeley, CA

Christine Mazzi

hi! do I have to wait for my counselor to submit a LOR before I turn in my application or does she have to submit it before I turn the application in?

Tram Nguyen

I am freshman college student, I am wondering if I qualify for this scholarship?

Eastern Oklahoma State College, OK

Jill Pruitt

Stilwell High School, OK

When will the scholarship winners be announced or emailed ? 

Madeline Dizon

I don't know if I qualify, my GPA wasn;t the lowest, I had a 3.7 but in junior year, the most important year to colleges, I messed up and my grades were very low. 

Purdue University, IN

Peyton Martinson

Chesterton Senior High School, IN

Is there a limit on words or characters for the essay?

Appalachian State University, NC

Sarah Mathis

Ronald W Reagan High School, NC

hey, I sent the notification for my recommender and she said she never received an email. I don't see any way of re-sending it, so what should I do now?

Ariella Benavides

Breanna Krenz

Beaver Dam High School, WI

Are people who live in Wisconsin able to apply?

James Alsip

Concord High School, AR

Maria Hernandez

I am currently taking a gap year to volunteer full time with the neglected elderly. Can i still Qualify?

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona, CA

University of California - Merced, CA

Andrea Taylor-Alarcon

Bayhill High School, CA

Do I qualify if I was in foster care for two years and a half and got adopted at 13? My sat scores and act scores aren’t great and couldn’t apply to other scholarships due to my low scores. I try really hard in school but I have certain academic gaps I need to fill in and need as much help as I can get. 

Howard University, DC

University of Northern Iowa, IA

Clark Atlanta University, GA

Wartburg College, IA

mariah Ambrose

East High School, IA

What font size should the essay be written in? Is there an expected font that should be used? 

University of California - Riverside, CA

Ryan J Welton

Woodbridge High School, CA

Hello!  I sent a question last week about letters of recommendation but I never got an answer.  I just submitted my application and see that the people I listed will now be notified but they likely won't know until after the deadline.  Please let me know if I can provide letters, as it wasn't clear to me and I wasn't sure how to submit and the deadline is tomorrow.  Thank you for your consideration.

Nayely Trejo

What if I already submitted my application on time but my recommender hasn't submitted their recommendation yet?

Tara Decomo

Fox Chapel Area High School, PA

I have uploaded a student's transcript, but there is no button for me to submit it.  Any assistance would be gtreatly appreciated.

Florida State University, FL

Jasmine Rubio

Biotech@richmond Heights 9-12 High School, FL

For the two-page essay, do you have any parameters as to how you want the essay formatted? For example, Times New Roman font, 12pt size and double spaced?

Winston-Salem State University, NC

Nneka Ulasi

Rolesville High School, NC

I finished high school in December but I was supposed to walk the stage in June 

California State University - Fullerton, CA

California State University - Long Beach, CA

Jazmine Quiahua

Jordan High School, CA

My test scores are low but my GPA is a 3.6. Can I still apply for this scholarship?

Arieli Pruitt

East Forsyth High School, NC

To whom this may concern... I have recently "graduated" from my high school due to COVID-19 affecting seniors. Since our year was cut short, would I still be eligible for this scholarship opportunity? Thank you for your time. 

where do I submit the essay?? I don't see a place to submit it on this application

University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI

Kamren Ide

Damien Memorial School

Should the essay be double-spaced, single-spaced or 1.5-spaced?

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI

Paige Johnson

Beaumont School, OH

Is it recommended that students who faced personal challenges but still performed well academically apply?

St. John's University - New York, NY

Asmaa Hassanin

Maxine Greene High School 

When will we be notifiied if we win the Scholarship or no?

Alexia Olney

University of Connecticut, CT

Jordan Arnold

Watertown High School, CT

I have my letters and transcript is there a way for me personally to upload them or do the recommenders have to upload them? 

Chapman University, CA

University of California - Irvine, CA

University of Southern California, CA

Santiago Canyon College, CA

Santa Ana College, CA

Fullerton College, CA

Brooke Nguyen

Canyon High School, CA

I applied for the PB&J scholarship for 2021, but have not heard received any application status or information about it since I submitted it. Would you be able to help me?  

Mason Primus

If I'm currently at the end of my junior year, can I still apply for this scholarship?

College of San Mateo, CA

Miles Community College, MT

Highline Community College, WA

City College of San Francisco, CA

College of Southern Nevada, NV

Ivane Aholelei

Henry J Kaiser High School, HI

Jennifer Jin

Amador Valley High School, CA

Do we need to wait for the letter of recommendation and transcript to be uploaded to submit the application?

Linfield College, OR

Abby Golik

Carson High School, NV

I am still waiting for two recommenders but Counselor and One recommender have responded. How many recommenders are required for this scholarship?

University of Arizona, AZ

Northern Arizona University, AZ

Montana State University - Bozeman, MT

New Mexico State University, NM

Mia Monteverde

Desert View High School, AZ

I am currently between school years, I have just completed my junior year and am going onto senior year, do I identify as a high school senior?

Jenn Williams

Mountain View Senior High School, OR

Brianna Magdaleno

Nicholas Alexander Sylvester

St Augustine High School, CA

My application states that it is still waiting for my recommenders to reply. Some told me they did not get notified. Is there a way for the system to notify them (again)?  Thank you

Martin Luther College, MN

Logan Howard

Rocky Mountain Lutheran High School, CO

I received an email that I was awarded the scholarship however when I click on the acceptance form, it is a blank screen.

Lee-Seneia Cruz

Newport High School, AR

Siena College, NY

Shula Mufonka

East Orange Campus High School, NJ

does the personal statement have any word or character restrictions?

Dina Fukuda

Riverdale High School, CA

I am a high school counselor, not a student. One of my students is attempting to apply, and listed me as her counselor. I tried to log in to submit her high school transcript, but it only recognizes me as a student, not a counselor. I want to make sure she has an opportunity to be reviewed. Please help me in sending her transcript to your organization. I can email it to you if you have an email that accepts her transcript. Thank you.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, NJ

Princeton University, NJ

Drew University, NJ

Jessica Castillo

American History High School, NJ

My recommender didn't receive the email. What can I do?

Kaitlyn Ojeda

Viera High School, FL

Was the deadline pushed because of the coronavirus?

Annamarie Ruley

I am about to graduate, am I still currently a high school student?

The University of Tennessee - Martin, TN

Emily Johnston

Harpeth High School, TN

Haylee Sosebee

I will be a senior starting in fall 2020. Do I qualify to apply this year, or should I wait for next year to apply?

Kean University, NJ

Montclair State University, NJ

New Jersey City University, NJ

Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ

Hudson County Community College, NJ

Seton Hall University, NJ

Bloomfield College, NJ

Saint Peter's University, NJ

Ismael Haddabah

Rising Star Academy, NJ

Stevie Hoover

I just graduated high school this week and am enrolled in college. Do I still qualify for the scholarship?

Muskingum University, OH

Katie McCarty

Maysville High School, OH

Can you tell me when the 2022 application will be available and what the deadline will be? Thanks.

Blackfeet Community College, MT

Rendi Mad Plume

Browning High School, MT

When will we be notified who the winners are?

Diamond Hamm

Joseph C Wilson Magnet High School, NY

I see that there is already a 2020 winner, however the application also states that up to 10 people can be awarded. Are you planning on awarding other students as well or is that the only winner? Thank you.

West Hills College - Lemoore, CA

Aaron D Mendiola

Since my counslor hasn’t submitted my transcripts, I have a copy of my transcripts may I please email you my transcripts? I really need the scholarship award and I won’t be able to be considered the award without my transcripts being submitted

PB&J Scholarship

Awards up to

$1,000

Verification