NCIDC Scholarship Program
NCIDC’s objective is to support Native people in obtaining education or training so they can reach their full potential. As a part of this effort, NCIDC created a scholarship program which is funded by a grant provided by the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative.
This award is intended to help American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian students/trainees who live in California or are members of California Tribes. “California Tribes” includes federally-recognized, state-recognized, and non-acknowledged Tribes located at least partially within California. All awards are based on merit and dependent upon available funding. Current students should have at least a 2.0 GPA. NCIDC does not fund applicants who are living out of the country and/or enrolled in or seeking enrollment in an institution out of the country.
NCIDC prioritizes applications in three groups. Eligible applicants who live in Humboldt, Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Trinity Counties in California will be considered first and given highest priority. The second priority group will be eligible applicants living within California, followed by the third group which are eligible applicants who are members of California Tribes who live in other states or territories of the United States. This is a competitive and prioritized process with limited funding and not all eligible applicants are guaranteed to receive an award.
Scholarship applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis, but awards will be made twice a year using the existing applicant pool. It is the applicant’s sole responsibility to submit a complete application to NCIDC. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Award Determinations:
February 28 deadline for March 15 determination
August 31 deadline for September 15 determination
Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis. Applicants attending an academic institution for less than full-time will only be eligible to receive $1,000. Applicants attending academic institutions full-time, or attending vocational or technical institutions will be eligible for $2,000. The number of units being taken by academic part-time students will influence their application competitiveness. All applicants will be notified by letter regarding the decision on their applications. The scholarship will be paid directly to the awardee and the awardee may decide the best way to use the funding to support their education/training.
Applicants may attend academic, vocational, technical institutions, distance learning or online programs. However, the institution that the applicant wishes to attend should be formally accredited. If your institution of choice is not accredited, you are required to describe why that institution would be beneficial for your education/training in your personal statement.
If you receive a scholarship, you will be required to provide NCIDC with updates on your progress toward graduation/training completion by responding promptly to NCIDC staff follow-ups.
Further instructions are included in the Scholarship Application. You may fill out the application online through scholarship.ncidc.org. You can download the application as a Microsoft Word file here. Return completed paper applications to Northern California Indian Development Council, 241 F St., Eureka, CA 95501, or email them to info@ncidc.org.
