FAQ
What is the Bezos Scholars Program?
A transformative, year-long, no-cost leadership development program that amplifies youth voice and action so young people with passion can start making a difference today. Each year, 17 exceptional juniors from the U.S. and Africa, along with educators from each of their schools, are selected as Bezos Scholars.
Student Scholars engage in leadership development skill-building through project-based learning and receive free college advising. At the center of the program are Community Change Projects—fresh and sustainable approaches to meeting community needs, conceived and launched by Scholars with our support.
How many Bezos Scholars are selected each year?
Thirty scholars are selected each year, including:
12 U.S.-based high school students and a nominated educator from each of their schools.
Five students and one educator from the African Leadership Academy.
Who is eligible to apply to the Bezos Scholars Program?
To be able to apply, U.S. students must:
Attend an eligible* public high school in the United States that currently has a 30% or greater overall free and reduced lunch rate.
Be a junior at the time they are applying to the program.
Be enrolled in or have taken one or more advanced courses during their high school career. This includes Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and college-level courses.
Be a legal resident or citizen of the United States or have received nonpermanent legal status like DACA or are a dependent of an H-1B visa holder.
Be available to fully participate in the year-long program and attend all dates for the Aspen Ideas Festival trip in Aspen, Colorado, in late June (exact dates listed on the Apply page).
Nominate an educator, a willing and supportive adult from their school to serve as a mentor, who will fully participate in the program and go on the trip to Aspen with them.
*Students currently attending a school that a Scholar was selected from in 2023 or 2024 are not eligible to apply for the 2025 cohort. See the list of current ineligible schools. This policy encourages broader access to opportunity, allowing us to bring the Scholar experience and the Community Change Projects Scholars create to more schools and geographical locations.
African Leadership Academy (ALA) students must be year one students and apply through the process shared at their school. Any students residing outside of the U.S. and who don’t attend ALA are not currently eligible to apply.
Is the Bezos Scholars Program a scholarship?
The Program does not offer scholarships for higher education but does offer free, personalized college advising, which supports students in accessing financial resources for higher education.
What does the college advising support provided to student Scholars include?
Each Student Scholar is provided free, individual virtual advising with our informed, skilled and supportive college advisor. Our advisor has experience working with students from all over the world, with various backgrounds and resources, to help ensure that they have diverse opportunities to access and obtain higher education. Here is a preview of what the college advisor can offer which is specific to and curated for each Scholar:
From the start of each Scholar’s year to right before high school graduation, our advisor works with each Scholar to build a trusting relationship and learn their needs and goals. This includes working with other supporters (i.e., parents/guardians, educator Scholar, school staff, mentors, etc.) who are also invested in the student's success and education.
One-on-one sessions can include anything related to applying to higher education opportunities: forming a balanced college list, essay review, college, financial aid, and scholarship applications as well as the decision-making processes.
Each student receives a personalized letter of recommendation that explains the Bezos Scholars Program, describes the student's Community Change Project, and highlights their leadership qualities, skills, and notable achievements beyond the program.
How are Scholars selected?
Using a holistic selection process that considers multiple aspects of a candidate, our selection committee evaluates and scores candidates based on three main criteria:
Intellectual curiosity and commitment to education.
Demonstrated leadership and community engagement.
Readiness and capacity to engage in the program.
We conduct two rounds of review and utilize a selection committee comprised of Bezos Scholar alums and leaders in the fields of education, youth leadership and development, science and the arts. All our members share a strong commitment to championing young leaders and review and score applications using our selection criteria and rubric.
Round One Review
Each application is reviewed three times by three different selection committee members, working independently from one another.
Staff reviews round one scores, using an overall average score to select semi-finalists.
Semi-finalists are notified and asked to re-confirm their and their educator nominee’s interest and commitment to be considered as Bezos Scholars before being invited to a virtual interview.
Round Two Review
Semi-finalists participate in a virtual interview conducted by a staff member and Bezos Scholar alums.
Staff reviews round two scores to select 12 finalists and two alternates, who are on standby in case one of the finalists declines our invitation or becomes unable to participate in the program.
Student finalists are accepted into the program based on two key factors: the completion of a short recommendation form by the student's principal, and the participation of their educator nominee in a virtual meeting with a staff member. During this meeting, the educator will learn about their role in the program, have the opportunity to ask questions, and confirm their decision, separately from the student, to accept the invitation to become a Scholar.
Once a student finalist and their educator nominee confirm their acceptance, and their principal completes their short recommendation form, they are officially welcomed as Scholars and onboarding materials are sent.
What is included in the application?
The application requires students to complete the following 10 steps:
1. Confirm Eligibility.
2. Personal Information: Includes demographics about the applicant, their family and school, and how they learned about the program.
3. School and Advanced Courses: Provide basic information about the applicant's high school, their unweighted GPA and advanced courses offered and that they have taken or are currently enrolled in.
4. Extracurricular Activities and Employment: Applicants are required to share two current extra-curricular activities, prioritizing the commitments that are most meaningful to them. It is optional to add any employment held for more than one month’s time during a student’s high school career. If an applicant has not held employment or chooses not to submit it, the application will still receive full consideration.
5. Video Recording: Applicants need to submit a one-minute self-recorded video so we can learn more about their “why” for applying. In the video, applicants need to clearly answer the following prompt: “What personal experiences or values inspired you to want to become a Bezos Scholar?”
6. Written Responses: Craft thoughtful responses to three essay prompts. Each prompt is broken up into shorter responses that each have a word limit. Essay responses should highlight applicant’s character, strengths and leadership skills, lived experience and areas for growth while showcasing their integrity, compassion and creativity.
7. Educator Nominee: Student applicants are required to identify and nominate a trusted adult from their school to become their educator nominee. Educators cannot apply to the program without the nomination of a student. Nominated educators of selected students will be required to travel to Aspen, participate in the year-long program, and collaborate with Scholars and the teams they build to help develop and launch Community Change Projects. Choosing the right person as an educator is imperative. Applicants will need to be ready to enter their educator nominee’s name, email, the educator’s relationship to them, their role/position at the applicant’s school, three key reasons this person was selected, and add a personalized message to the nominee to be included with the email invitation sent to them, asking them to complete the form.
8. & 9. Review and Submit: Review everything entered in the application, clicking on each section to review copy and content, checking for errors and completion. Edit as needed and once everything looks correct, make sure to click submit at the bottom before the deadline! As a reminder, it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their educator nominee submits their form by the application deadline.
10. Celebrate! Once applicants submit, don’t forget to celebrate! Take a moment to thank support systems, including educator nominees for their encouragement and help.
The selection committee will begin reviewing applications in February, and all applicants will be notified of their status by early March.
What is a Community Change Project?
As part of the Bezos Scholars Program, every Scholar launches a project to raise awareness and mobilize action in their hometowns. These projects, known as Community Change Projects, are designed to address a unique community need. Scholars build a committed team to support the project, with a vision of making a meaningful impact on their peers, school, and the broader community for years to come.
Each project is student-led, inclusive and fosters a sense of community and shared leadership. Students and educators function as a collaborative team throughout the year and work alongside each other on Scholar opportunities, activities and commitments as well as project ideation, creation and implementation. Scholars gain significant personal and team-based leadership skills through this project-based learning experience. They receive ongoing coaching and support from their educator, school, and community, as well as $1,000 in funding from the Bezos Family Foundation which can be re-applied for annually. Because the projects are designed to be sustainable, many have been successfully running for over five years or more!
A successful Community Change Project starts with understanding the needs of your community. Scholars are guided through a process to define their purpose by exploring their strengths, passions, and the issues that motivate them. They then engage with diverse community members to learn about the most pressing challenges and needs. By gathering insights and ideas from those directly affected by these issues, Scholars build relationships, develop empathy, and gain a deeper understanding of their community’s needs.
Scholars choose a specific community need that their project will address and identify the target audience it will serve. They must also recruit a team of students and adult allies that help them develop a project plan and submit a grant proposal to secure funding. Throughout the process, Scholars work toward monthly milestones, receiving workshops, support, and resources. Projects are launched by February of the Scholar’s senior year, and they involve future student leaders from their teams to ensure the project continues for years to come.
Learn more about the issues Scholars have mobilized change around and how their efforts have rippled out to make a positive difference in the community.