Our 35 member-strong selection committee for round one Scholar selection just wrapped up and we are so grateful for their help with the difficult task of selecting semi-finalists out of a pool of incredible candidates that applied from around the country.

We want to honor the 1,300 students from across the nation who started an application and express gratitude for these students, as well as their educators and school communities, who helped promote the opportunity while encouraging and supporting students to apply.

The 12 U.S. Scholars ultimately selected for the 2023 cohort will be announced in early May. In the meantime, we wanted to share some key data about who applied. Here is a snapshot of some student demographic data that was shared with us by applicants who started an application:

• Gender: 70% identified as female, 28% as male, and 2% as non-binary/genderqueer.

• Broad racial groups: 34% identified as Hispanic/Latinx/Chicanx; 23% as Caucasian/White; 21% as African American/Black; 15% as Asian American/Asian 5% as multi-racial and 2% as Middle Eastern/Northern African.

• Location: Students applied from 42 states with California, Florida and Texas being the states with the highest number of applicants. Specifically, students identified that they live in the following areas: 50% in suburban; 34% in urban; 18% in rural.

Round two Scholar selection is underway, and we have 12 incredible alum helping us vet semi-finalist candidates who also have been participating in virtual interviews. Here is demographic data for our current group of 26 semi-finalists:

 All students who completed an application for the 2023 cohort were notified of their status in early March. A public announcement of the new Scholar cohort is shared on our website in early May, and applications reopen every year in mid- to late-October. 

To learn about the current Scholar cohort’s Community Change Projects, please see our  recent stories highlighting and celebrating them. To learn more about who helps with Scholar selection, check out our stories highlighting some of our incredible selection committee members.