Apply for a scholarship
Scholarship application is OPEN
The Spring 2025 scholarship application opened on Oct. 29, 2024 and will remaing open until funds are exhausted. Finalists will be notified via email.
Scholarship Official Rules
No purchase is necessary to enter or win.
Eligibility
Leaves from Stella Scholarships are open only to residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, who are between 17 and 24 years of age, who have experienced the death of a parent/legal guardian or sibling. A minor should have a parent’s or legal guardian’s permission to enter and be a high school senior when applying. Void where prohibited by law. Leaves from Stella scholarships are subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
How to enter
To enter, visit www.leavesfromstella.org/apply and complete and submit the online application form, as well as email a creative submission to nathalie@leavesfromstella.org describing the financial and emotional challenges the entrant has experienced as a result of the death of a parent or sibling.
Limit one (1) entry per entrant. Past scholarship winners are eligible to reapply and be selected for the award no more than two (2) times. All entries become the property of Leaves from Stella and will not be returned. Entry must be submitted in English, be the entrant’s original creation, be true and verifiable, created solely by the entrant. Entry must be 100% original and not contain third-party materials subject to copyright including but not limited to music, video clips, artwork, and photos.
Entry cannot defame or invade the publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or proprietary rights. Modifying, enhancing, or altering a third party’s pre-existing work does not qualify as an entrant’s original creation. Entry may not be offensive or inappropriate, as determined by judges in their sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry it deems to be inappropriate, offensive, or is not in keeping with Leaves from Stella’s mission, at its sole discretion.
Selection process
All eligible entries received will be judged by a panel on the criteria of:
Need and Merit Alignment: the compelling nature of the student’s entry, the impact this loss has had on their life and educational attainment goals, as well as a clear outline for how the funds would be used as it relates to the entrant’s educational attainment goals.
Priority will be given to applicants who are currently enrolled in or have been accepted to a college, university, or trade school within the fifty (50) United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.
Finalists will be notified of an interview with a member of the board of directors via email on a rolling basis.
Winners will be notified by telephone and/or email. In the event of a tie, such tied entries will be re-judged by an additional “tie-breaking” judge based on the criteria set forth herein. Leaves from Stella’s board of directors reserve the right not to award all scholarships in the event it receives an insufficient number of eligible entries that meet the minimum judging criteria.
Scholarship
Scholarships are paid directly to winners via certified check. All federal, state, and local taxes and any other costs and expenses not specifically stated herein as being awarded are the winner's sole responsibility. No transfer, assignment, cash redemption, or substitution of scholarship except by Sponsor who may substitute a scholarship with one of equal or greater value, at its sole discretion.