Whether you picture yourself as the person shouting “Lights, camera, action!” or one of the many professionals involved in providing those elements, a degree in film can help you achieve your career goals. Contrary to popular opinion, film can be a versatile and lucrative college major. Beyond actors and directors, countless other people are involved in film and the term “film” extends far past Hollywood blockbusters. A film degree can prepare you for a variety of roles within this dynamic field and can also help you hone your skills and make your mark on the world with your art.
However practical and fulfilling it may be, a film degree is still expensive. While federal aid and student loans can help you shoulder the burden of your film school bills, taking on too much debt can limit your post-graduation prospects and make it hard to get your film career off the ground. Luckily, there are a number of film scholarships to help you pay for school.
You can read through the examples on this page to get an idea of some of the film scholarships available to film students. Some are academic scholarships specifically for film majors, while others are video contests open to everyone. Your college may offer some film scholarships specifically for majors and a variety of local and national awards like those given by AFI and the Screen Actors Guild. There are numerous other film scholarship opportunities out there, too, both based on your major and on other award criteria. To find a full list of scholarships you may qualify for based on your unique characteristics, conduct a free scholarship search on Scholarships.com.
AWM Austin is proud to award scholarships to college juniors and seniors studying media (or related field) at an Austin or San Marcos area university.
Eligibility: -Complete 75+ hours of college course work by December -Must not graduate before December -Minimum 3.25 GPA -Enrolled as a full-time student (carrying a minimum of 12 hours per semester) at an Austin or San Marcos area [...] More
Scholarship applications are read and scored by committees of volunteers who use a "blind" review process.
Eligibility: -Graduating senior from a public or private high school -Who resides in Boone, Ogle, or Winnebago County -Who plans to pursue a degree in visual arts, visual art education, or visual art history -Has a minimum 2.75 GPA -Shows involvement in organizations and activities [...] More
The UFVA sponsored Carole Fielding Student Grants are not tuition-based scholarships. Rather, they are grants for production or research proposals. The scholarship is open to undergraduate and graduate students in film and television. Faculty sponsors must be UFVA members or must be from UFVA member institutions. Categories are narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, multimedia, and [...] More
The CBC Spouses Visual Arts Scholarship is for African-American or black students with majors in the visual arts including, but not limited to, architecture, ceramics, drawing, fashion, graphic design, illustration, interior design, painting, photography, sketching, video production and other decorative arts. Students must be currently/planning to be enrolled in the upcoming academic year as a [...] More
The Francis D. Lyon Scholarships are available to students of film making. Mr. Lyon had a distinguished motion picture and television career as a film editor, director and producer. He received an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best film editor in 1948 for the movie "Body and Soul."
Both undergraduate and graduate students are invited to apply. To be considered [...] More
The New York Women in Communications Foundation, in conjunction with New York Women in Communications, awards the Interpublic Group (IPG) Scholarship and Internship annually based on academic excellence, need and involvement in the field of communications.
Each is awarded to an ethnically diverse student who is currently a college junior and has a demonstrated interest in a career in [...] More
The Jack G. Shaheen Mass Communications Scholarship was created to honor Arab American students who excel in media studies.
Eligibility: -Be a currently enrolled as a junior, senior, or graduate student -Majoring in journalism, radio, television and/or film -Must have a minimum 3.0 GPA -Be a U.S. citizen of Arab heritage
For more information or to apply, please visit the scholarship [...] More
The Liberty Lab for Film (or LLF) is an advanced program for those who have filmmaking, screenwriting, producing experience and want an opportunity to work alongside like-minded creatives with the guidance of seasoned professionals such as Daniel Knauf, (co-executive producer, NBC's The Blacklist) Adam Simon (creator of the FOX series Salem) and screenwriter David H. Steinberg (American Pie 2) [...] More
The Television Academy Foundation's Mister Rogers Memorial Scholarship Program awards two scholarships to graduating seniors (must be continuing directly to graduate school) and graduate students (Masters or Ph.D) to support and encourage them to pursue a career in children's media and further the values and principles of Fred Rogers' work. The scholarships are project-based and may not be used [...] More
MIT INSPIRE is the first national research competition for high school students in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The competition is organized by MIT undergraduates. Participating high school students, as individuals or teams of two will submit research reports in one of 13 fields, such as history, economics, or philosophy. Approximately 100 finalists with the most exceptional reports [...] More
The New York Women in Communications Foundation, in conjunction with New York Women in Communications, awards scholarships annually based on academic excellence, need and involvement in the field of communications.
Eligibility: -High school seniors who are permanent residents of NY, NJ, CT or PA, attend a high school in one of these states, and will graduate this spring -College [...] More
The Sandy Schenker Capell scholarship was created to honor Sandy and her commitment to mentoring and developing young talent. The scholarship will be awarded each year to a Houston area high school senior interested in a career in media. The ideal candidate will represent the qualities that Sandy exuded in her daily life. For more information or to apply, please visit the scholarship provider's [...] More
The Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation awards scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students studying television and film production. Awards are given to juniors and seniors who demonstrate academic excellence, financial need, and professional [...] More
The Floyd Mayweather Jr. Foundation Scholarship for the Advancement of Women in Sports & Entertainment is intended for eligible college and graduate school women who desire to work and contribute their efforts within the field. Due to the under-representation of this demographic in the industry, this scholarship fund has been established in order to aid women in furthering their education, [...] More
Founded in memory of James Alan Cox, a television photojournalist, The James Alan Cox Foundation for Student Photojournalists aims to provide financial support to student photographers of high school and college age. The focus of work and entries is photojournalism. Various scholarships will be awarded to those students whose work "tells a story." This is a fairly broad topic and may include a [...] More
The NATAS-Upper Midwest Chapter/Foundation offers $2,500 student scholarship grants to be used for tuition & books. Scholarships are open to high school and college/university students living in the five-state area served by the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa & western Wisconsin)
The Warrior Women in Leadership program provides leadership development programming and financial assistance to women seeking a full-time residential degree at Waldorf University. These scholarships, up to full tuition, will be awarded to several women based on their leadership potential and academic record. The mission of our program is to assist in educating the whole person; emphasizing [...] More
A New Jersey community college professor allegedly shouted obscenities at a politically-conservative student during a sociology lecture on sexual harassment, which has ignited complaints about the college being a "liberal atmosphere where alternative political viewpoints are not tolerated." According to other students, this incident was "one of the many disagreements" that took place over the course of the semester. [...]
A gun-toting Tennessee college senior showed her support for President Trump and guns while holding her shirt up to reveal her handgun in her graduation photos to "show who [she is] as a person." The photo, which went viral on Twitter, gained both positive and negative feedback - some of which claimed she was "brandishing a firearm for a photo shoot or showing it off to try and look cool." [...]
A professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz believed she was "unstalkable" up until a student of hers began sending messages that were at first flirtatious and ultimately turned to threats of rape and murder. Much of the #MeToo conversation in higher education revolves around educators who "harass" or "target" students; but some educators themselves actually become vulnerable to harassment by their own students and remain silent out of a sense of guilt, embarrassment, and often the fear of losing their jobs. [...]
