Jeannette Rankin National Scholar

The Jeannette Rankin Foundation invites diverse volunteers from around the country to serve as application reviewers. Application reviewers are trained and must complete an assessment and sign a confidentiality agreement before they are allowed to begin. We use a three-tier review process where a different group of volunteers reviews each application at each level. These three levels of volunteers review Every application at least five times. Finally, we take the reviews and aggregate scores from each level and select the new class of Scholars.

Jeannette Rankin Scholar Grant Eligibility Requirements

An applicant for a JRF Scholar Grant must be:

A woman, trans, nonbinary, intersex, agender, or queer individual over the age of 35

Demonstrate Financial Need (meet income eligibility requirements)

A U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident of the United States

Pursuing a technical or vocational education, an associate’s degree, or a first bachelor’s degree

Enrolled in or accepted to a regionally accredited and not-for-profit school

Selection Factors

Your Goals
Your plan for reaching your goals
How will you use your education to give back to the community?

Income Guidelines

JRF’s low-income eligibility is based on the student’s estimated household income for the coming year. Our income guidelines come from the Department of Labor’s Lower Living Standard. The figures below are updated each year by November 1st.

Household Size………………………Annual Income

1……………………………………………….. at or below $23,500

2……………………………………………….at or below $38,511

3……………………………………………….at or below $52,863

4……………………………………………….at or below $65,257

5……………………………………………….at or below $77,014

6……………………………………………….at or below $90,059

Non-Discrimination Policy

The Jeannette Rankin Foundation’s policy is to make financial awards to people who self-identify as women without regard to race, creed, religion, color, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, or physical and cognitive disability. Jeannette Rankin Foundation defines women as all those who suffer under the material conditions that have historically been assigned to women, which includes trans and nonbinary people, intersex and agender people, and queer people.

Accreditation

Middle States Commission on Higher Education

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Western Association of Schools and Colleges

We verify accreditation, and if your school is unaccredited, your application will be automatically disqualified.

Additional accreditations by an agency listed on the following website may be accepted at JRF’s sole discretion.

https://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg7.html#NationalInstitutional

If you encounter any technical errors with your application, check out the Submitter Help Center at https://www.submittable.com/help/submitter/ or contact the Submittable’s technical support team via email at support@submitable.com.

Application review criteria

Your application will be reviewed and assessed based on the following criteria:

Your academic and/or professional goals. Reviewers assess each application to see if the applicant provides concrete and realistic goals along with examples of how they plan to achieve their academic and professional goals stated in the application.
Your plan for reaching your goals. Reviewers look to see that the applicant provides a clear plan for how they will reach their goals.
How you will use your education to give back to your community.

Sign up for our Applicant Support Hours
Every Wednesday from 4 – 5 p.m. PST / 7 – 8 p.m. EST, the Jeannette Rankin Foundation team walks through our grant eligibility criteria, the application process, and timeline, and tips for strengthening your application. Interested applicants are invited to bring questions. Email info@rankinfoundation.org with interest and to receive a Zoom link.
Application period status: The application cycle is OPEN for the 2025 – 2026 Grant Cycle.

Application opens: November 11, 2024

Application closes: February 16, 2025

Application and recommendation letter deadline: February 16, 2025

Applicants notified: July 31, 2025

*Only a select number of applicants will be chosen as grant recipients. All applicants will be contacted regarding your application status, whether you have been chosen as a recipient or not.