National Alumni Scholarships

The Drake University National Alumni Scholarship (NAS) is Drake’s most competitive scholarship program. National Alumni Scholarships are awarded to outstanding first-year students entering directly from high school who meet all criteria and complete the full application process.  The 2023 National Alumni Scholarship program will be held virtually.

The deadline for the 2023 scholarship program was December 1, 2022. The 2024 application will be available starting November 1, 2023. 

If you have not yet started your admission application, you must start it before you can set up a scholarship application.

 The Awards

• One full tuition National Alumni Scholarship to Drake University. This award supersedes any other partial tuition scholarship offered.  
• Three Carpenter Scholarships of $10,000 applied towards tuition at Drake University. The recipients will be the top three semi-finalists who complete their participation in a scholarship interview* and National Alumni Scholarship Day program*. This award can be stacked on top of a student’s Presidential Scholarship (which ranges from $24,000-$27,000). However, the Carpenter Scholarship supersedes the Trustee Scholarship.
• Trustee Scholarships of $4,000 toward tuition at Drake University are awarded to scholarship semi-finalists who complete their participation in a scholarship interview* and virtual National Alumni Scholarship program*. This award can be stacked on top of a student’s Presidential Scholarship (which ranges from $24,000-$27,000).

All scholarships are renewable for an additional three years provided full-time enrollment and the required minimum cumulative GPA are maintained.

 The Criteria

In order to apply to compete for these scholarship awards, a student must be entering directly from high school and have a cumulative GPA of 3.8 or above on a 4.0 scale OR rank in the top five percent of their class (weighted GPAs are accepted).

In addition, our National Alumni Scholars are students who demonstrate achievements in other areas such as outstanding academic performance, often recognized by their school, state, or the national level; take responsibility and serve in leadership positions across a variety of activities or organizations making positive contributions to the greater good. Our scholars are students who demonstrate a strong work ethic and commitment to their extracurriculars, work experiences and/or volunteer engagements. Scholars show initiative and creativity through trying something new or unexpected and in how they overcame a hardship or adversity. Finally, scholars demonstrate a passion for their work and their studies. They have a love of learning evident in their achievements and expanding their own world.

 Application Process

All eligible applicants must do the following in order to apply for consideration for these scholarships:

• Complete the application for admission (and all required admission checklist items) by 11:59pm CST on December 1, 2022
• Submit the (separate) National Alumni Scholarship application by 11:59pm CST on December 1, 2022

Applicants will be narrowed to a group of semi-finalists. Students selected as semi-finalists will be notified mid-January. Semi-finalists are required to participate in a virtual scholarship interview and virtual National Alumni Scholarship program in order to both compete for the full tuition National Alumni Scholarship or one of the three, $10,000 Carpenter Scholarships. Regardless of the outcome of the scholarship competition, semi-finalists are guaranteed a Trustee Scholarship of $4,000 so long as they complete their virtual interview and attend the virtual National Alumni Scholarship Program.

The virtual National Alumni Scholarship Semi-Finalist Selection Interviews will take place on:

• Thursday, January 26, 2023
• Sunday, January 29, 2023
• Saturday, February 4 2023

The virtual National Alumni Scholarship Program will be held on:

• Tuesday, February 7, 2023
• Saturday, February 11, 2023

The program includes a 45-minute timed essay for all competitors, which will be evaluated and considered as part of a semi-finalists’ full application.

*Participation in the interview and program portions of the National Alumni Scholarship is by invitation only to application semi-finalists. Semi-finalists are determined after a review of the information submitted within the National Alumni Scholarship application. If invited to the interview and virtual program portions in order to compete for the full tuition National Alumni Scholarship or $10,000 Carpenter scholarship consideration, the applicant will be able to select their interview and program dates from the listed dates offered. Date and time selections will be reserved on a first-available basis.

Notification of awards will be in mid March 2023.

No exceptions are permitted on the December 1, 2022 deadline.