Scholarships

Please find a listing of scholarships the South Carolina Department of Education publicizes in the "Additional Resources & Information" section. Please note that deadlines and contacts vary for each scholarship.

Archibald Rutledge Scholarship: The Archibald Rutledge Scholarship program, named for South Carolina’s first poet laureate, offers twelfth-grade students (enrolled in a public school in South Carolina) the opportunity to compete for a scholarship in creative writing, dance, music, theatre, or visual arts as well as encourages and recognizes academic and artistic excellence among South Carolina students.

US Senate Youth Program Scholarship: Each year, two student leaders from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity normally get to spend a week in Washington, D.C., experiencing their national government in action. This year due to the pandemic, we are having to hold the entire program online. When South Carolina’s two delegates are selected, they will be awarded a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship. The selected delegates will be required to completely block the timeframe of the program and attend all online events in order to serve as delegates and receive the $10,000 scholarship. Delegates will be required to acknowledge in writing they fully understand all rules relating to this scholarship program. Student delegates who are selected and fail to attend all events of the Washington Week program, will forfeit the $10,000 scholarship funds to an alternate delegate.

SC Teaching Fellows Program: The mission of the South Carolina Teaching Fellows Program is to recruit talented high school seniors into the teaching profession and to help them develop leadership qualities. Each year, the program provides fellowships to up to 200 high school seniors.

SC Teacher Loan Program: The South Carolina Teacher Loan Program encourages residents to enter the teaching profession. A teacher can cancel portions of his or her student loan by teaching in certain critical geographical and subject areas. Both rural and suburban schools are designated as critical geographic areas. These areas are designated annually by the State Board of Education. It is a recipient's responsibility to determine a school's designation prior to accepting employment.

SC Hope Scholarship: The South Carolina HOPE Scholarship program is a merit-based scholarship for students attending a four-year institution who do not qualify for the LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship. This award is for the first year of attendance only.

Palmetto Fellows Scholarship: The Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Program is a merit-based program established to recognize the most academically talented high school seniors in South Carolina and to encourage them to attend college in the state. Its intent also is to retain talented minority students who might otherwise pursue studies outside the state.

Lottery Tuition Assistance Program: The Lottery Tuition Assistance Program provides tuition assistance to South Carolina residents attending a two-year public or private institution.

LIFE Scholarship: The Legislative Incentive for Future Excellence (LIFE) Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship. Its purpose is to increase access to higher education, improve employability of South Carolina students, provide incentives for students to be better prepared for college, and encourage students to graduate from college on time. The scholarship may be used towards the cost of attendance for up to eight terms, based on the student's initial college enrollment date.

Guidance for High School Seniors from SC Commission on Higher Education: The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) has issued guidelines for public high schools with regards to grading and the end of the academic year. The scholarships will be awarded based on the students’ final high school GPA and class ranking at the end of the school year, as directed by the SCDE.