APA Scholarships
The APA Foundation scholarships aim to make the planning profession more accessible to individuals with limited means and to attract the best, brightest, and most talented individuals to the planning profession.
By providing scholarships to students of great merit and from historically underrepresented groups we make our profession more representative of — and therefore more responsive to — the diverse communities it serves.
Below are examples of scholarships supported by the APA Foundation's Scholarships Initiative.
APA Foundation Scholarship
One facet of the APA Foundation's mission is advancing social equity in the profession and in our communities. In support of this mission, the Foundation offers the APA Foundation Scholarship. Recipients of the APA Foundation Scholarship will advance social equity in the profession and demonstrate academic success.
Eligibility
Women, people of color and indigenous descent, veterans, disabled persons, and members of the LGBTQ community who are currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)-approved programs. Applicants must be APA members; membership for students is free.
This scholarship is awarded annually to students intending to pursue careers as practicing planners who will diversify the profession and who are able to demonstrate a genuine financial need.
Applicants must have at least 2 (two) recommendation letters submitted on their behalf.
Charles Abrams Scholarship
Charles Abrams was an internationally recognized authority on housing and urban affairs who died in 1970. Throughout his career, he exhibited an active desire to help students in planning programs. In his honor, the American Planning Association administers a scholarship fund established by his widow and a number of his colleagues.
Eligibility
Graduate students who are enrolled or have been accepted for enrollment at one of the five schools at which Charles Abrams taught (see below): Columbia University, Harvard University, MIT, New School University, or the University of Pennsylvania. Students must be citizens of the United States.
This scholarship is awarded annually to students intending to pursue careers as practicing planners and who are able to demonstrate a genuine financial need. One award of $2,000 is made. Students must be nominated by the program's department chair; applications must be submitted through a student's planning program.
Students from the following schools are eligible for the Abrams Scholarship:
- Columbia University, Division of Urban Planning
- Harvard University, Urban Planning Program (Master in Urban Planning) Harvard Graduate School of Design (formerly Harvard University, City & Regional Planning Program of the Graduate School of Architecture and Design)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies & Planning
- New School University, Urban Policy Analysis & Management Program, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management & Urban Policy (formerly New School for Social Research, New York, Department for Urban Affairs & Policy Analysis)
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of City & Regional Planning
A letter or statement of nomination by the department chair discussing the reasons why the student was chosen, comments on the student's strengths, areas of interest, and other abilities, as appropriate must be submitted with your application.
Judith McManus Price Scholarship
The Judith McManus Price Scholarship for Women and Minorities in Planning was established in 2002 through the generosity of her husband and children. Judith Price was an exceptional planner in Texas and New Mexico. The scholarship fund was created to encourage women and minorities to enter the field of planning, and to help planning students who have demonstrated financial need.
Eligibility
Women and minority (African American, Hispanic American, or Native American) students enrolled in an approved Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)-approved program who are citizens of the United States, intend to pursue careers as practicing planners in the public sector, and are able to demonstrate a genuine financial need are eligible to apply for this scholarship.