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 the scholarships supported by the APA Foundation's Scholarships Initiative that are being offered this year.
APA Foundation Diversity Scholarship
One facet of the APA Foundation's mission is advancing social equity in the profession and our communities. The Foundation offers the APA Foundation Diversity Scholarship to support this mission. Recipients of the APA Foundation Diversity 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 can demonstrate a genuine financial need.
Applicants must have at least 2 (two) recommendation letters submitted on their behalf.
For the 2024 cycle, more than 20 scholarships were awarded at $5,000 each.
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 several of his colleagues.
ELIGIBILITY
A student will be selected from among nominees of the following five schools:
- 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
Applicants must have at least 2 (two) recommendation letters submitted on their behalf. They must be a U.S. citizen and accepted into the graduate planning program at one of the five eligible schools. A nomination by the department chair is required. Incoming students are eligible, providing a letter of acceptance into the graduate planning program of the specific school accompanies their nominating letter.
For the 2025 cycle, we will be offering one scholarship of $5,000.
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, Asian American, Hispanic American, or Native American) students enrolled in Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)-approved programs who are citizens of the United States, intend to pursue careers as practicing planners in the public sector, and can demonstrate a genuine financial need are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
For the 2025 cycle, we will be offering one scholarship of $5,000.