Artificial Intelligence for Good Scholarships: Verified Scholarships, Fellowships, and Funded AI Opportunities

Artificial Intelligence for Good Scholarships: Complete Guide

If you are searching for Artificial Intelligence for Good scholarships, the first thing to know is that this niche does not behave like broad STEM or computer science scholarships. A lot of the strongest opportunities are not traditional one-time scholarships. They are fellowships, funded research programs, policy tracks, paid scholar programs, and fully funded graduate pathways built around using AI to solve real-world problems.

That is actually good news. It means students and early-career researchers who care about AI for accessibility, health, climate, education, safety, public policy, ethics, or community impact often have more than one way in. Some opportunities give direct tuition-style support. Others fund research, travel, living costs, or hands-on work with experts. The key is applying to the programs that match your stage: high school, undergraduate, graduate, PhD, or early-career professional.

March Deadlines

1) Google DeepMind Scholars at AIMS South Africa: AI for Science Master’s

Why It Slaps: This is one of the strongest true AI-for-good opportunities on the board because it is built around using AI for scientific discovery, not hype. The program sits at the intersection of AI, mathematics, and applied science, with focus areas including fields like cosmology, epidemiology, and ecology. It is especially powerful because the scholarship support is comprehensive rather than symbolic. If you want to use machine learning to tackle real scientific and human problems across Africa, this is elite-level opportunity territory.

Amount: Full scholarship covering tuition, accommodation, living expenses, flights, medical insurance, and research/AI experiment costs
Deadline: March 6, 2026 for the first round
Apply/info: AI for Science Master’s at AIMS South Africa

2) AI for Good Scholar (ITU)

Why It Slaps: This is one of the rare opportunities tied directly to the global AI for Good movement itself. Instead of rewarding generic “I like AI” interest, it is designed for people developing or refining AI use cases that support sustainable development goals. The upside is not just visibility. Scholars get recognition, mentoring, and funding to attend the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva. That makes it especially attractive for applicants who want to build public-interest AI work and connect with the right ecosystem fast.

Amount: Funding to attend the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, plus mentoring and recognition
Deadline: March 17, 2026
Apply/info: Become an AI for Good Scholar

3) Microsoft Disability Scholarship

Why It Slaps: This one matters because it rewards more than grades. Microsoft’s application asks students to propose a technology innovation that improves the lives of people with disabilities, which makes it a natural fit for students interested in accessible AI, assistive technology, inclusive software, and human-centered design. It also works well for high school seniors who want to connect their future tech studies to visible social impact. For the right student, it is both a financial win and a brand-aligned story for future applications.

Amount: Eight $20,000 scholarships, paid as $5,000 per year and renewable
Deadline: The current official page shows a March 17, 2025 deadline; watch for the next cycle
Apply/info: Microsoft Disability Scholarship

4) NSHSS Innovation in Technology Scholarship 2026

Why It Slaps: This is a cleaner fit than most general tech scholarships because the prompt directly mentions coding, artificial intelligence, robotics, and technology. That means applicants can openly frame their work around AI tools, socially useful engineering, responsible product design, or real-world technical problem solving. It is also one of the more usable options for students who are not yet deep researchers but have real initiative, projects, or leadership in tech. If you are a strong storyteller with a solid AI angle, this is worth a serious shot.

Amount: Five $2,000 awards
Deadline: March 30, 2026
Apply/info: NSHSS Innovation in Technology Scholarship 2026

April Deadlines

5) Google PhD Fellowship Program

Why It Slaps: This is one of the highest-value research fellowships in the space, and it is more relevant to AI-for-good than many people realize. Google explicitly includes focus areas such as health research, AI for accessibility, responsible AI in HCI, and privacy, safety, and security. That means socially useful AI work is not a side angle here; it is directly aligned with the program’s research areas. If your work touches health, inclusion, safe systems, or meaningful public-impact ML, this is absolutely one of the top-tier targets.

Amount: Varies by region; for Canada and the United States, up to $85,000 per year for up to two years
Deadline: April 30, 2026
Apply/info: Google PhD Fellowship Program

6) Mila AI Policy Fellowship

Why It Slaps: This is one of the best public-interest AI fellowships live right now. Mila’s fellowship is built for people who want to shape policy in areas such as information integrity, health and wellbeing, Indigenous AI, education, climate, and the natural world. That range makes it unusually flexible for applicants whose work sits between AI, law, policy, ethics, and society. The program is paid, fully funded for in-person components, and designed for serious policy outputs rather than vague networking.

Amount: Paid fellowship at an hourly rate; travel and event costs for required in-person components are covered
Deadline: April 16, 2026
Apply/info: Mila AI Policy Fellowship

7) AISES ARDC Scholarship

Why It Slaps: This is not branded as an AI scholarship, but it fits the list because it supports Indigenous students in fields that feed directly into communications, computing, information technology, and digital systems. Students building toward socially useful AI careers often come up through adjacent foundations like math, information systems, and engineering. This award is also appealing because it supports undergrad and graduate students and sits inside a mission-driven Indigenous STEM pathway. For applicants who want to connect technical education with community impact, it is a strong fit.

Amount: $5,000
Deadline: April 30
Apply/info: AISES Scholarships / ARDC Scholarship

8) AISES A.T. Anderson Scholarship

Why It Slaps: This is a broader STEM scholarship, but it belongs in this guide because many future AI-for-good builders start with the simple question of how to stay funded in a STEM degree. The A.T. Anderson Scholarship is especially valuable for Indigenous students who want room to move across math, computing, engineering, or interdisciplinary technical pathways without being boxed into one narrow major label. That flexibility matters. A lot of socially useful AI work is built on broad STEM training first and specialization second.

Amount: $1,000 for undergraduate students and $2,000 for graduate students
Deadline: April 30
Apply/info: AISES Scholarships / A.T. Anderson Scholarship

May Deadlines

9) OpenAI Safety Fellowship

Why It Slaps: This is one of the strongest currently open opportunities for applicants who want AI careers centered on safety, ethics, robustness, oversight, privacy-preserving safety methods, and high-impact risk reduction. The fellowship is explicitly designed for external researchers, engineers, and practitioners, and it includes a monthly stipend, compute support, and mentorship. That combination is rare. If your vision of “AI for good” means safer and more trustworthy systems, this is exactly the kind of program to prioritize.

Amount: Monthly stipend plus compute support and mentorship
Deadline: May 3, 2026
Apply/info: OpenAI Safety Fellowship

August Deadlines / Openings

10) AWS AI & ML Scholars

Why It Slaps: This is not a cash scholarship, but it is a highly usable access pathway for people who need skill-building without paying for an expensive program. AWS covers the full cost of a four-month Udacity Nanodegree for selected participants and explicitly includes responsible AI practices in the AI Engineer track. That matters because many “learn AI” programs skip safety and accountability. If you are early in your journey and need a lower-barrier, global on-ramp into AI work, this is a practical option.

Amount: Full cost of a four-month Udacity Nanodegree
Deadline: The Challenge Phase has run from May 28 to August 1; current registration is closed
Apply/info: AWS AI & ML Scholars

11) Cohere Labs Scholars Program

Why It Slaps: This is one of the better “bridge” opportunities for emerging AI researchers who need mentorship, real work, and credibility more than they need a tiny one-off award. It is a remote-first, full-time paid scholars program that runs for eight months and opens applications annually around August. That structure is valuable because it gives you enough runway to grow into research rather than just listing a win on LinkedIn. For early-career talent with curiosity and promise, this can be a real accelerator.

Amount: Paid full-time scholar position; exact compensation not publicly listed on the main page
Deadline: Applications typically open around August each year
Apply/info: Cohere Labs Scholars Program

September Deadlines

12) NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Program

Why It Slaps: NVIDIA’s fellowship is more research-heavy than mission-branded, but it is still a strong AI-for-good fit for PhD students working on AI, robotics, accelerated computing, or adjacent systems that can drive major real-world advances. The award size is large, and NVIDIA explicitly calls for work in artificial intelligence and related fields. This is a strong choice for doctoral students whose research has clear downstream public value in medicine, science, transportation, or large-scale computing systems. It is competitive, but the upside is big.

Amount: Up to $60,000 per award
Deadline: The current official page shows September 15, 2025 deadlines for both recommendation letters and final application; current cycle is closed
Apply/info: NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Program

October Deadlines

13) NSHSS AI Advocates Scholarship 2026

Why It Slaps: This is one of the clearest high-school-level fits for the title of this article. The essay prompt is not just about liking AI. It asks how you have helped others understand or engage with AI in ethical and creative ways, which puts responsible use and community leadership at the center. That makes it a natural target for students doing AI clubs, student workshops, classroom projects, or public education work around AI literacy. If you have a leadership angle, this one is very on-brand.

Amount: Two $1,500 awards
Deadline: October 8, 2026
Apply/info: NSHSS AI Advocates Scholarship 2026

Rolling, Varies, or Check Live Page

14) Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship

Why It Slaps: This is broader than “AI for good,” but it remains one of the smartest pipeline plays for high school seniors who want to enter CS with real financial support and industry exposure. The scholarship pairs college funding with the possibility of a paid internship, which makes it more powerful than many stand-alone awards. It is especially attractive for students from financially constrained backgrounds who want to build toward socially useful AI, software, data, or systems work later. Sometimes the best AI-for-good strategy starts with a broad, high-value CS launchpad.

Amount: Up to $40,000 total, plus an offer to complete a summer internship at Amazon
Deadline: Current page says applications are closed; watch the live page for the next cycle
Apply/info: Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship

15) IAPS AI Policy Fellowship

Why It Slaps: If you care about AI governance, public policy, geopolitics, national security, evaluations, or institutional guardrails around advanced AI, this is a serious opportunity. The Institute for AI Policy and Strategy runs a fully funded three-month fellowship designed to produce real policy outputs, not fluffy thought leadership. It also welcomes people across a wide span of experience, including some applicants who are still in undergrad. For mission-driven applicants who want to influence how powerful AI is governed, this one hits hard.

Amount: $15,000 stipend for Fellows and $22,000 for Senior Fellows, plus healthcare benefits and a professional development stipend
Deadline: Current cycle closed; the official page says the Fall 2026 cohort opens in April
Apply/info: IAPS AI Policy Fellowship

16) Anthropic Fellows Program

Why It Slaps: This is one of the most exciting options for people who want to move into empirical AI safety research without needing a perfect traditional academic path. Anthropic explicitly says you do not need a PhD, prior ML experience, or published papers to be competitive if you have the technical skill and research ability to execute. The fellowship funds four months of work on high-priority safety questions and includes large compute support plus close mentorship. For builders who want practical alignment and safety work, this is a standout.

Amount: Weekly stipend of 3,850 USD / 2,310 GBP / 4,300 CAN, plus compute funding of about $15,000 per month
Deadline: Current official page announces May and July 2026 cohorts; check the live page for the active application window
Apply/info: Anthropic Fellows Program for AI Safety Research

17) AI for Good Foundation Sustainable Development Policy Fellowship

Why It Slaps: This is one of the cleanest name-to-mission matches in the entire niche. The foundation’s fellowship program brings applicants into work at the intersection of sustainability and AI/ML, which makes it a natural fit for students and researchers who want to focus on environmental, social, or policy-oriented impact. The policy track is especially useful for people whose strength is not pure coding but strategy, governance, communication, or public-interest problem solving. That makes it a strong differentiator in a field crowded with purely technical programs.

Amount: Paid/funded fellowship support is offered through the program; exact amount is not publicly listed on the main page
Deadline: Summer fellowship cycle; check the live page for the current year’s application window
Apply/info: AI for Good Foundation Fellowship Program

18) AI for Good Foundation Artificial Intelligence Research Fellowship

Why It Slaps: This track is a better fit for applicants who want hands-on AI research tied to social impact rather than general product work. The foundation positions fellows at the intersection of sustainability and AI/ML, which helps applicants tell a much stronger “AI for good” story than they usually can with generic research internships. It is also a good fit for people who want applied research with mission language already built in. That kind of alignment can matter a lot when you are shaping your portfolio.

19) GovAI DC Summer Fellowship

Why It Slaps: This is a strong fit for applicants who want to work where AI policy meets real institutions, especially in the U.S. policy ecosystem. The fellowship is designed to launch or accelerate impactful careers in American AI governance and policy, and it welcomes everyone from promising undergrads to more experienced professionals. That breadth is rare. If your version of AI for good is about getting policy right before the stakes get bigger, this is one of the better funded routes in the space.

Amount: $21,000 stipend plus support for travel to Washington, DC
Deadline: Current cycle is closed; check the live page for the next round
Apply/info: GovAI DC Summer Fellowship 2026

20) GovAI Summer Fellowship 2026, Research Track

Why It Slaps: This is a compelling option for people who want to produce research or analysis that actually informs AI governance, not just comment on it from the sidelines. The research track is built around independent work with mentorship, seminars, and a serious AI governance community around you. It is especially good for applicants who want to publish, write policy analysis, or build expertise that translates into future think tank, government, or public-interest roles. For the right candidate, this can be career-shaping.

Amount: £12,000 stipend plus support for travel to London
Deadline: Current cycle is closed; check the live page for the next round
Apply/info: GovAI Summer Fellowship 2026, Research Track

21) Apple Scholars in AIML

Why It Slaps: Apple’s Scholars in AIML program is a strong fit for applicants whose work sits in areas like AI for health and wellness, AI for accessibility, privacy-preserving machine learning, ethics and fairness, or human-centered AI. It is not openly mass-market, but for students at invited institutions it is high prestige and meaningfully aligned with beneficial AI use cases. The combination of funding, mentorship, and internship opportunity makes it much stronger than a badge-only recognition program. This is one to flag early with your faculty and department.

Amount: Funding, mentorship with Apple researchers, and internship opportunities; exact amount is not publicly listed on the current page
Deadline: Nomination process handled through invited institutions; check with your university
Apply/info: Apple Scholars in AIML

22) OpenAI Research Grants for AI and Mental Health

Why It Slaps: This is technically a grant program rather than a classic scholarship, but it absolutely belongs in an AI-for-good guide because the mission is direct: support independent research at the intersection of AI, safety, wellbeing, and mental health. If your work is about using AI responsibly in one of the most sensitive human-impact domains, this is unusually aligned. It is also significant in scale. For qualified researchers or teams, it can fund work that would be hard to support through smaller student-style awards.

Amount: Up to $2 million total in grants
Deadline: The page showed submissions through December 19, 2025; current round is closed
Apply/info: AI and Mental Health Research Grants

How to Pick the Right Artificial Intelligence for Good Scholarship

A smart way to approach this list is to stop asking, “Which scholarship is biggest?” and start asking, “Which opportunity best matches my stage and mission?” High school students should lean into programs like NSHSS, Microsoft Disability Scholarship, and broad pipeline opportunities like Amazon Future Engineer. College students and early-career applicants should look hard at AWS AI & ML Scholars, Cohere, AI for Good Foundation, and policy fellowships. Graduate students and researchers should prioritize Google PhD Fellowship, Mila, IAPS, Anthropic, GovAI, OpenAI Safety, NVIDIA, and Apple if eligible.

The second filter is your version of “good.” Some applicants are really talking about accessibility. Others mean AI safety, climate, education, public policy, mental health, healthcare, or scientific discovery. The best application essays do not try to sound trendy. They make a clear case for one lane and show proof that the applicant has already started moving in it.

FAQ

What counts as an “AI for Good” scholarship?

It usually means the funding supports work in areas like accessibility, health, education, climate, safety, public-interest policy, ethics, scientific discovery, or community benefit. In this niche, many of the strongest options are fellowships or funded research programs rather than simple one-time scholarships.

Are there enough true AI-for-good scholarships for high school seniors?

There are some, but not a huge number. High school seniors usually do best by combining a few direct-fit AI/tech scholarships with broader STEM and computer science scholarships that still support an AI-for-good path later.

Is a fellowship as good as a scholarship?

Often it is better. A fellowship may give you money, mentorship, a network, a portfolio project, real-world output, and a stronger resume signal than a small scholarship check.

Can I apply if I am not a computer science major?

Yes, in many cases. Public policy, law, economics, sociology, education, health, accessibility, and interdisciplinary research can all fit the AI-for-good space depending on the program.

What should I write about in my essay?

Focus on a real problem, a credible AI use case, and the people affected. Strong essays show judgment, not just excitement. Explain what problem you care about, why it matters, what responsible AI would look like, and what you have already done to move in that direction.

Should I still apply if the current cycle is closed?

Yes. Closed cycles are still useful for building your target list. Many of these programs return annually or in recurring cohorts, and getting ahead early gives you time to prepare essays, references, and project proof.