Top 30 Scholarships for College Sophomores

Looking for college sophomore scholarships? Here are 30 verified scholarships for 2026, sorted by deadline month, with amounts, deadlines, and live apply links.

January

1) Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the biggest opportunity-makers on the board for college sophomores at community colleges. If you are finishing an associate path and planning to transfer to a four-year school, this scholarship can dramatically reduce debt and open doors at highly selective universities. It is especially strong for high-achieving students with financial need who want more than just a one-time award, because the program also brings advising and transfer support on top of money.
Amount: Up to $55,000 per year.
Deadline: January 7, 2026.
Apply/info: https://www.jkcf.org/our-scholarships/undergraduate-transfer-scholarship/

2) APIA Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a strong pick for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander undergrads because it is built for students who may be underserved financially and academically overlooked by bigger national programs. Sophomores fit well here since the program supports current undergraduates, and the award range is broad enough that it can help whether you need a smaller tuition boost or a much larger multi-year package. It is also a smart application for first-generation and lower-income students.
Amount: $2,500 to $20,000.
Deadline: January 15, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET.
Apply/info: https://apiascholars.org/scholarships/

3) Boren Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Boren is a standout for sophomores who want to study abroad and connect language learning to national security, public service, and international careers. It is especially attractive if you are studying a critical language and want funding that can cover a serious overseas program instead of just a short academic trip. This scholarship is not for everyone, but for the right sophomore in international studies, STEM, policy, or regional studies, it can be a career-shaping award.
Amount: Up to $8,000 for summer STEM programs, up to $12,500 for 12–24 week programs, and up to $25,000 for 25–52 week programs.
Deadline: January 28, 2026.
Apply/info: https://www.borenawards.org/apply-now

4) Barry Goldwater Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Goldwater is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the country for sophomores headed toward research careers in math, engineering, and the natural sciences. If you already have faculty mentors, lab experience, or a serious research record by sophomore year, this is the kind of award that can strengthen your grad school and fellowship profile in a major way. It is competitive, but for the right student, it carries reputation value far beyond the dollar amount.
Amount: Up to $7,500 per academic year.
Deadline: January 30, 2026 for institutional nominations; campus deadlines are usually earlier.
Apply/info: https://goldwaterscholarship.gov/

5) NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a terrific sophomore-year target if your major lines up with NOAA mission fields like marine science, environmental science, meteorology, ecology, geoscience, or related STEM areas. The program is built around students moving into their junior year, which makes sophomores the sweet spot. The combination of academic funding plus a paid summer internship gives it more real-world value than many scholarships that only send one check and disappear.
Amount: Up to $9,500 per year for two years, plus a paid summer internship.
Deadline: January 31, 2026.
Apply/info: https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/hollings-scholarship

6) AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Scholarships
Why It Slaps: Aerospace-minded sophomores should have this one on their radar because AIAA explicitly offers undergraduate scholarships to college sophomores, juniors, and seniors. It works especially well for students in aerospace engineering, astronautics, avionics, and adjacent fields who want a major-specific award with real industry credibility. The membership requirement is a hoop, but the field-specific fit is excellent if aviation or space is your lane.
Amount: Generally $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the specific award.
Deadline: January 31, 2026.
Apply/info: https://aiaa.org/get-involved/university-students/undergraduate-scholarships-graduate-awards/

February

7) Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar Program
Why It Slaps: HSF is a strong all-around option for Hispanic college sophomores because it is well-known, flexible, and designed for students continuing at four-year institutions. The money is helpful, but the real advantage is that HSF can also connect students to a broader scholar network and additional opportunities. If you are a sophomore with a solid GPA and financial need, this is one of the smartest national applications to keep in your annual rotation.
Amount: $500 to $5,000.
Deadline: February 15, 2026.
Apply/info: https://www.hsf.net/scholarship

8) ScholarSHPE
Why It Slaps: ScholarSHPE is a high-value fit for sophomore STEM students who are building community and career traction through SHPE. The program is designed for students pursuing STEM degrees at accredited two-year and four-year colleges, so it works well whether you are at a community college or already in a bachelor’s program. It is especially useful for sophomores who want scholarship money plus stronger visibility inside the Hispanic STEM pipeline.
Amount: $2,000 minimum; some awards are larger.
Deadline: February 16, 2026.
Apply/info: https://shpe.org/engage/programs/scholarshpe/

9) AbbVie Community Equity Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This one deserves special attention because it is explicitly built for current undergraduate sophomores. If you are in Massachusetts, attending a community college, and planning to transfer into a four-year STEM program, this is exactly the kind of niche scholarship that can beat broader national odds. It is a targeted scholarship with a clear sophomore pathway, which makes it much more relevant than many generic undergrad awards.
Amount: $2,500 to $5,000.
Deadline: February 10, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/abbviecommunity/

March

10) Udall Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Udall is a prestige scholarship that hits especially hard for sophomores interested in the environment, Tribal public policy, or Native health care. Because it is specifically open to sophomores and juniors, it is not one of those awards where second-year students are technically eligible but not really competitive. If your academic story already points toward policy, conservation, tribal governance, or public-interest leadership, this one is worth serious time and polishing.
Amount: $7,500.
Deadline: March 4, 2026; campus deadlines are often earlier.
Apply/info: https://www.udall.gov/ourprograms/scholarship/scholarship.aspx

11) SCI America Scholarship Program
Why It Slaps: This is a practical national scholarship for current undergraduates pursuing fields related to the chemical industry. It works nicely for sophomores because you do not need to wait until upper division to show commitment to chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, or industrial science pathways. The application is also refreshingly straightforward compared with some of the ultra-prestige awards, so it is a smart middle-tier scholarship to add to your stack.
Amount: $5,000.
Deadline: March 11, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/sciamerica/

12) AICPA Foundation Two-Year Transfer Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Sophomores at community colleges who plan to transfer into four-year accounting programs should absolutely look at this one. It is one of the cleaner sophomore fits in the accounting space because it is aimed at transfer students moving toward a CPA pathway, not just first-year freshmen or graduate-level accounting candidates. If you are a second-year accounting student building toward licensure, this scholarship is highly relevant and highly efficient.
Amount: $5,000.
Deadline: March 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Apply/info: https://www.thiswaytocpa.com/education/scholarship-search/aicpa-foundation-two-year-transfer-scholarship/

13) ISC2 Center for Cyber Safety and Education Academic Scholarships
Why It Slaps: Cybersecurity sophomores should love this one because it offers a clear major-aligned award without forcing you to wait until senior year to be taken seriously. The single application can open doors to multiple scholarship tracks, which is a nice efficiency play for busy students. If you are already building a resume with security coursework, labs, clubs, cert prep, or internships, this is a very natural scholarship target.
Amount: Undergraduate awards are $5,000.
Deadline: March 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Apply/info: https://www.iamcybersafe.org/s/academic-scholarships

14) Oliveira Post-Secondary STEM Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the rare scholarships that spells out sophomore award levels by program type, which makes it unusually useful for planning. If you are a sophomore in STEM and match the foundation’s geographic background requirements, you can see very clearly what the opportunity is worth and whether it fits a two-year or four-year track. That kind of specificity makes it easier to prioritize than broad STEM scholarships that keep everything vague.
Amount: $2,000 for sophomores in two-year programs; $4,000 for sophomores in four-year programs.
Deadline: March 15, 2026.
Apply/info: https://www.oliveirascholar.org/post-secondary

15) Wells Fargo Stacey Milbern Scholarship
Why It Slaps: For sophomores with disabilities, this is a strong current-college-student scholarship with a clear national footprint and practical award range. It is especially appealing because it is designed around helping students keep moving toward their career paths, not just rewarding a single demographic checkbox. If you are balancing coursework, access needs, and the normal money stress of sophomore year, this is a smart application to put on the calendar.
Amount: $1,250 to $2,500.
Deadline: March 20, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/pwdscholarship/

16) Fearless Dreamer Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a good regional add for Wisconsin-area sophomores because it is open to undergraduate students, not just high school seniors. The award is not enormous, but smaller regional scholarships often have better odds and less national noise, which makes them worth chasing. If you are in or around Milwaukee and want a scholarship that recognizes persistence and forward momentum, this is a very respectable sophomore-friendly option.
Amount: $2,500.
Deadline: March 31, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/fearlessdreamer/

17) Charging our Future Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Engineering sophomores in New York or Massachusetts who are Pell-eligible should pay close attention to this one because it combines meaningful scholarship support with a paid summer internship. That internship piece matters a lot: it can help you graduate with not just money saved, but actual field experience and employer exposure. For sophomores trying to line up both financing and career momentum, this one punches above its weight.
Amount: $10,000 per academic year, renewable up to two years for a maximum of $20,000.
Deadline: March 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
Apply/info: https://apply.mykaleidoscope.com/program/chargingourfuturescholarship

18) MTA Foundation Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a solid regional choice for Alaska students who are MTA members or dependents of members, especially because it includes continuing education, vocational, and STEM routes instead of forcing everyone into one mold. Sophomores can fit especially well through the continuing education and STEM categories. If you qualify geographically and through the membership rules, it is the kind of scholarship that is worth extra attention because the applicant pool is much narrower than national awards.
Amount: $2,000 to $10,000, depending on category.
Deadline: March 27, 2026.
Apply/info: https://apply.mykaleidoscope.com/program/MTAFoundationScholarship2026

April

19) Page Grant
Why It Slaps: The Page Grant is a really smart sophomore scholarship for Minnesota students of color because it is not just about GPA polishing or one-time money. The program is built around educational persistence and service, which can be a better fit for students whose strengths show up in resilience, leadership, and community impact. If you are attending a Minnesota college and willing to engage in mentoring or service, this is one of the stronger regional sophomore options around.
Amount: $2,500 to $3,500.
Deadline: April 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://www.page-ed.org/what-we-do/page-grant/

20) Guild Giving National Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a clean, current-college-student scholarship that works well as part of a volume strategy for sophomores. The award is modest, but it is open to current undergraduates and does not require a hyper-specialized major, which makes it broadly useful. Scholarships like this are not always flashy, but stacking a few mid-size awards can be exactly what keeps sophomore year affordable.
Amount: $1,500.
Deadline: April 10, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/guildgiving/

21) Actuary of Tomorrow – Stuart A. Robertson Memorial Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This one is tailor-made for actuarial students because it specifically requires at least sophomore standing and rewards progress toward the profession, including passed actuarial exams. That makes it much more targeted and valuable than generic math scholarships. If you are a sophomore already serious about actuarial science, insurance math, or risk analysis, this scholarship is one of the most on-brand awards you can apply for.
Amount: $2,500 to $10,000.
Deadline: April 14, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/robertson-memorial/

22) IFMA Foundation Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Sophomores in facilities management, construction management, architecture, engineering, hospitality, interior design, real estate, or related built-environment programs should look closely at this one. It is unusually generous for a field-specific scholarship, and the related-concentrations language gives more students a legitimate path in than the title first suggests. It is also useful for sophomores who want an industry-facing credential boost before junior-year internships.
Amount: $1,500 to $10,000.
Deadline: April 14, 2026.
Apply/info: https://apply.mykaleidoscope.com/program/IFMAFoundationScholarship2026

23) Essential Visionaries Scholarship Fund
Why It Slaps: This is one of the better sophomore-year scholarships for students heading toward education, counseling, psychology, social work, or nursing pathways. The career focus is practical and timely, and the program is designed for students building toward real-world helping professions rather than just collecting merit lines on a resume. If your sophomore year is when your vocational direction is getting clearer, this scholarship is a strong fit.
Amount: $5,000 to $10,000.
Deadline: April 15, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/essentialvisionaries/

24) Louis G. Nappi Construction Industry Labor-Management Scholarship Program
Why It Slaps: This is an excellent niche scholarship for sophomores in construction-related majors, architecture, engineering, and other approved STEM fields. The award size is strong, and the program stands out because it is tied to a real industry ecosystem rather than being a generic “STEM” label slapped on a page. If you fit the eligibility rules through labor-management family or connection requirements, it is a scholarship worth taking very seriously.
Amount: $7,500.
Deadline: April 15, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.
Apply/info: https://apply.mykaleidoscope.com/program/Nappi2026

25) #RAREis Scholarship Fund
Why It Slaps: Students living with rare diseases often face extra academic, financial, and health-management burdens, so this scholarship can be especially meaningful in sophomore year when course loads usually intensify. It is a focused, national program with a solid award amount and a clear mission. For sophomores juggling treatment, advocacy, or unpredictable health challenges while staying enrolled, this is a very worthwhile application.
Amount: $5,000.
Deadline: April 28, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/rareis/

26) Sinclair Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the cleanest sophomore-specific scholarships on the list because it explicitly requires applicants to be current college sophomores or juniors. If you are pursuing journalism or marketing, that specificity makes it far more relevant than a generic communications award. It is also a strong pick because the program is national, not just local, and it is built around career-direction work samples, which can reward real sophomore effort.
Amount: Up to $5,000.
Deadline: April 30, 2026.
Apply/info: https://apply.mykaleidoscope.com/program/SinclairScholarship2026

27) ABA Foundation Scholarships
Why It Slaps: Students interested in transportation, travel, tourism, motorcoach operations, or closely related industry pathways should not sleep on this scholarship family. The program includes multiple scholarship categories, which can improve your odds if your background aligns with the field or with ABA-member employment connections. For sophomores trying to build a specialized professional path, industry-linked scholarships like this can be more strategic than broad national competitions.
Amount: $2,500 to $5,000, depending on scholarship category.
Deadline: April 30, 2026 for the main academic scholarship program.
Apply/info: https://www.buses.org/aba-foundation/scholarships/

May

28) AFCEA STEM Majors Scholarships
Why It Slaps: This is a strong fit for sophomores in eligible STEM majors who want a scholarship that is plugged into defense, communications, cybersecurity, intelligence, and technology-adjacent career pipelines. AFCEA’s scholarship menu gives students more than one way to fit the opportunity, which helps compared with highly rigid single-award programs. If you are building a serious STEM resume and want both funding and industry signal value, this one belongs on the list.
Amount: $2,500 for general STEM major scholarships, with some related awards higher.
Deadline: May 1, 2026.
Apply/info: https://www.afcea.org/stem-majors-scholarships

29) American Indian College Fund Scholarships
Why It Slaps: Native American and Alaska Native sophomores should keep this application in their yearly scholarship routine because it opens access to a portfolio of awards instead of a single isolated prize. That portfolio approach matters: it can create more realistic funding pathways for students at tribal colleges and non-tribal colleges alike. For sophomores trying to renew support and reduce borrowing, this is one of the most important culturally specific scholarship hubs in the country.
Amount: Awards vary, but average about $2,000 to $3,000.
Deadline: May 31, 2026 priority deadline.
Apply/info: https://collegefund.org/students/scholarships/college-students/

June

30) AbbVie Immunology Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the highest-dollar opportunities on the list for sophomores living with qualifying chronic inflammatory diseases. It is especially appealing because it supports current postsecondary undergraduates and can renew beyond the initial award if the student keeps meeting the requirements. For sophomores dealing with both college costs and the day-to-day realities of a chronic condition, this scholarship can be genuinely game-changing.
Amount: $20,000.
Deadline: June 10, 2026 at 3 p.m. CT.
Apply/info: https://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/abbvieimmunologyscholarship/