- Deadline: Not announced yet. The 2026 round closed on March 20, 2026, and Scholarship America says details for the next round are tentative. Next round: approximately March 20, 2027. Note: this is an approximate date, based on the previous schedule.
- Host country: United States (U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents only)
- Starting date: Covers the upcoming academic year after you win. Payments go out in mid-August.
- Monthly stipend: None. The award is yearly: $2,500 for full-time study or $1,250 for half-time.
Heads up if you’re an international student: you can’t apply for this one. It’s limited to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents living in the U.S. If that’s not you, jump to the last section, where I’ve linked scholarships you actually can apply for.
What the scholarship is
College costs a lot for everyone. For students with disabilities, there’s often an extra layer of expense and logistics on top of tuition. The Wells Fargo Stacey Milbern Scholarship is meant to ease some of that. Wells Fargo funds it and Scholarship America runs it, and it gives $2,500 a year to full-time undergraduates (or $1,250 to half-time students) who have an identified disability. That can include physical, sensory, mental health, or learning disabilities. The award is renewable, so it can help for more than one year.
You may know it by its old name, the Wells Fargo Scholarship Program for People with Disabilities. It was renamed in honor of Stacey Park Milbern, a disability rights activist. More on her below.
The most important thing to know up front is that only the first 700 completed applications get considered. That shapes how you should approach the whole thing.
The basics
- Administered by: Scholarship America, on behalf of Wells Fargo
- Award: $2,500 per year for full-time students, $1,250 per year for half-time students
- Renewable: Yes. Full-time recipients can renew for up to 3 more years. Half-time recipients can renew for up to 7 years, or until they earn a bachelor’s degree. The number of renewals depends on your intended graduation date and grade level when you apply
- Renewal requirement: A cumulative GPA of at least 2.5
- Level of study: Undergraduate only (associate or bachelor’s degree)
- Minimum GPA to apply: 3.0 cumulative on a 4.0 scale
- Who it’s for: Students with an identified disability
- Residency: U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents living in the U.S.
- Application cap: First 700 completed applications
Who is eligible?
You’ll need to meet all of the following:
You have a disability. Scholarship America defines it as a long-term or recurring issue that affects one or more major life activities, and you qualify if you consider yourself to have one. You self-identify, which I’ll come back to.
You’re an incoming or current undergraduate. That includes high school seniors, high school graduates, and students already in college. You must plan to be enrolled in an undergraduate program for the entire upcoming academic year.
You’ll be enrolled at least half-time. Half-time means a minimum of 6 credit hours per semester. Full-time students are welcome too, of course. The school can be a two-year or four-year college or university, but it has to be accredited and in the United States.
Your cumulative GPA is at least 3.0. If your school doesn’t use a 4.0 scale, an equivalent grade works.
You’re a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident living in the U.S. International students on temporary student visas aren’t eligible.
You can show financial need. Scholarship America calculates this, and it has to be demonstrated for you to receive an award.
Timing matters more than the deadline
The 2026 application window ran from February 11 to March 20, according to the College Board’s scholarship listing. For the next round, Scholarship America’s official page currently says the program is closed and that the details are tentative. There’s a “Remind Me” button on that page if you want an email when it opens.
Normally you’d treat a scholarship deadline as the date to aim for. Here, the deadline is almost beside the point. Only the first 700 completed applications are considered, so waiting until the last week is a gamble.
The practical advice is to submit as soon as the portal opens, not the week before it’s supposed to close. Check Scholarship America’s official page for the exact dates each year, since they can shift.
Also note the word “completed.” An application you started but didn’t finish doesn’t count toward the 700, and it won’t get you in line.
What to gather before you start
Get your materials together before the portal opens, so you can sit down and finish in one go.
- Your transcript. It needs to be a current, complete transcript that shows your name, school name, grades, and the credit hours for each course and term. Grade reports aren’t accepted, so check this before you upload.
- Test scores, only if you’re including them. If you want to add SAT or ACT scores and they aren’t on your high school transcript, upload an official copy separately. A college transcript doesn’t need them.
- School information. Details about your current high school or college, plus the school and program you plan to attend.
- A rough list of activities. Jobs, volunteer work, leadership roles, and community involvement. It’s much easier to write these up if you’ve already pulled them together.
- A draft of your essay. The official question is “What life experiences have shaped who you are today?” More on that next.
The application itself
Everything happens online through Scholarship America. You’ll go through a few sections:
- Personal and contact details, including information confirming your U.S. residency or citizenship.
- Educational background, covering high school and any college you’ve attended.
- Activities and work experience. This is where leadership, volunteering, jobs, and community involvement go.
- A personal essay.
The essay is the part most people worry about. Because the program relies on self-identification, the only document you have to upload is your transcript, so there’s no medical paperwork to chase. The essay is where you explain how your experiences, including your disability, have shaped your path. You decide how much to share, but a specific, honest account tends to be more convincing than a general one. Talk about real moments: a class you had to work around, a goal that took longer to reach, or something you learned about advocating for yourself.
Before you submit, go back through every section and make sure nothing required is blank. Attach your transcript and submit. Keep the confirmation email, because it’s your record that you applied. Scholarship America says applicants are notified by email in late May, and recipients are paid in mid-August. Use a personal email address you’ll still have in a few years rather than a school or work one, and add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org to your safe senders so the result doesn’t land in spam.
How selection works
Scholarship America looks at your academic record, leadership and participation in school and community activities, honors, work experience, your statement of educational and career goals, and the essay. On top of that, financial need has to be demonstrated, so don’t skip the financial sections or treat them as an afterthought. Not everyone who applies gets selected, but you can reapply each year you still meet the requirements.
A few common questions
Can part-time students apply? Yes, if you’re enrolled at least half-time (6 credit hours per semester). Half-time recipients get $1,250 a year, and the award can be renewed for up to 7 years or until you earn a bachelor’s degree, whichever comes first.
Do I have to prove my disability? Not with documents. It’s self-identified. You’ll just be expected to talk about your experience in the essay.
Can international students apply? No. You must be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident living in the U.S. If you’re not sure which scholarships you do qualify for, the Scholarship Eligibility Checker is a good place to start.
Does applying early really help? It does. Only the first 700 completed applications are considered, so the earlier you finish, the safer you are.
Who was Stacey Milbern?
The scholarship carries her name for a reason. Stacey Park Milbern (1987-2020) was a Korean-American disability rights activist who began organizing as a teenager in North Carolina. She was born with congenital myopathy, and her work grew out of her own experience.
She became a leading voice in the Disability Justice movement, which argues that disability rights can’t be separated from race, gender, and LGBTQ+ justice. Over her life she pushed for accessible housing, independent living resources, and community care, especially for disabled people who are marginalized in other ways too. Naming this scholarship after her was a way of honoring her work and her belief that disabled young people should be supported to lead change in their own communities.
Wells Fargo Stacey Milbern Scholarship at a glance
| Administrator | Scholarship America, on behalf of Wells Fargo |
| Where you can use it | Any accredited two-year or four-year college or university in the United States |
| Application deadline | Not announced. The 2026 window closed March 20, 2026 |
| Official application page | scholarshipamerica.org/scholarship/pwdscholarship |
| IELTS/TOEFL requirement | Not listed in the official eligibility requirements |
| Award | $2,500 per year (full-time) or $1,250 per year (half-time), renewable |
| Payment | Mid-August, through Scholarship America |
| Tuition waiver, monthly stipend, airfare, health insurance, book allowance | Not listed. It’s a cash award, not a full-funding package |
Not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident? Start here
If you’re applying from outside the U.S., this scholarship isn’t for you, and it’s better to spend your time where you can actually win. These guides are open to international students:
- Fulbright Scholarship USA if you want to study in the United States
- Chevening Scholarship (UK)
- MEXT Scholarship (Japan)
- Fully funded scholarships without IELTS, by country
- Live Scholarships Deadline Tracker
If you want help putting together a strong application for one of these, the Scholarship Toolkit is built for that. And for deadline updates as they happen, join our WhatsApp channel.
