Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund

About this scholarship

The Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund provides need-based support to students who are active or emerging organizers in progressive movements for liberation, self-determination, and social and economic justice. Applicants may pursue a degree or certificate at a college, university, trade school, or technical program. The fund especially values sustained movement work opposing systemic harms such as racism, white supremacy, economic exploitation, gender-based violence, environmental exploitation, and imperialism. Public-facing leadership is not required: organizing, team building, conflict transformation, logistics, and other work that sustains movements can qualify. Applicants must demonstrate financial need, with priority for students who lack economic privilege or access to family wealth. Applications open January 1 and close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on April 1 each year, making April 1, 2027 the next deadline. The maximum annual award is $15,000; the average 2025–26 grant was $7,700. A complete application includes the online form, personal statement and short essays, two recommendations, a recent transcript, financial information, and a FAFSA Student Aid Report, state equivalent, or FAFSA worksheet. Finalists are interviewed in April or May, decisions arrive in July, and awards are paid by academic term.

Eligibility

• Be active or emerging in a movement for progressive social change
• Have applied to or be enrolled in a postsecondary degree or certificate program
• Attend a college, university, trade school, or technical program during the award year
• Demonstrate financial need, with priority for applicants without economic privilege or family wealth
• Submit a personal statement, short essays, two recommendations, and a recent transcript
• Submit the required FAFSA, state-aid, or equivalent financial documentation
• Complete the online application by April 1, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern