AIGA Boston Design Education Scholarships aim to encourage underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students to pursue careers in design. Applications are open to undergraduate students from accredited schools in Massachusetts. Four recipients will each receive a $500 scholarship, plus an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and AIGA membership both valid for one year.
Application Period: September 3 – December 31, 2019
No applications will be accepted before or after these dates.
To Apply
The application will open online starting Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at boston.aiga.org. The application process is outlined below. It is recommended that you gather the materials first and submit all information at once.
When you’re ready to apply, go to AIGA Boston Design Education Scholarships Application.
Selection / Notification Process
Entries will be evaluated by a jury of AIGA Boston Board Members. In selecting the winning entries, jurors will consider a number of factors, including quality of submitted work, recommendations and strength of written statement of purpose. All applicants will be notified of the results via email the week of January 20, 2020. Scholarship recipients must accept no later than February 4, 2020.
Eligibility
- The applicant must be a citizen of the United States or be in possession of a Green Card (formally known as a Permanent Resident Card or Form I-551)
- The applicant must be pursuing an undergraduate degree in a design discipline listed below and intend to pursue that discipline as a career
- The applicant must be enrolled at an accredited college in Massachusetts
- The applicant cannot also be a recipient of the AIGA Worldstudio Scholarship
- All entries must be received by Tuesday, December 31, 2019 at 11:59 pm
Majors / Areas of Study
AIGA Boston offers the scholarship to students in the following areas:
- Communication Design
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Interactive Design
- Multimedia
- User Experience Design
- Web Design
Proof of Registration
You must provide proof of registration in the current semester at an accredited college in Massachusetts.
Written Statement
Submit a 400-word statement of purpose incorporating the following:
- A brief autobiography, explaining how your experiences have influenced your creative work and your career plans.
- In the future, how do you see yourself as a creator contributing to the community at large?
Portfolio Requirements
Please submit 3 examples of your design work with descriptions for each piece.
File size and format:
- Each piece must be submitted digitally as a file less than 16MB.
- The files should be in one of the following formats; JPG, GIF, PNG, or PDF.
File name:
- Label each file with last name followed by the number of the image.
- File names must not contain any blank spaces or odd characters such as brackets or apostrophes.
- Label each file with the proper extension. (.jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf)
- Examples of acceptable file names: Smith-1.jpg, Smith2.gif”
You may submit links to your portfolio website. All links must be submitted in a text document and uploaded. Label your file with the proper extension. (.doc, .docx)
Reference
You will need to provide a reference – a person who knows you well, knows about your experiences and goals in your chosen field – teachers, employers, counselors, etc. We need their name and email address. They will be contacted by AIGA Boston for a recommendation via email.
For questions about the application, please contact Melissa Hines, AIGA Boston Director of Diversity & Inclusion at melissa(at)boston.aiga.org.
Are you a professional or organization interested in helping fund AIGA Boston Design Education Scholarships?
Contact Lauren Yanko, AIGA Boston President, lauren(at)boston.aiga.org.
