Cardinal Commitment

Donald A. Strauss Scholarship 2024

Arts & Media,

Education & Youth Development,

Environmental Sustainability,

Health,

Human Rights,

Identity,

Technology & Engineering,

Law, Policy & Justice

The Strauss Scholarship pays tribute to the vision, ideals, and leadership of Donald A. Strauss, and to his life-long commitment to public service and to education.The Scholarship promotes the value of public service in the education and preparation of our future leaders. In financing innovative student-generated projects which foster leadership skills, the Donald A. Strauss Foundation encourages optimism and an enduring interest in public service. The Foundation annually awards $15,000 to no fewer than 10 and no more than 15 California college sophomores and/or juniors. Up to $7,000 of this award is designated as a Scholarship to be applied to the student’s educational support and $8,000 is designated as a project grant to fund the student’s yearlong service project expenses.

A central part of the application package is a proposal for a project to be carried out between the end of the sophomore or junior year and the spring of the following year; these proposals are a major focus of the selection process.

We encourage you to learn more about the Strauss Foundation, the Strauss Scholarship and the application process via the Strauss Foundation website before applying. More information and sample proposals are available from the Strauss Foundation.

Information session hosted by the Strauss Foundation will be held on November 15 at 4pm via zoom. RSVP and get webinar login information here.

Eligibility

The Foundation will award scholarships to full-time students who have:

Demonstrated interest in public service.
Outstanding leadership potential.
Developed and can demonstrate effective communication skills.
The desire to “make a difference” in local, regional, national or international communities.
One or two years remaining until graduation.
A GPA in the upper 1/3 of his or her class.
Submitted an innovative, original, public service project proposal.

Selection Process

A committee of Stanford staff and faculty will review applications and select Strauss campus nominees. Applications are reviewed by a campus screening committee to determine which two or three applicants are nominated by Stanford University and submitted to the Strauss Scholarship Foundation for consideration. The Foundation Trustees make the final decision about scholarship recipients near the end of spring quarter.

See project locations of previous Strauss winners.