Best LGBTQ+ Student Loan and Scholarship Options

Although the task of paying for college can be daunting for anyone, people in the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community often face additional challenges. For instance, some students who fit into one or more of those categories might have less parental support than others, meaning their education will cost more.

LGBTQ student loans can be much higher than those of the general population, especially if their parents don’t contribute or assist in any way. Student loan borrowers identifying as LGBTQ+ carry an average of $16,000 more in student debt than non-LGBTQ+ students.

This guide will first show you some of the top national scholarships available to LGBTQ+ students, then shift to loan repayment options specific to people in the community.

Point Foundation Scholarship

The Point Foundation has offered a scholarship for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students since 2002. As the country’s largest provider of scholarships for deserving LGBTQ students, it’s awarded a total of about $35 million to enhance education for this group of scholars.

In the application process, the typical scholarship qualifications are assessed, such as academic performance and financial need. The Point Foundation also gives special consideration to students who’ve lost familial support due to their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

One condition recipients agree to is the completion of one community service project, annually, to support the LGBTQ+ community.

NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists scholarships

The NLGJA awards scholarships each year for students pursuing journalism degrees with a commitment to covering the LGBTQ community with fairness and accuracy. Several scholarships are included under the umbrella of the Association of LGBTQ Journalists, as follows:

Leroy F. Aarons Scholarship Program

Founded in 2005, this annual scholarship honors the founder of the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists.

Kay Longcope Scholarship Program

Boston Globe journalist Kay Longcope, this award’s namesake, founded a weekly Texas newspaper covering LGBTQ issues. This scholarship is intended for LGBTQ students of color studying journalism.

Steve Mason Sports Media Scholarship

If you’re an LGBTQ student pursuing a sports journalism career, you may apply for the Steve Mason Sports Media Scholarship, named for the host of a Los Angeles sports radio show.

Facebook Journalism Project Scholarship

In partnership with Facebook, the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists offers scholarships in the amount of $10,000. The program began in 2018 and Facebook has committed to five years of funding these scholarships through the organization.

League Foundation LGBTQ Scholarship

Intended for high school seniors preparing for their first year of college, the League Foundation’s LGBTQ Scholarship application period typically runs from January through April each year. Requirements include being a self-identified LGBTQ+ student with a minimum 3.0 GPA, community service contributions and acceptance to a higher-learning institution.

Gamma Mu Foundation Scholarship

The Gamma Mu Foundation, in operation since 1988, has the express purpose of providing financial support to fund projects benefiting the LGBT community. You must be located in the United States to qualify. Gamma Mu Foundation scholarship and grant awards focus as much as possible on rural and/or underserved areas.

Pride Foundation scholarships

To be eligible for any of the 60-plus Pride Foundation Scholarships, you only need to complete a single application. In general, all of its scholarship awards aim to provide financial support to students who identify as LGBTQ+ or questioning and reside in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon or Washington. The application for the 2022-2023 school year will open in October 2021.

Live Out Loud Young Trailblazers Scholarship

If you’re a high school senior with financial need and identify as LGBTQ+, you can apply for the Live Out Loud Young Trailblazers Scholarship. These funds are intended for incoming freshmen pursuing a degree from an accredited college, university or technical/vocational program.

This scholarship is limited to residents of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Malyon Smith Scholarship Research Award

The American Psychological Association's Division 44 (Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian and Gay Issues) offers the Malyon Smith Scholarship Research Award. In an effort to support scientific research in LGBT psychology, this award is given to psychology graduate students studying sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Up to $1,000 is offered each year.

Kenneth W. Payne Student Prize

Presented annually by the Association for Queer Anthropology (AQA), the Kenneth W. Payne Student Prize acknowledges an outstanding anthropological work by an undergraduate or graduate student. Applicants must have completed the work (research paper or visual media project) through student coursework.

To qualify for this $500 prize, the student submission must address a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender topic. Another option is more broadly defined research into genders and sexualities.

National Gay Pilots Association Scholarship

Are you a student pursuing training for a career in aviation? The National Gay Pilots Association (NGPA) is the largest organization bringing together lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pilots and aviation professionals.

Scholarship applicants do not have to identify as LGBTQ+, but must provide evidence of contributions to support the LGBTQ+ community. An example of this might be volunteering for an LGBTQ advocacy group.

Other criteria for the award include financial need, leadership experience and academic excellence. You also need to be a member of the NGPA at the time of application.

Stonewall Community Foundation Scholarships

The Stonewall Community Foundation has collaborated with donors to provide scholarships for almost 15 years. It aims to help LGBTQ individuals overcome the barriers to getting their education.

Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship

Lesbian women planning to attend any level of college or graduate school in the U.S. are eligible for this scholarship. The one-year awards are worth either $1,500 or $3,000. Applicants will be evaluated based on academic achievement, community service and a commitment to making a difference in LGBTQ+ issues.

Little Bird Scholarship for LGBTQI Immigrants

This scholarship is open to those who are both LGBTQ or intersex as well as undocumented immigrants. Only rising juniors and seniors may apply, and you must be attending an accredited nonprofit school in New York City. The award amount is $18,000 to fund two years of education.

Prism Foundation Scholarship

Students who have made a positive impact on the Asian and Pacific Islander and/or LGBTQ+ communities may apply for the Prism Foundation Scholarship. $1,000 to $5,000 awards have been given to undergraduate and graduate students.

You can be a part of the general population (you don’t have to identify as API or LGBTQ+ to qualify). But you must have a record of working to benefit those communities. It’s possible to win these scholarships during multiple award years.

PFund Foundation Scholarship

The PFund Foundation awards scholarships to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and allied students based on leadership commitment. Scholarship amounts range from $1,000 to $10,000 and recipients must live in or attend school in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota or Wisconsin.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Of course, don’t ignore the FAFSA when considering your options for paying for school. Only 71% of families submitted a FAFSA for the 2019-2020 academic year, according to Sallie Mae’s report How America Pays For College. Although you don’t want to take on enormous amounts of student loan debt, the FAFSA can provide financial opportunities you need as an LGBTQ student, like scholarships, grants, work-study, and federal loans.

If your parents refuse to provide their information for your FAFSA, you can select the option that reads “I am unable to provide information about my parent(s).” You can still complete the application without their information, but you’ll only potentially receive an unsubsidized loan.

Student loan repayment options for LGBTQ students

Not only can it be more difficult for LGBTQ students to secure financing to pay for a college education, but they can also face greater hardship in trying to pay back student debt.

In a June 2020 survey by the Center for American Progress, 36% of LGBTQ respondents said they experienced workplace harassment or discrimination. In addition, 29% reported that discrimination had a negative impact on their financial well-being (17% said this happened moderately, and 12% said this happened “to a significant degree”).

Even though the Supreme Court ruled in 2020 to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, things don’t always change overnight. Discrimination in the workplace can affect employment or promotion opportunities due to being LGBTQ+, exacerbating the student debt burden.

Consider student loan forgiveness programs and refinancing programs to help make your repayment process smoother.

Student loan forgiveness for LGBTQ borrowers

Though there isn’t a program specifically for LGBTQ borrowers seeking loan forgiveness, there are several options that might qualify you to have all or a portion of your loans forgiven.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Under PSLF, you need to work full-time for a qualifying employer within the federal, state, local or tribal government. Under an income-driven repayment plan — which is required for PSLF participation — borrowers need to make at least 120 qualifying payments.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

For LGBTQ teachers, student loan forgiveness is available through the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program. You must be a highly qualified teacher, employed full-time for five consecutive years in a low-income school to qualify.

This is a partial forgiveness opportunity: up to $17,500 forgiven for teachers of math, science or special education; and up to $5,000 for teachers of other subjects.

Student loan refinancing

For LGBTQ+ student borrowers as well as others, refinancing your student loans can be one way to reach the goal of paying them off more quickly. By refinancing your loans, you can secure a lower interest rate and either pay off loans more quickly or reduce student loan payments to make them more manageable.

Be sure to only refinance your student loans if you aren’t pursuing student loan forgiveness through PSLF or another forgiveness program. Refinancing federal loans into private student loans makes you ineligible for many federal student loan protections, such as deferment or income-driven repayment (IDR) due to financial hardship.

Before signing a refinance agreement, ensure you’re confident and secure about your current employment so you can comfortably continue to make the payments.

Considering that broad student loan forgiveness programs are still uncertain under the current administration, you might want to delay a refinancing plan while the interest rate is zero on all federal loans. However, if you have private loans, they’re unlikely to qualify for any forgiveness programs and might be better off refinanced.

Bottom line

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of all options for financial help for LGBTQ students. Be sure to check your state for any scholarships specific to those in your community. You can also find scholarship opportunities and other forms of support for LGBTQ student loan borrowers by researching individual colleges and universities, and career organizations.

Society is moving toward providing more equal opportunities for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. For LGBTQ+ students, getting an education is one more area often filled with additional hurdles to surmount. These scholarship opportunities and repayment plans for LGBTQ students can help make the challenges more manageable.