A: The Cobell Scholarship was established as the result of the Cobell v. Salazar settlement. It is competitive, awarded on merit first then disbursed based on unmet need, non-renewable, and available to any post-secondary (after high school) individual who is: an enrolled member of a US Federally Recognized Tribe, enrolled in full-time study, and is degree seeking. Applicants must plan to attend or be attending any nationally, regionally, and industry accredited non-profit, public or private institution. Applicants must be pursuing a vocational certificate or diploma, associate’s, bachelors, masters, doctoral or professional degree, or certificate. The most updated information is always available on the Cobell Scholar homepage and Online Application Scholarship Information System (OASIS), or by contacting IEI. These are the basic qualifying criteria. IEI staff or affiliates will not tell any potential applicant they are not eligible to receive a Cobell Scholarship without an applicant having a fully completed application on file. Because all information in the first round of the process is self-reported, no documents are required to apply. Therefore, a decision without proper documentation cannot be made. All individuals who meet the above minimum requirements should apply and allow the process to be completed to get an official determination of eligibility.  

A: While there is no minimum GPA requirement, IEI considers the following general guidelines to be
considered “competitive” for funding purposes.
• Graduate and Professional – – 3.5 or higher, either from undergraduate or previous coursework
• Undergraduate and post-baccalaureate – – 3.25 or higher, either from high school or previous
coursework
• Vocational – – 2.0 or higher, either from high school or previous coursework.
Applicants with lower GPA’s than those listed should still consider applying but should be prepared to
provide any explanations and show strengths in other areas. All completed applications are individually
reviewed and scored by external professional educators who look beyond the GPA in a holistic review
process. Applicants with less competitive GPAs should be able to demonstrate overall success, achievement
and a plan for academic improvement or may rank low when reviewed by the selection committee.
Vocational applicants are individually reviewed and selected by internal staff on a rolling basis.

A: No. Neither Cobell Settlement Class membership nor descendancy is required nor does either guarantee a Finalist selection. However, this information is collected for research purposes and may be used as a Finalist selection tiebreaker if needed.

A: The Cobell Board of Trustees established and governs the eligibility requirements, oversees the invested funds, and advises the scholarship program administrators regarding eligibility and available scholarship amounts. Each year, the trustees work with the CEO for Indigenous Education, Inc. to evaluate outcomes of prior years to determine eligibility and where to adjust or make changes, if necessary. This includes measuring the impact of the scholarship award on an applicant’s financial aid package. Award amounts are conveyed to the selected Finalists in an email offer letter.

A: All eligible tribes are listed in a drop-down menu in the Applicant Profile in OASIS. If a tribe is not listed, contact IEI. This list is compiled from the US Congressional Record and verified each year.

A: IEI does not make offers to descendants at this time.

A: Without exception, Indigenous Education, Inc.’s scholarship opportunities are only available to individuals attending public or private non-profit institutions. Eligible institutions are listed on the application, where applicants select from a drop-down menu in OASIS. If an institution is not listed, please contact IEI to determine if the school should be added to the list, or IEI will inform the applicant if the institution is not eligible to receive Cobell Scholarship funds. In addition, institutions must be industry and nationally/regionally accredited.

A: It depends. Most applicants must intend to enroll full-time (as determined by the institution), must be degree-seeking, and making progress toward graduation. Selected Finalists will be requested to submit a course registration to verify full-time enrollment when completing the Post-Acceptance process. In some instances, applicants can be considered to enroll part-time, depending on the situation. There is a section in OASIS for applicants to provide Additional Comments for an explanation and clarification of attendance other than full-time. These circumstances are reviewed separately, and determinations are Page 3 of 4 Updated 5/20/2025 – Eligibility made on an individual basis. Determinations are not made via phone call or email; they are made only from completed and submitted applications.

A: Due to a high number of qualified applicants and defined limits on scholarship funds available, there is no guarantee that all applicants who demonstrate full eligibility with a completed scholarship application will be offered or awarded a scholarship. All completed, fully qualified submitted applications are reviewed, scored, and ranked for final determination. Applicants who are selected as Finalists will be awarded only after successfully completing the post-Acceptance and verification process. IEI intends to spend all available scholarship funds each year. If an applicant is not offered a scholarship in the first round, a select group of applicants are placed on a waiting list to receive offers as funds become available. The applicant can view the Waitlist status (and other statuses) indicated on the application.

A: There have been several means by which an applicant has been deemed ineligible. Some of the most
common include:
• Applicants whose email addresses are invalid may be deemed ineligible, because we cannot
reach them until a corrected email address is received.
• Applicants whose email address is not that of the individual applying will be deemed ineligible
until a corrected email address is received. Parents of applicants should not be completing the
application for their child/ren.
• Applicants attending for-profit institutions will be deemed ineligible until such a time that the
applicant chooses to attend a qualifying institution.
• Applicants whose tribal enrollment office returns a negative status will be deemed ineligible until
additional information is submitted and reviewed.
• Applicants whose name does not match that of submitted documents, or the name listed at the
institution of choice may be deemed ineligible. It is not possible to match the thousands of
received documents with a file under a different name. And tribes and schools cannot match files
with our requests if the names don’t match. This includes married or maiden names.
• Applicants who attend a different institution than the one listed on the Applicant Profile may be
deemed ineligible until current information is submitted and reviewed.
• Applicants applying for an opportunity that is not a match to their degree level will be deemed
ineligible for that opportunity and if time allows, will be directed to the correct opportunity.
• Applicants who do not respond to emails or complete “next steps” or other forms of
communications from IEI within the clearly stated deadlines, or timely manner may be deemed
ineligible until consistent communication is established. Keep in mind that scholarship funds may
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be reallocated resulting in the applicant being placed on the waiting list until additional funds
become available.

A: The Cobell Scholarship Vocational Opportunity is for any individual who has not yet earned a college degree and is enrolled or will be enrolling in a vocational credential, vocational certificate or occupational license program (not including professional level or post-baccalaureate certifications). Vocational degrees typically are one year or less in duration, certify competency in a specific trade, or provide a license to perform certain occupations. If an applicant is uncertain about this degree level, they should check with the institution or review the “What is a Career and Technical Education” Fact Sheet at www.acteonline.org. Vocational programs will be verified prior to making final awards.