Campus Life | April 19th, 2025

Scholarship, Fellowship, and Internship: Resources to help students advance

By: Jermaine Edwards

Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities are slowly discovering various resources of scholarships and internships to support their career and academic ambitions. 

Several collegiate organizations are helping undergraduate students at HBCUs fund their higher education, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dear Rattler, and the FAMU Foundation.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is known for being a generous source for college students, specifically in terms of scholarships and leadership development like DevCon, which helps prepare students to gain internships and career readiness.  

This past summer, Thurgood Marshall College Fund hosted a development conference called “DevCon” for HBCU college students in Atlanta, Georgia.  

“TMCF has helped me learn how to talk to corporate professionals and learn the dos and don’ts of what to put on a resume,” said Tamia Williams, a third-year broadcast journalism student, recalling the entire DevCon on being informative. 

Williams was among several FAMU students who attended the event and received scholarships. In addition to financial aid, many students also left with prizes like iPads and gift cards, and some secured internships shortly after the conference.

To apply for TMCF scholarships, students can visit tmcf.org.

Dear Rattler

Another resource, Dear Rattler, is a digital platform designed to help current and prospective HBCU students find scholarships, internships and networking opportunities. Dear Rattler also offers mentorship opportunities at twenty different HBCUs with the help of their student leaders.   

“My main goal was to not just have this as an online platform, but to have student leaders from other HBCUs who are passionate about pouring into Dear Rattler’s mission of creating a sense of unity on their campuses,” said Tyler-Symone Brown, a third-year business administration student from Arlington, Texas, and the founder and CEO of Dear Rattler.

Brown will expand Dear Rattler even after she graduates from law School, which will help her gain knowledge on those opportunities for undergraduate HBCU students interested in attending law school.

More information on Dear Rattler can be found at linktr.ee/dearrattler or by following @DearRattler on Instagram.

FAMU Foundation

The FAMU Foundation is an organization dedicated to ensuring the university will progress. Scholarships throughout the FAMU Foundation are open all year long. 

“Knowing that there are so many scholarships available, and students don’t know about them, one of my missions is to make sure that people know about it,” said Christina Compere Minor, digital social media manager for the FAMU Foundation.

Minor elaborates on her plans to make sure she connects with the marketing teams to “create monthly flyers” and “change the narrative of students not applying to scholarships.”  

Many of the scholarships offered through the FAMU Foundation are established by alumni who want to give back to current students. Those interested in applying can visit famu.academicworks.com or follow @FAMUALUMNI1887 on Instagram.

With platforms like TMCF, Dear Rattler, and the FAMU Foundation leading the way, more HBCU students are finding the support they need to fund their education and step confidently into their future careers.