Northern Michigan University invites incoming fall 2025 first-year students to apply for The Schultz Family Foundation First-Generation Empowerment Scholarship. The award, worth up to $15,000 per year for up to four years, is geared toward students whose parents or legal guardians have not completed a bachelor's degree. Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman emeritus and former CEO, was a first-generation NMU student who graduated with a degree in communications in 1975. He and his wife, Sheri Kersch-Schultz, established the scholarship as part of a $1 million gift to NMU through their foundation.
“The empowerment scholarship is crafted on the notion that, while talent is everywhere, opportunity is not,” said Jeff Korpi, associate vice president of the Northern Student Experience. “In addition to the funding support it provides, recipients will also be included in the first cohort of the Schultz Family Foundation Fellows program. They will learn what it means to be a servant leader—a quality Howard has emphasized—and forge a path forward with opportunities for mentorship, faculty/staff support and a strong community ready to encourage them every step of the way.”
The Schultz Family Foundation First-Generation Empowerment Scholarship is a “last dollar” scholarship, which means students can use up to $15,000 per year to pay for educational expenses after all other financial aid has been applied. Educational expenses may include books, housing and meals, student activity fee, recreation pass, parking pass, transportation expenses and others.
In addition to being a first-generation student, each applicant must be a first-year, bachelor's degree-seeking student from the U.S. who is able to move into on-campus housing two weeks prior to the start of the semester. The award is not available to Global Campus or international students.
Eligible students should apply and be admitted to NMU (nmu.edu/apply), submit a FAFSA form to demonstrate financial need (fafsa.gov), and submit a Schultz Family Foundation First-Generation Empowerment Scholarship application and additional materials. The deadline for submissions is March 30, with decisions released on April 15.
Learn more at nmu.edu/admissions/schultz-family-foundation-scholarship.