GMS Online Nominations

Student Registration Identification

Thank you for logging onto the Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) online nomination system.  The information below will provide you with an overview and subsequent instructions to apply for and nominate or recommend a student for this prestigious scholarship.

In order to be eligible to be considered for the GMS scholarship, all three forms –

1. Nominee Form (student application)
2. Nominator Form for the applicant
3. and a Recommender Form for the applicant must be submitted by the deadline.

All three forms are linked by the student registration identification number. The student's registration identification number is a combination of their five digit zip code and the last four digits of their preferred phone number. For example, if their five digit zip code is 22031 and their preferred phone number is 703-205-2080, then the registration identification number would be 22031-2080. Nominees (students), please select one telephone number to use for your student registration identification number to prevent any possible confusion.

As the student, your registration identification number is automatically displayed by the system as you complete page one of the online application. Nominators and Recommenders will have to enter the student registration identification number to access the Nominator or Recommender Form.

Nominators and Recommenders, you do not have to wait for the Nominee to start their application before you begin your nomination or recommendation for the student. Just ensure that you enter the correct student registration identification number.

Why GMS?

The increasing diversity of our society reminds us that all of America's citizens must have access to higher education if our nation is to sustain and advance itself as a global, competitive democracy in the new millennium. The future of our economy and quality of life depend upon the preparation of a diverse cadre of leaders who can help build a stronger society. These potential leaders, especially those drawn from groups that have traditionally and historically been denied access to higher education, require the necessary support and opportunities to earn and complete a college education.

The Gates Millennium Scholars

The Gates Millennium Scholars Program (GMS), funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was established in 1999 to provide outstanding, low income African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American*, and Hispanic American students with an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in any discipline area of interest. Continuing Gates Millennium Scholars may request funding for a graduate degree program in one of the following discipline areas: computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science. The goal of GMS is to promote academic excellence by providing thousands of outstanding students, who have significant financial need, the opportunity to reach their full potential.

In 1999, a bold vision of what America’s future would look like began to take shape. In that view, America’s leadership would include 20,000 individuals, all people of color, who would make a significant impact on the future direction of the nation. Coming from among the most financially needy students and attending the nation’s best colleges and universities, they would represent the extraordinary promise inherent among all highly academically capable individuals, no matter what their background. Moreover, the planners envisioned that the researched experiences of the student’s matriculation and retention, the fact of these individuals’ extraordinary successes to terminal degrees, and the testimony of their voices, would spark conversation, and perhaps debate, leading to public policies and added philanthropic contributions in support of similarly able and financially challenged young people. That vision of Bill and Melinda Gates was funded by a historic grant of more than 1 billion dollars to UNCF—the United Negro College Fund—still the largest single gift to any scholarship organization.

One of the most unique aspects of the GMS program is the partnership and collective efforts of the four partner organizations providing services to the Continuing Gates Millennium Scholars. GMS program staff members at the American Indian Graduate Center Scholars (AIGCS), the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and UNCF services students from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is truly a national effort.

More Than a Scholarship

The GMS program offers leadership development programs with distinctive personal, academic and professional growth opportunities including mentoring services and an online resource center that provides up-to-date information on internship, fellowship and scholarship opportunities, as well as graduate and post-graduate resources and conferences.

Who’s Eligible?

Students are eligible to be considered for a GMS scholarship if they:

• Are African American, American Indian/Alaska Native*, Asian Pacific Islander American** or Hispanic American
• Are a citizen, national or legal permanent resident of the United States
• Have attained a cumulative high school GPA of 3.3 on an unweighted 4.0 scale or have earned a GED
• Will be enrolling for the first time at a U.S. accredited*** college or university as a full-time, degree-seeking, first-year student in the fall 2010
• Have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular, or other activities
• Meet the Federal Pell Grant eligibility criteria
• Have completed and submitted all three required forms (Nominee Personal Information Form, Nominator Form, and Recommender Form) by the deadline