Scholarships
Congratulations to our 2025 Scholarship Award Recipients!
2026 scholarship dates tba
Full-time (12+ credits), undergraduate students of the USA who are descendants from Laos will be eligible to apply! This includes ALL ethnicities of Laos, such as Hmong, Mien, Khmu, etc.
Award Information
Scholarships totaling $25,000 will be granted to 25 APplicants.
Awards will be distributed in three tiers:
Gold: $2,000 award for 5 students
Silver: $1,000 award for 10 students
Bronze: $500 award for 10 students
Eligibility
US Citizen or Permanent Resident
Descendant of Laos (open to ALL ethnicities of Laos)
Full-time (12+ credits) undergraduate at an accredited college/university Fall 2025
Minimum 3.0 Cumulative GPA
Note: Family members of Jai Lao Foundation officers and directors are not eligible to apply.
Application Requirements
Recipients are chosen based on a culmination of merit, financial need, and community involvement.
The application will require you to fill in blanks and upload supplemental documentation, including:
Personal Information
School Information (File Upload: Transcript and Fall 2025 Class Schedule)
If your schedule is not available yet, please upload a registration cart or brief document sharing the dates registration opens and your planned number of credits.
Essay (File Upload: 3 Part Essay)
Please do not hesitate to reach us at info@jailao.org with any questions.
Note: If you do not have a google account, you may email us to request alternative submission options.
About the Program
Our Scholarship Program was first established in 2011 to help the educational endeavors for college students of refugee descent from Laos. Our recipients are chosen based on merit, need, and community involvement. It is our hope that through this program we can recognize and reward the students who are determined to build a strong cultural foundation to strengthen and illuminate the Lao community. We are so proud to have awarded the following:
2011: $10,000 awarded to 8 students
2012: $15,000 awarded to 12 students
2015: $10,000 awarded to 10 students
2017: $3,000 awarded to 5 students
2023: $25,000 awarded to 23 students
2024: $25,000 awarded to 25 students
2025: $25,000 awarded to 25 students
We are continually honored to support these incredible students of Lao refugee descent, and with your support we can continue to do so. According to a 2019 survey completed by the Pew Research Center, only 14% of Laotians aged 25 and older have graduated with a bachelor’s degree, which is 40% below the national average for Asian Americans. There is great need for increased access and support for students of Laotian descent in higher education. By investing in our youths through the gift of education, we are growing a generation of scholars with great minds and giving hearts.
Congratulations to our 2024 Scholarship Award Recipients!
2023 Scholarship Recipients
