Thank you for your interest in the 2025-26 Washington Indian Gaming Association (WIGA) scholarship. The WIGA Scholarship Program supports Native American and Alaska Native students pursuing opportunities in higher education. Awards generally range from $900 to $3,000 for each academic year.
This guide contains all the information needed to apply for a 2025-26 WIGA scholarship. Please read the entire guide before completing your application.
Applicant Requirements
Applicants must be:
- Enrolled members of one of Washington’s 29 federally recognized tribes
or - American Indian/Alaska Native students enrolled in a federally recognized tribe who are attending or plan to attend a higher education institution in the state of Washington.
Applicants may be pursuing degrees at community and technical colleges, four-year colleges, or post-graduate and professional schools.
Scholarship recipients from the previous year are eligible to re-apply under a reduced format.
How to Apply
Please read all instructions carefully.
In order for an application to be considered it must be complete, including all required attachments. Use the form below to submit your application.
Applications must be submitted by March 31, 2025. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
To save your application without submitting, click on the “save and continue later” button at the bottom of the form. If you do not click the “save and continue later” button and press the back button, you will lose all the information you have entered.
Scholarship Renewal Application Guidelines
Please read all instructions carefully.
All returning applicants must have a 2.5 GPA or higher.
Students who received a WIGA scholarship in 2024-25 and are continuing in their current level of study may apply under the reduced format application. (For example, a 2024-25 WIGA Scholarship awardee who attended a community college last year and will continue to attend community college in 2025-26 is eligible to reapply under the reduced format.
For the reduced format application, a copy of your tribal ID and your tribe’s education policy are not required; the two letters of recommendation are optional; and Section VI should be a 250-word statement of progress.
Students who received a WIGA scholarship in 2024-25 and are now moving into a new degree program must apply as a new student. For example, a 2024-25 WIGA Scholarship awardee who completed an undergraduate program last year and is now pursuing a Master’s degree must fill out the full scholarship application as a new student.
Award Amounts
The WIGA Scholarship Committee has discretion in determining the amount of each award and the total number of recipients, depending on the availability of funds and the pool of applicants each year. Scholarship amounts generally range from $900 to $3,000.
Award Distribution
Scholarship recipients will be notified by email in May 2025.
At the discretion of the Scholarship Committee, scholarship payments will be made either directly to the student or to the financial aid office of the institution the recipient is attending, in the name of the student.
Checks will be distributed in August 2025. Proof of class enrollment is required for all new scholarship recipients before checks will be distributed.
Questions
Contact Rosina DePoe at (360) 352-3248 or by email at deputy@washingtonindiangaming.org.
To print and submit your application by mail, click here and send to:
Washington Indian Gaming Association
525 Pear Street SE
Olympia, WA 98501
Scholarship Application 2025-26