The 2022 scholarship is now open for applications and has a renewed focus to recognize students who show potential by demonstrating the qualities of leadership, determination and resilience as critical enablers of their future success.

Equitable Excellence is the flagship program of Equitable Foundation, the company’s charitable-giving arm.

In alignment with Equitable’s own mission of helping people achieve financial security so that they can face the future with confidence, the Equitable Excellence Scholarship places an emphasis on empowering students’ future plans so that they can continue to have positive impacts in their community.

New for this year and to support students throughout their academic journeys, Equitable will provide 100 $5,000 annual scholarships that will be renewed to award recipients each academic year for four years, for a total of $20,000 per recipient. The company will also award 100 one-time $2,500 scholarships that can help students to underwrite immediate costs associated with higher education such as tuition, books or room and board.

In addition to providing monetary scholarships, Equitable plans to offer award recipients with development opportunities and engagement programs to support their onboarding into their first year of college. This will include mentoring, networking and professional skill-building programs with Equitable’s own workforce and executive leadership teams.

Graduating high school seniors can apply by submitting an essay describing how they exhibit courage in pursuing what’s possible, display strength in managing challenges and share wisdom with others.

The Equitable Excellence Scholarship is supported through new strategic partnerships between Equitable and Scholarship America, CommonApp and the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) to assist students who apply for the scholarship and are seeking resources to support the college application process.