The deadline is approaching for graduating high school seniors to apply for the 2025 Rosa Parks Scholarship to help with their first year of college expenses.
The Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation, founded in 1980 by The Detroit News and the Detroit public school system, awards the scholarships to seniors who share the values of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who sparked the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and spent her final years in Detroit.
The foundation awards a one-time $2,500 scholarship to Michigan high school seniors who embrace Parks’ commitment to social justice and community service. Students who receive the scholarship also are eligible to apply for for two paid summer internships at The Detroit News, where they learn to report news, take news photographs and work on print and digital news production. 
Read more about the 2024 Rosa Parks interns and their backgrounds here.
Scholarships are to be applied for tuition, books and fees for the first year of college, not for other expenses. The scholarship prioritizes need-based applicants, but all Michigan seniors are eligible to apply.
This year’s application includes an essay on the following topic: “Segregation was the defining social issue when Rosa Parks took her historic stand. Describe a social issue that you think should be addressed today. How will YOU use the principles of Rosa Parks to address it?”Apply here by Feb. 28. Scholarship winners will be notified in mid-May.
Since The Detroit News and Detroit Public Schools established the scholarship in 1980, more than 1,300 high-achieving Michigan high school seniors from all around the state of Michigan have received more than $2.5 million.

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