Financial Aid

Scholarships and Grants

Scholarships and grants can provide you with funding you don’t have to pay back—and can significantly reduce your financial obligation. In fact, Bank Street awards approximately $1.4 million in scholarships every year. The majority of our students receive scholarships that cover up to 30% of tuition.  Additionally, you may be eligible for grants from a number of participating organizations.

  • Our scholarship eligibility requirements are broader than most, making it possible for more students to receive them: Incoming students who earn up to $80,000 a year (or significantly more for students with families) are likely to qualify for a Bank Street scholarship.
  • Our scholarships make the cost of attending Bank Street competitive with most other private schools in the New York region.
  • Need-based scholarships are Bank Street’s top fundraising priority, including grants in amounts up to full tuition.
  • External scholarships and program-based,  public school-focused, and career changer scholarships (and more) are also available.

Explore Your Options

  • Bank Street Scholarships

    When you apply for admission and financial aid, you will automatically be considered for more than 45 Bank Street-funded scholarships. There is no additional form you need to submit beyond your program application and your FAFSA. The criteria for these scholarships varies and may depend on  the specific program you’re applying to, whether you will work in public schools, if you’re changing your career to teaching, and others.

    For example, we have many scholarships for our Leadership in Mathematics Education program, including the Cathy Bose Math Leadership Scholarship, Neuberger Scholarship, and Spiegler Scholarship, among others, as well as numerous scholarships for applicants who are career changers, such as the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation Scholarship and the Lucy Burrows Scholarship.

    How to Be Considered

    Applications are reviewed for scholarship eligibility once you:

    • Complete the FAFSA on the Federal Student Aid website and use Bank Street College Federal Code: G02669 (G Zero Two Six Six Nine)
      • If your program starts in Fall 2024 or Spring 2025, complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA.
      • If your program starts during Summer 2025 sessions, complete both the 2024-2025 FAFSA and the 2025-2026 FAFSA.
    • Enroll as a student (minimum of 2 credits in Summer 1 or Summer 2 terms; minimum of 5 credits in Fall/Spring/Summer Long term).

    Visit Federal Student Aid Website

  • External Scholarships

    Additionally, there are many external scholarship programs you can apply to on your own. Some general search engines include College Connection, Scholarships.com, and Fast Web Scholarship Search. Please note that Bank Street does not determine external awards and separate applications are required.

  • Grant Options

    Yellow Ribbon

    Bank Street College is proud to be a participant in the Yellow Ribbon GI Educational Enhancement Program. We providing matching funds to eligible recipients of the Yellow Ribbon program.

    This program is a provision of the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. This program allows institutions of higher education (degree-granting institutions) in the United States to voluntarily enter into an agreement with the VA to fund tuition expenses that exceed the annual maximum cap for private institutions.

    TEACH Grant

    You may be eligible to receive a federal TEACH Grant of up to $4,000 per year ($8,000 total for graduate students) if you are studying at Bank Street College and plan to:

    • Teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families.
    • Become a full-time teacher in a high-need field including bilingual education and English language acquisition, foreign language, mathematics, reading specialist, science, and special education.

    To be eligible for a TEACH Grant, you must meet these requirements:

    • Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
    • Be enrolled as a graduate student. The amount of grant funding you will be eligible to receive is based on the number of enrolled hours.
    • Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
    • Be enrolled in coursework that is necessary to begin a career in teaching or a plan to complete such coursework.
    • Fulfill certain academic requirements (scoring above the 75th percentile on any battery of a college admission test or maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25).
    • Complete Entrance Counseling prior to the first award and subsequent counseling before each academic year.
    • Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve.
    • Teach in a high-need field (pdf): bilingual education and English language acquisition, foreign language, mathematics, reading specialist, science, special education, or other identified teacher shortage areas.
    • Teach in a school that serves low-income students (pdf). You must pledge to teach full-time as a highly qualified teacher for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing your program at Bank Street College for which you received the TEACH Grant.

    Note: If you fail to complete the teaching obligation, all amounts of TEACH Grants that you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed.

    CARES Act, CRRSAA, ARPA and SSARP

    Bank Street received support for relief funds from the CARES Act Emergency Grant HEERF-Student, the CRRSAA, and ARP (a)(1) Student Grant Programs and SSARP(a)(3) Funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Words from a Scholarship Recipient
As a career changer, it was a courageous decision for me to go back to school to pursue teaching. The biggest challenge became figuring out how to balance the demands of graduate school and work. The Bank Street College Scholarship provided me with the necessary breathing room to navigate that transition. I’m deeply grateful to the donors who made it possible for me to follow my passion for education.
Molly Waterman, Current Student
Cross-Age: Early Childhood and Childhood General Education