The Noiʻi Notebook #1: Six Scholarships Closing Before the New Year
Welcome to The Noiʻi Notebook
Starting this week, ING is adding a new weekly feature: The Noiʻi Notebook. Every post will do two things. It will give you one piece of practical advice you can act on before the next post, and it will name the scholarships you should be looking at right now, in deadline order.
Noiʻi is the Hawaiian word for inquiry and investigation. That is the spirit of this notebook: do the research, verify the dates, and hand you something you can use.
The focus is Hawaiʻi first. Local awards are where island students have the best odds, and we will cover them closely in the weeks ahead. National awards still matter, though, and several large ones close before the new year, so that is where we begin.
One promise before we start: every deadline below was checked against the sponsor's own website, not a social-media graphic. Where sponsors and aggregators disagreed, we say so and tell you which date to plan around.
One Thing To Do This Week: Do the Time Zone Math
If you apply from Hawaiʻi, a deadline posted as "11:59 p.m." is almost never 11:59 p.m. your time. Most national sponsors are on the East Coast or the West Coast, and Hawaiʻi runs five hours behind New York and two hours behind California during the winter.
That means a midnight Eastern deadline closes at 6:59 p.m. in Honolulu. A 3:00 p.m. Eastern deadline closes at 10:00 a.m. here. A student who sits down after dinner to submit has already missed it.
Here is the conversion for the awards in this week's list:
Sponsor says | Hawaiʻi time |
11:59 p.m. Pacific (Elks MVS) | 9:59 p.m. |
5:00 p.m. Pacific (Taco Bell) | 3:00 p.m. |
3:00 p.m. Central (Equitable, if Dec 22 applies) | 11:00 a.m. |
3:00 p.m. Eastern (GE-Reagan) | 10:00 a.m. |
This week's task: open every application you plan to submit, find the stated time zone, and write the Hawaiʻi deadline on your calendar one full day earlier than the real one. Submitting a day early costs nothing. Submitting an hour late costs the whole award.
If the sponsor does not state a time zone, assume Eastern and plan accordingly.
This Week's Scholarship Lei
Six awards close between now and the first week of January. Two of them close this week. If you are a high school senior and have not started, start today.
Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship — up to $55,000 per year, due Wednesday, November 11
The largest need-based award in the country, renewable for four years. For high school seniors with an unweighted GPA of 3.75 or higher and family income up to roughly $95,000. It is last-dollar funding, meaning it covers whatever your college's aid package leaves uncovered. Apply through the Common App by adding the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to your college list.
Elks Most Valuable Student — $4,000 to $30,000 over four years, due Thursday, November 12 (9:59 p.m. Hawaiʻi time)
Five hundred awards each year for high school seniors who are U.S. citizens and plan to attend a four-year college full time. You do not need any connection to the Elks. Judged on scholarship, leadership, and financial need, with a local lodge round first. Requires an essay, transcript, financial statement, and a counselor report due one week later.
1st Financial Bank USA Financial Goals Scholarship — $2,000, due November 30 and the last day of every month after
One winner each month, ongoing. Open to U.S. residents 18 and older who are enrolled or planning to enroll in a degree program, including trade and community college. Write an original essay of 500 words or fewer about your financial goals. No AI-written entries. If you do not win this month, enter again next month.
Ron Brown Scholar Program — $40,000 over four years, due December 1
For Black and African American high school seniors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, show financial need, and have a record of leadership and community service. Twenty to twenty-five scholars are chosen each year, and the alumni network is as valuable as the check. Requires an essay, two letters of recommendation, a transcript, and financial information; finalists are interviewed.
Equitable Excellence Scholarship — up to $20,000 over four years, due December 18
One hundred renewable awards for public high school seniors with a 2.5 GPA or higher, financial need, and real community involvement. Some sources list December 22, but the program has capped applications early in past years, so plan for December 18. You will need a transcript, the first two pages of your family's most recent tax return (with account numbers blacked out), and a short personal statement.
Taco Bell Live Más Scholarship — $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000, due January 5 (3:00 p.m. Hawaiʻi time)
Open to anyone 16 to 26 who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident: high school, college, graduate, or vocational. No GPA, test scores, or resume. Submit a video between 30 seconds and two minutes about your passion. This is the lowest-effort award on the list for real money, and most students never bother. Be the one who does.
On the Horizon
Four more windows open or close in the next three months. Put them on the calendar now; we will cover each in detail as its deadline nears.
Scholarship | Award | Key date | Who it is for |
Up to $40,000 plus a paid internship | Opens November 10; closes January 22 | Seniors with financial need who have taken a computer science course | |
$10,000 per year, up to $40,000 | Early January (10:00 a.m. Hawaiʻi time) | Seniors with a 3.0 GPA and a leadership record | |
Up to $35,000 over four years | January 14 | Minority seniors with financial need | |
$20,000 plus a laptop | Opens December 15; closes February 15 | Pell-eligible seniors in a college-readiness program |
Next week: the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation common application, which reaches more than 200 local scholarships through a single form. If you are an island student, that one post may matter more than everything above combined.
Before You Close This Tab
Pick one award from the list above and open its application today. Not to finish it. Just to see what it asks for. Most applications become far less intimidating once you have looked at the actual form, and most of what they ask for (a transcript, an essay, a recommendation) you can prepare once and reuse all year.
And if the list feels like too much, that is exactly where ING comes in. We help with:
• Building a personalized scholarship search
• Writing or polishing a master essay
• Organizing applications and deadlines
• Finding funding for adult, specialty, or graduate education
Make an appointment with me: Book your ING Meeting
The scariest thing about school funding is still the money left unclaimed by people who never applied. Do not let that be your story.
Dr. Ingrid R. Lewis, PhD Candidate
ING: ImagineNewGreatness
Deadlines verified November 6, 2026 against sponsor websites. Always confirm with the sponsor before applying.
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