What is the Herbert Lehman Education Fund Scholarship?
The Herbert Lehman Education Fund Scholarship is a scholarship worth Varies (renewable for up to four years for undergraduates, three for law students) from NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Herbert Lehman Education Fund is a national, highly competitive scholarship established in 1964 that makes annual awards to outstanding undergraduate and law school students with financial need. It was created to help Black students attend formerly segregated four-year colleges and universities in the South and to increase the number of Black Americans in the legal profession. Undergraduate awards generally do not exceed four years and the law school awards, offered in limited numbers to students committed to public interest law, generally do not exceed three years. There is no minimum test score or GPA requirement; the committee weighs GPA, test scores, recommendations, financial need, volunteer activities, and essays together, with no single component determining an award.
Who is eligible for the Herbert Lehman Education Fund Scholarship?
NAACP Legal Defense Fund requires that applicants be an undergraduate student, or a law student committed to pursuing a career in public interest law, along with 4 further requirements: demonstrate financial need; be a US citizen; LDF states it is not accepting applications from non-US citizens at this time; attend a university or college in the United States; no minimum SAT, ACT, or GPA requirement; applications are judged holistically. Open to students from underrepresented or minority backgrounds, including Black students.
What is the deadline for the Herbert Lehman Education Fund Scholarship?
This award does not have a fixed published deadline. Its usual cycle is: Annually, April 1 for undergraduates and May 1 for law students. The 2025-2026 undergraduate deadline was April 1, 2026 and the law school deadline was May 1, 2026. Both have passed and the fund awards annually on the same cycle.
Is there a GPA requirement for the Herbert Lehman Education Fund Scholarship?
NAACP Legal Defense Fund does not publish a minimum GPA for this award. That usually means applications are assessed holistically, with essays, financial need, recommendations, and community involvement weighed alongside grades.
Is the Herbert Lehman Education Fund Scholarship only for Black students?
No. Open to students from underrepresented or minority backgrounds, including Black students. We verified this against the sponsor's published criteria on August 13, 2026.