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Get startedA low GPA does not have to close the door on scholarship money, and for international students the door is often not as closed as it looks. US grade point averages do not always convert cleanly from your home system, as credential evaluators like WES point out. Transcripts arrive late, and a rough first semester in a new country can drag a number down. The good news is that some real scholarships do not look at your GPA at all. They decide on a profile, a creative entry, a short application, or a simple drawing, and a few of them are genuinely open to international students studying in the US.
The list below is deliberately short. There are plenty of no-GPA scholarships in the US, but most are limited to citizens or permanent residents. We have kept only the ones an international student on a US address can realistically enter. It also helps to have the basics sorted first, from your visa paperwork to a US bank account that can receive the money. Eligibility still varies, so we flag it on every entry, and we note where a scholarship skips the GPA but still asks for a short essay or a creative submission. Always confirm each program's official rules before you apply.
If you want a faster way to work through options like these, you can start with ScholarshipOwl's free directory, which matches awards to your profile rather than your grades. Terms & conditions apply.
1. ScholarshipOwl $50,000 No-Essay Scholarship
ScholarshipOwl's flagship award has no GPA requirement and no essay: $1,000 goes to exactly 50 students across the year, on a recurring monthly basis, decided by drawing rather than grades. One profile enters you, and the same profile is matched to many other no-GPA awards at once. Eligibility is residency-based. It is open to residents of the 50 states, DC, and US territories aged 16 and over, who are enrolled or enrolling within three months at a US school. If you are an international student living in the US with a US address, you may qualify. This one is not confirmed for every visa status, so check the official rules against your situation first. You can apply through ScholarshipOwl and get matched to more at the same time. Terms & conditions apply.
2. ScholarshipOwl $2,026 No-Essay Scholarship
ScholarshipOwl's second award works the same way, with no GPA requirement and no essay: a single $2,026 prize on a recurring monthly cycle, decided by drawing rather than grades. It runs off the same profile as the $50,000 award, so entering one puts you in the running for both, along with the wider pool of no-GPA awards ScholarshipOwl matches you to. The eligibility is the same residency-based rule, so international students living in the US with a US address may qualify, but confirm your status against the official rules first. Terms & conditions apply.
Beyond no-GPA options, our list of scholarships for international students in the USA rounds out the wider picture, from university aid to quick profile-based awards.
3. Be Bold No-Essay Scholarship (Bold.org)
Bold.org's $25,000 Be Bold scholarship is one of the few large no-GPA awards that is explicitly open to international students, alongside US citizens, permanent residents, and DACA students. There is no GPA screen and no essay. The award goes to the strongest overall profile, and deadlines roll every month, so entering early helps. You build one Bold.org profile and it can enter you into several of their no-GPA scholarships at once.
4. MPOWER Monthly Scholarship
MPOWER Financing runs a monthly scholarship built specifically for international students: $1,000 to three students every month, with no GPA requirement. To qualify you need to be an international student legally studying in the US or Canada, including DACA recipients, and enrolled full time at one of MPOWER's supported schools. It does ask for a short written application rather than grades, so it is no-GPA but not no-effort. Because it recurs monthly, it is worth setting a reminder to reapply.
5. MPOWER Global Citizen Scholarship
MPOWER's larger award splits $8,000, $2,000, and $1,000 across three winners, with no GPA requirement and a December 31, 2026 deadline. It is open to students with a valid US study visa, DACA status, or US permanent residency who are accepted or enrolled at an MPOWER-supported school in the US or Canada. This one is judged on a written response about your goals and impact, so plan a little time for the application even though your GPA is not part of it.
6. Too Cool to Pay for School Scholarship
Access Scholarships gives away $1,000 four times a year, once each quarter, through a short form and a random drawing, with no GPA and no essay. It is one of the clearest fits for our readers: the eligibility explicitly names US residents, DACA and undocumented students, and international students currently studying in the US. You need to be 13 or older and enrolled, or enrolling within 24 months, at a high school, college, or graduate program. Set a reminder for each quarterly close so you do not miss a cycle.
7. Prism Foundation Scholarship
The Prism Foundation awards between $1,000 and $5,000 to students in the AAPI and LGBTQIA+ communities, with no GPA requirement. International students are eligible as long as you are enrolled at an accredited US institution. It is not a no-essay award; you submit a short essay and one letter of recommendation, and selection is based on your community involvement rather than your grades. The cycle is annual, so check the site for the next open window before you plan around it.
8. Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship
The Gallery Collection runs a $10,000 scholarship, plus $1,000 for your school, for designing the front of an original greeting card. There is no GPA requirement, and instead of an essay you submit a piece of artwork or a photograph. It is open to students 14 and over at a high school, homeschool, or college. Listings indicate US residents, including international students with a valid visa, are eligible, though the visa wording is worth confirming on the official rules before you enter. If you have any creative streak, it is one of the highest-value no-GPA awards here.
What a GPA-free scholarship actually judges
If your grades are not the thing being scored, something else is, so it helps to know what. Profile awards like Be Bold look at the overall picture you present: your goals, background, and what you are trying to build. Creative awards like the greeting-card scholarship judge the work you submit, not your transcript. Short-application awards like the MPOWER scholarships weigh a written response about your plans. And drawings like the ScholarshipOwl and Access awards are exactly that, luck, so the winning move is simply to enter every cycle. Knowing which type you are looking at tells you where to put your effort: polish the profile, make the creative piece good, or just keep entering. If you would rather have this sorted for you, a free AI prompt can take your status and situation and hand back the GPA-free awards you can actually enter, grouped by what each one asks for; grab the no-GPA shortlist to start.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get a scholarship with a low GPA? Yes. A number of scholarships do not look at GPA at all, and others set a low floor such as 2.0 to 2.5. The awards on this list skip the GPA entirely and decide on a profile, a creative entry, a short application, or a drawing, so your grades are not what is being judged.
Do all scholarships check your GPA? No. Merit scholarships usually do, but plenty of awards are based on need, identity, creativity, or simply a random drawing, and those do not screen on grades. For international students, whose GPAs do not always convert cleanly into the US system, these GPA-free awards are often the easier route.
Can international students get no-GPA scholarships? Some, yes, though fewer than you might hope. Many no-GPA scholarships in the US are limited to citizens or permanent residents, which is why this list is short and every entry is checked. The ones above are either explicitly open to international students or run on residency rather than citizenship; always confirm your own status against each program's rules.
Are no-GPA scholarships worth applying for? For the time they take, yes, especially the drawings and profile awards, which need only a few minutes. Treat them as one steady layer of your funding plan rather than the whole plan, and keep entering the recurring ones. A single monthly routine keeps you in several at once. The same free prompt can build that routine and rebuild your eligible list each month; it runs in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, so use whichever you have open. It turns re-applying into a quick monthly scholarship planner check.
Start with your profile, not your transcript
The best thing about GPA-free scholarships is that they reward what you are doing now, not a number from a rough semester. The simplest way to work through them is to build one reusable profile and let a directory match awards to it, so you are applying to many at once instead of filling out the same form over and over. You can set up a free ScholarshipOwl account to get matched to no-GPA awards that fit you, and it costs nothing to try. And if you are still finding your feet as an international student in the US, the College Life Club pulls together the benefits, guides, and community that make studying abroad a little easier. Terms & conditions apply.