Rihanna includes Jamaicans in regional scholarship programme

Rihanna will offer grants, through the Global Scholarship Programme, to residents of Barbados, Brazil, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti and Jamaica who are eligible to attend school in the US and have been accepted into an accredited four-year college or university.

Through the need-based scholarship, these students will have the opportunity to receive an award between US$5,000 and $50,000 to go toward their tuition. Awards are for undergraduate study only and may be used only for tuition expenses.

The application window launched on Monday, May 9 and will remain open until June 10. Fifty winners will be selected and announced later in August.

In a video also posted on YouTube on Monday, Rihanna said: “I don’t think it’s fair that children should carry the burden of financial limitations at school at such a young age. We launched the CLF initiative [towards] these basic needs that children have in the schools.”

“We want college graduates in our programme. A lot of these kids [are] really smart and are doing really well in school but they may not have the access [to] or the financial stability to take it any further than that so that’s why we started,” she added.

Prospective candidates may apply here: https://scholarsapply.org/claralionelfdn/

Also, watch the entire video in full here.

CLF was founded in 2012 by Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty in honour of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite.

Grants funded by CLF are used to promote global programs in the areas that Rihanna is most passionate about including health, education, arts and culture.

Current programs include the Clara Braithwaite Center for Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados, the Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program and the Barbados Micro Grants for Schools Program.