New UW Tribal Scholarship Covers New, Returning Students; Enrollment Deadline May 1 for First-Year Students

Members of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes who live in Wyoming are eligible for a new scholarship covering up to the full cost of University of Wyoming undergraduate tuition and fees starting this fall.

Tribal members returning as UW students, enrolling as first-year UW students or transferring to UW are eligible if they meet these criteria:

-- Be an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone or Northern Arapaho tribe.

-- Be a Wyoming resident and have graduated from a Wyoming high school.

-- Be in good academic standing.

-- Be enrolled as a full-time student.

-- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) annually.

Students wishing to apply for the Wind River Promise Fund must complete a brief scholarship application, which includes verifying tribal enrollment. The application must be completed by Wednesday, July 1, and is available at https://uwyo.academicworks.com/opportunities/51111.

To complete the application, sign in to WyoScholarships at www.uwyo.edu/WyoScholarships with a UW (WyoWeb) username and password. Once logged in, complete the general application (if prompted) and the Wind River Promise Fund application.

For those who have not obtained a UW username and password, they need to complete the general application questions and apply for admission to UW at www.uwyo.edu/admissions/apply.html.

New first-year students wishing to apply for the Wind River Promise Fund must confirm their enrollment at UW for the fall 2026 semester by Friday, May 1. Transfer students must confirm their enrollment by Saturday, Aug. 1.

The scholarship may be renewed for up to eight semesters for new first-year students, six semesters for transfer students and based on academic level for continuing students, or until completion of the first bachelor’s degree, whichever comes first. Renewal is contingent on continuous full-time enrollment of 12 credit hours each fall and spring semester; successful completion of 24 credit hours each academic year; maintaining a 2.0 UW cumulative grade-point average; annual completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); and annual completion of the scholarship application in WyoScholarships. Once it’s first distributed, a student has six academic years to receive the scholarship benefits.

“Our Board of Trustees and university have made a tremendous commitment to students from the tribes of Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation, and we want to ensure that all eligible, enrolled tribal members have the opportunity to receive this new scholarship,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “To make it happen for this fall, it’s important that new first-time students confirm their admission to the university by May 1.”

For more information about the Wind River Promise Scholarship, go to www.uwyo.edu/sfa/scholarships/residents/wind-river-promise.html.

UW’s Board of Trustees voted last year to create the Wind River Promise Fund -- an endowment that will be used to provide the scholarships -- by allocating $2 million for the endowment and an additional $250,000 in expendable funds to launch it this fall. Last month, the board voted to make the scholarship available to returning UW students as well as first-time and transfer students.