GFOA Academic Scholarships

GFOA Academic Scholarships

GFOA provides several scholarship opportunities for students interested in pursuing a career in state/provincial or local government finance. Encouraging and supporting educational opportunities for future government finance officers are integral to our mission of promoting best practices in local government.

GFOA currently offers five types of scholarships. Students interested in future scholarship opportunities should keep in mind the following:

Eligibility for scholarship awards:

  • Citizen or permanent resident of the United States or Canada
  • Plan to pursue a career in state/provincial or local government finance
  • Student has not been a past winner of a GFOA scholarship.
  • Additional criteria for each individual scholarship found with the links below.

The application window for 2026 scholarships will open in November.

Available Scholarships

GFOA offers 11 scholarships ranging from $5,000 to $30,000.

Scholarship Winners

GFOA has announced the recipients of its 2025 scholarships. Scholarships were awarded to 11 students totaling $130,000. The recipients were selected by a committee composed of members from GFOA’s Executive Board.

Jina Turowski, 2015 Scholarship Recipient

“Considering the cost of college tuition, it was my goal to graduate from my MPA program before my children graduated from high school in 2016 and 2019. I accomplished that goal in May 2015 with a 4.0 GPA.”

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Ashley McGowen, 2020 Scholarship Recipient

I am incredibly thankful for GFOA’s generous scholarship for allowing me to accomplish my educational goals while decreasing the financial burden of earning the graduate degree required to further my career.

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For additional information or for questions about GFOA's scholarship programs, please contact Eric Roach.

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