The Obama Foundation is partnering with Airbnb to launch the “Voyager Scholarship” program, which aims to give college students interested in public service a financial boost through their final years of school and beyond. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Obama Foundation and Airbnb on Monday announced the launch of their new “Voyager Scholarship” program

  • The scholarship is funded through a $100 million donation made by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and will be available for rising juniors

  • Applicants must have “demonstrated a commitment to public service” and must prove a financial need to receive a scholarship

  • Applications for the scholarship will be open through June 14; accepted applicants will be notified by August

The scholarship will be funded through a $100 million donation made by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and will be available for rising college juniors who have both “demonstrated a commitment to public service” and who plan to “pursue a future career in public service upon graduation,” a release said in part. Students must demonstrate financial need to be eligible for the scholarship. 

 

The scholarship, which was announced in a joint video filmed with Chesky and former President Barack Obama, will likely be awarded to around 100 college juniors in its first year, with the option for those students to renew the program as seniors. 

“I didn't travel a lot before I started Airbnb, you know, my parents are social workers. But the thing that surprised me the more I traveled is it kind of teaches curiosity,” Chesky said in the video. 

“I think so many people have a passion for public service, but they don't go into public service because they can't afford to, they have too much financial burden looming over them,” he added. “And if we could remove that burden, so people could actually go into public service, serve their community, but also broaden their horizons.”

The application defines “public service” broadly, and can include students interested in government service, non-profit work, and jobs in the private sector, like teachers, social workers, journalists or other fields that are “committed to creating a more connected, just, and equitable world.”

“We’re looking for college students from every corner of the country to apply,” Chesky wrote in a follow-up tweet announcing the scholarship program. “Public service can range from education to community organizing, from healthcare to the arts.”

 

Scholarship recipients, or “Voyagers,” will receive funds for a number of programs. Students can get up to $25,000 per semester in financial aid to cover tuition or living costs for school in an effort to offset the pressures of student loan debt.

Students will also receive a $10,000 summer stipend in order to “pursue internships or mentorship opportunities anywhere in the world that will broaden their horizons and prepare them for careers in public service.” Airbnb will provide housing for students during their summer travel experiences. 

Airbnb will also provide scholarship recipients with a $2,000 travel credit every summer for 10 years after graduation, and will offer a “Fall Summit” – where Chesky, Obama and other public figures will hold a meeting – to foster connections between students and those in the public service industry. 

“If we want this next generation of leaders to be able to do what they need to do. They have to meet each other,” Obama said in Monday’s video release. “They have to know each other. They have to understand each other's communities.”

Applications for the scholarship will be open through June 14 at 3:00 PM Central Time; accepted candidates will be notified in August, and the program will begin in September.