Several Microsoft scholarship programs intended to help students pursue careers in technology are limited to applicants on the basis of race and sex, according to its website.
The programs offer high school seniors who are black, Hispanic or identify as women different scholarships to go to college, according to the website. The scholarships come with varying degrees of monetary assistance and are designed for students who want to pursue a career in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields.
The “Women at Microsoft Scholarship” is available to students who identify “as a woman and/or as non-binary,” according to the webpage. The scholarships vary in amounts, up to $5,000, and are given as either a one-time payment or renewable for four years.
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The company offers another scholarship called the “HOLA scholarship” for “Hispanic and Latinx communities,” according to the webpage. The scholarship offers two $20,000 scholarships distributed over 4 years and three, one-time $5,000 scholarships.
The “Blacks at Microsoft Scholarships” provides high school seniors who “demonstrate a passion for technology” with five $20,000 scholarships that is broken up over four years and 45 one-time scholarships for $2,500. The scholarship also requires a minimum 3.0 GPA and a letter of recommendation.
Race based scholarships have come under fire from conservative legal organizations.
The Legal Insurrection Foundation’s Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a complaint in September against two fellowships offered by Western Kentucky University specifically targeted for minorities. The EPP also sued the University of North Dakota over tuition programs “only available to non-white applicants” in November.
The Supreme Court ruled against race-based college admissions in June, saying the practice violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protections Clause.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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