CLA Foundation Opportunity Scholarship Program 2026 (Historical Reference): $15,000 Award for Business, Finance, and Emerging Fields

CLA Foundation Opportunity Scholarship Program 2026 (Historical Reference): $15,000 Award for Business, Finance, and Emerging Fields

The 2026 CLA Foundation Opportunity Scholarship Program is closed. This page is a historical reference for the round that accepted applications through May 19, 2026. The official Scholarship America program page does not announce a next application cycle, so readers should not treat the archived deadline as a future date or assume that applications are still being accepted.

The program was sponsored by the CLA Foundation, the philanthropic foundation associated with CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA), and administered by Scholarship America. Its purpose was to support future professionals in finance, accounting, business, and related emerging fields. The 2026 round offered selected students a one-time $15,000 scholarship, with up to 69 awards available. The award was intended for continuing undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited institution in the United States.

At a glance

The official page identifies the award as a scholarship for continuing undergraduate or graduate studies. It lists four-year universities, graduate schools, and two-year colleges as eligible institution types, and it describes the program as national rather than limited to a particular state or local community.

What the 2026 program offered

Each selected recipient was to receive a single $15,000 award. The official source says that up to 69 awards would be granted. This was not described as a renewable award or a monthly stipend. It was a one-time scholarship processed by Scholarship America, with payment scheduled for early August for recipients of the closed cycle.

The size of the award made the program relevant to students facing substantial tuition and education costs, but the source did not promise to cover a student’s full cost of attendance. Applicants still needed to consider their own tuition, fees, housing, books, transportation, and other aid. The award was for undergraduate and graduate study, and the official institution list included two-year colleges, four-year universities, and graduate schools.

The program also considered more than a transcript. Scholarship America’s official criteria included academic performance, leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, educational and career goals, unusual personal or family circumstances, and an online recommendation. Financial need was also considered and had to be demonstrated as calculated by Scholarship America. That combination means the application was designed to assess a student’s academic direction and circumstances together, rather than treating GPA as the sole measure of merit.

Who was eligible for the closed cycle

The 2026 eligibility rules covered several stages of education. Applicants had to be high school seniors, high school graduates, current college undergraduates, or graduate-level students in the United States. They also had to plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate or graduate study for the entire upcoming academic year at an accredited two-year or four-year college, university, or graduate school.

The minimum academic requirement was a 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale, or an equivalent result under another grading system. Meeting that threshold did not guarantee selection. The official source made clear that recipients were selected by Scholarship America and that not all applicants would receive an award.

The planned degree had to be in an industry-related area connected to CLA. The official list included:

• Accounting
• Business
• Finance
• Computer science
• Data science and analytics
• Cybersecurity
• Human-centered design and user experience (UX/UI)
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Legal technology and regulatory compliance (RegTech)
• Cognitive science and robotics
• Communications and digital media
• Ethics and technology management

The source describes that list as including, but not being limited to, these areas. That wording connected the scholarship to CLA-related professional services rather than restricting it to one exact major title. A student whose degree title differed from the examples would have needed to compare the program description with the official application’s requirements instead of assuming that a similar-sounding course of study automatically qualified.

Several exclusions were important. Current or academic-year interns at CliftonLarsonAllen LLP or the CLA Foundation were not eligible. CLA employees were excluded, as were immediate family members of CLA employees, including spouses or partners and grandchildren. Children of CLA employees, officers, and executives were also excluded. These restrictions applied alongside the academic and enrollment rules; meeting the GPA requirement alone was not enough.

Materials required for the 2026 application

The official requirements called for a current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports were not accepted. The transcript needed to display the student’s name, the school’s name, grades, and the credit hours for each course and term in which the course was taken.

Students who provided SAT or ACT scores had an additional document requirement if those scores did not appear on the high school transcript: they needed to upload a separate copy of the relevant test score report. The official page says that this separate score report was not required when a college transcript was uploaded. That distinction matters because uploading a partial grade report or an incomplete transcript could leave an otherwise strong application unfinished.

The application also required one online recommendation form. The recommender had to submit it no later than three business days after the application deadline. The applicant therefore needed to request the recommendation before submitting, confirm that the recommender had received the online request, and monitor the portal after the application was sent. The official source states that the application was not complete unless all required materials were submitted electronically.

The written and descriptive portions of the application were tied to the selection criteria. Applicants needed to explain their educational and career goals and objectives, and they had an opportunity to provide information about leadership, school and community involvement, work experience, and unusual personal or family circumstances. Financial need was part of the review as well. A useful application would have connected those parts: what the student was studying, what they had done with their time, what professional direction they were considering, and how the scholarship would support continued study.

How the 2026 application process worked

The 2026 application was handled electronically through Scholarship America. Applicants first needed to create or use an account, review the eligibility rules, and complete the online form. The official page recommends using an active personal email address rather than a school or work address, because applicants needed continued access to messages about the application and award process.

A practical sequence for that closed cycle was:

1. Confirm the U.S. residence, student status, full-time enrollment plan, accredited institution, degree area, GPA, and exclusion rules.
2. Gather a current complete transcript and check that it showed the required identifying information, grades, and credit hours.
3. Upload a separate SAT or ACT report only when applicable under the official transcript instructions.
4. Complete the educational and career goals statement and provide accurate information about activities, work, leadership, circumstances, and financial need.
5. Request the online recommendation early and make sure the form was submitted electronically within three business days after the May 19, 2026 application deadline.
6. Review every required field and attachment in the Scholarship America portal, then submit the application electronically before the published deadline.

Those steps describe the requirements and timing for the closed 2026 round. They are not instructions to submit now. The official program page currently says Status: Closed, and it does not publish a later cycle. If CLA Foundation and Scholarship America announce another round, applicants should use the new official instructions because the deadline, materials, eligible fields, and timing could change.

Selection, notification, and payment

Scholarship America selected recipients. The official criteria included academic performance, leadership and school or community participation, work experience, educational and career goals, unusual personal or family circumstances, and an online recommendation. Financial need was considered as calculated by Scholarship America. The source also states that applicants agreed to accept the selection decision as final.

All applicants were scheduled to receive notification by email in July. Recipients could also receive internship opportunities with CLA-affiliated offices, although the scholarship page did not present an internship as a guaranteed benefit of applying or winning. Scholarship America processed scholarship payments, which were scheduled for early August for the 2026 cycle.

Applicants should have kept their personal email active and checked it after the application deadline. A missing message, incomplete recommendation, or unread request could create an administrative problem, but the official source does not suggest that applicants could bypass the electronic completion requirement.

Why this page is archived

The published 2026 deadline has passed, and the official source marks the program closed. No next cycle is announced on that source as of the verification recorded in this page’s metadata. The front matter therefore keeps the real closing date, 2026-05-19, and sets historicalReference = true. That flag tells the site that this is an archive entry rather than a live listing with an expired application link.

Do not send documents to the old application flow expecting them to be reviewed for a new award. Do not assume that the 2026 award amount, maximum number of awards, deadline, or eligibility rules will carry forward if another round is announced. Students seeking a future CLA Foundation scholarship should check the official Scholarship America page and CLA Foundation communications for a new status and new instructions.

Official source

The verified source for the program is the CLA Foundation Opportunity Scholarship Program page on Scholarship America. Scholarship America identifies itself as the administrator, while the program is sponsored by the CLA Foundation. The official page is the appropriate place to check whether a later round opens and whether its requirements differ from the closed 2026 cycle.