IEA’s Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship offers one of the only merit-based, need-blind high school scholarships to highly gifted students across the United States.
Scholars receive a four-year high school scholarship to an optimally matched high school program intended to meet their unique intellectual and personal needs, as well as receiving individualized support, educational advocacy, and a network of like-minded peers.
The Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship was founded on the conviction that our nation’s exceptionally gifted young people are best equipped to reach their full potential in a nurturing, rigorous, and flexible learning environment suited to their individual academic needs and personal goals. Scholars have an outstanding record of post-high school national scholarships, college admissions, prestigious awards, internships, and fellowships along with job and career placement in areas suited to their studies and passions.
It began in 2002 when five students from the Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco areas were selected as the first Caroline D. Bradley Scholars. Each year the Scholarship has expanded regionally, and it is now offered nationally. The Scholarship was inspired and funded by a generous donor and is now funded by The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. The CDB Scholarship creates a life-changing experience for its students, providing a four-year high school scholarship, support and counsel through high school and beyond, and a strong community of intellectual peers.
A MERIT-BASED, FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP
The Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship is a full four-year, merit-based high school scholarship. The Scholarship can be used nationally toward any high school or approved alternative educational program that best fits the Scholar’s individual intellectual, academic, and personal needs and goals. The Scholarship enables highly able middle school students to explore and access unlimited high school and early college opportunities that provide these young adults with the optimal educational match for their high school career.
SUPPORT & COUNSELING THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL AND BEYOND
Scholars receive consistent, ongoing, personalized educational counseling to support them through the high school selection and application process, their high school careers, the college application process, and beyond. Scholars build skills and hone values that promote personal character, and they gain new perspectives about themselves and the world around them.
A STRONG SUPPORT NETWORK AND COMMUNITY OF INTELLECTUAL PEERS
In addition to providing a high school scholarship and academic guidance, CDB gives Scholars a community of intellectual peers and a cross-generational support network. Through the honor and distinction of being a Caroline D. Bradley Scholar, students join a strong fellowship of lifelong learners – a community on which Scholars can rely for support, shared information, and networking for the rest of their lives. The annual Bradley Seminar provides an opportunity for Scholars and their families to gather and share ideas and information; develop meaningful relationships with others to whom they can relate; and help grow a lifelong community support network.
SELECTION PROCESS
All applicants submit a portfolio application by April 23, 2025, 8PM Pacific Time. See Application for a detailed description of all application materials. Applications will be reviewed by a Selection Committee, after which Finalists will be identified and participate in a personal interview. Finally, the IEA Scholarship Team will select up to 30 Caroline D. Bradley Scholars for the 2024 year.
“THROUGH THE CAROLINE D. BRADLEY SCHOLARSHIP, I’VE MET OTHER STUDENTS WHO SHARE MY LOVE OF LEARNING AND HAVE HIGH GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THEMSELVES. THEY’VE BECOME MY LIFELONG FRIENDS.”
– Caroline D. Bradley Scholar
“IEA GAVE MY CHILD SO MUCH MORE THAN TUITION FOR HER PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL. IEA GAVE HER A COMMUNITY OF FRIENDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, A DEVOTED MENTOR WHO WAS ALWAYS AVAILABLE FOR ADVICE AND SUPPORT, AND THE CONFIDENCE TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE BESIDES HER PARENTS BELIEVE IN HER AND WANT HER TO SUCCEED.”
– Parent of Caroline D. Bradley Scholar
“The Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship has given me all the opportunities I dreamed of and many more I couldn’t dream up.”
– Caroline D. Bradley Scholar
Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges
533 Airport Blvd., Suite 200
Burlingame, CA 94010
Website: www.acswasc.org