VC University Scholarship

Before applying for the Venture Forward Scholarship, please read the following instructions carefully to learn:

Whether you are eligible for the scholarship.
The application requirements and deadlines.
How to make your application the strongest it can be.

About VC University

Launched in 2019, VC University is a joint educational initiative operated by NVCA, Venture Forward, and Berkeley Law Executive Education.

This certificate program is the definitive introductory online course on venture finance. Through lectures, interactive assessments and quizzes, virtual office hours, interviews with leading venture capitalists, and monthly webinars, participants will learn the nuts and bolts of venture finance, and earn a certificate of completion.

VC University Audience

The VC University course is open to anyone interested in emerging company finance, including angels, VCs, entrepreneurs, attorneys, etc. The course is not limited to college students or any specific age group. (The scholarship has additional criteria, outlined below.)

Program Dates

VC University is designed to be completed in 10 weeks, but participants have 5 months from the program start to complete the course and earn their certificate.

Cohort 18 began on Feb. 3, 2025 and will conclude on Jul. 7, 2025.
Cohort 19 will begin on Jun. 2, 2025 and conclude on Nov. 3, 2025.
Cohort 20 will begin on Sept. 2, 2025, and conclude on Feb. 2, 2026.

(Additional scholarship program dates are outlined below.)

Program Cost

Tuition for VC University is $1,850. Venture Forward is proud to offer a limited number of full and partial scholarships for qualified candidates.

Venture Forward Scholarship

Since VC University began in 2019, Venture Forward has awarded full scholarships to at least 10% of each cohort.

The VC University scholarship program supports aspiring and early-career VCs from underrepresented backgrounds.

Scholarship recipients receive:

Covered course tuition to VC University
Access to supplemental office hours
Access to a dedicated 3-month mentorship program, with 2 VC mentors
Public recognition for their award

The scholarship program offers two tracks:

General Track (GT): For aspiring VCs in non-life science sectors (sector-agnostic)
Life Science Scholarship (LSS): For aspiring life science VC investors

The application process is the same for both tracks, and recipients will receive access to the exact same benefits and opportunities. More details about the scholarship benefits and tracks below.

Thanks to the financial support of our sponsors, Venture Forward has been able to expand the number of full scholarships awarded, and offer partial scholarships as well. (Full and partial scholarships are awarded through the same application process.)

Since 2019, Venture Forward has awarded 590+ full scholarships and 370+ partial scholarships across 18 sold-out cohorts.

*If you are interested in supporting Venture Forward’s scholarship or mentorship efforts, please email Maryam Haque at [email protected].

Annual Scholarship Sponsors

Scholarship Office Hours

Recipients of the full scholarship receive access to dedicated scholarship office hours (SOH), as well as a curated 3-month mentorship program. (These benefits are not offered to partial scholarship recipients at this time.)

The SOH will begin once the general course office hours conclude. SOH will be hosted by VC professionals, and will provide scholarship recipients with opportunities to engage with industry leaders and experts in an intimate, small-group setting.

Mentorship

Our highly-reviewed mentorship program builds upon the technical education offered by VC University, fostering industry relationships and real-world discussion of the course concepts.

Shortly after the course begins, scholarship recipients who want to participate in the mentorship program will sign up to do so. Venture Forward will use the information provided on the sign-up forms to pair each scholarship recipient with two VC mentors.

The mentorship program begins 2 months after the course starts, to give participants time to complete the course first.

Mentees meet individually with each of their mentors, once per month for the 3-month program, during which the mentors will provide professional advice and guidance. Venture Forward will provide resources and guidance to facilitate the meetings.

Public Recognition

Venture Forward proudly recognizes the aspiring and early-career VCs who are awarded a full scholarship. Meet the past scholarship recipients:

Scholarship Tracks

The scholarship program offers two tracks:

General Track: For aspiring VCs in non-life science sectors (sector-agnostic)
Life Science Scholarship (LSS): For aspiring life science VC investors

The application process is the same for both tracks, and recipients will receive access to the exact same benefits and opportunities.

The difference is that LSS recipients will receive more life sciences-targeted course modules, resources, and mentorship – support that will better enable you to pursue a career in this specific sector.

For purposes of the LSS track, we define an interest in life sciences investing as focusing on one or more of these areas:

Biotechnology (e.g., therapeutics, diagnostics, etc.)
Pharmaceuticals
Medical devices
Genetics
Healthcare delivery services (e.g., telemedicine, digital health, etc.)

Experience in the underlying technical areas that are driving transformation in these areas, such as data science and engineering might also be considered relevant, depending on the specifics.

Scholarship Criteria

Please review the evaluation criteria carefully to determine whether you qualify as a candidate for the VC University scholarship:

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants:

Must reside in the United States
Must be actively pursuing a career as a VC investor
Must intend to remain in the United States, and invest in startups domestically
Cannot have previously participated in a VC University program
Cannot be employed by a scholarship sponsor
Must submit an application by the deadline (see Timeline section for dates)

No exceptions will be made to the eligibility requirements.

Evaluation Criteria

This scholarship is intended to support candidates who:

Will be active, engaged program participants.
Are actively / imminently pursuing a career as a VC investor.
Are part of a group that is underrepresented in venture capital (e.g., by background, geography, gender, orientation, race/ethnicity, veteran status, or any other characteristic).
Would significantly benefit from a structured introduction and exploration of technical VC concepts and the industry landscape.
Are committed to driving a stronger, more inclusive future for the industry.
Would otherwise find it difficult to participate due to the cost.

For the LSS Track:

All the criteria listed above.
Intent to pursue a career as a life science VC investor.
Have attained relevant educational/professional experience (e.g., life science-focused academic degrees).

Applications should clearly demonstrate that the candidate meets all these criteria.

Additional Considerations

In addition to the eligibility and evaluation criteria listed above, here are some additional details to consider:

Timeline of Career Goals: This scholarship is meant to support candidates who are actively pursuing a career as VC investors, or who will be doing so in the very near-term. If your VC career goals are many years down the road, you will not be a good fit for the scholarship at this time.
Domestic U.S. Focus: This scholarship is meant to support candidates who live in the United States, intend to stay, and intend to invest in startups domestically. If you currently live abroad, intend to move abroad, or primarily intend to invest in startups outside the U.S., you may not be a good fit for this scholarship.
Financial Need: This scholarship is primarily intended to support candidates who might otherwise be prohibited from participation by the cost. If you’re able to, we encourage you to ask your employer to subsidize the cost of tuition as a professional development investment. If this is a possibility for you, please pursue this route before applying for a scholarship. Feel free to use this template to help draft your request.
Repeat Applicants: Successful candidates sometimes require several attempts to craft their best application! We warmly welcome repeat applicants, provided you have carefully reviewed the criteria first, and that your new app demonstrates improvement as a candidate. There’s no penalty for reapplying, but if you just resubmit the exact same application you used previously, you will get the same outcome.
Additional Outreach: We do not accept recommendations or supplemental outreach as part of our consideration process. Candidates are evaluated solely on the strength of their application. Please do not send any additional communications beyond the application, as they will not be considered.

Scholarship Timeline

Cohort 18 (Feb. 2025)

Oct. 28: Scholarship application opens
Nov. 1: Deadline to apply for the scholarship
Dec. 13: Scholarship applicants notified of decisions
Dec. 16, 2024: General registration opens
Feb. 3, 2025: Cohort 18 of VC University begins
Feb. 3-7: Sign-up window for the mentorship program
Feb. 28: Eligibility checkpoint for the mentorship program
Apr. 1: Cohort 18 mentorship program begins
April: Scholarship Office Hours begin
May: Month 2 of the mentorship program
June: Month 3 of the mentorship program
Jul. 7: Cohort 18 of VC University concludes

Cohort 19 (Jun. 2025)

Mar. 3: Scholarship application opens
Mar. 7: Deadline to apply for a scholarship
Apr. 18: Scholarship recipients notified and response requested
Apr. 21: Early-bird registration opens
May 3: General registration opens
Jun. 2: Cohort 19 of VC University begins
Jun. 27: Mentorship program eligibility checkpoint
Aug: Mentorship program begins
Aug: Scholarship Office Hours begin
Oct. 31: Cohort 19 concludes

Apply

Cohort 19 (Jun. 2025)

The scholarship application for Cohort 19 will open from Monday, Mar. 3 – Friday, Mar. 7, 2025.

The Application

Overview: The application takes 30-45 minutes, depending on how much effort you put into the short-answer questions. It has 4 main sections:

Personal Information – Name, contact details, etc.
Professional Information – Current role, professional goals, etc.
Short-Answer Questions – 5 questions (listed below)
Demographic Information – Background, financial need, etc.

Short-Answer Questions: These questions must be answered in 500 characters (about 100 words) or fewer:

When did you decide to pursue a career as a VC investor, and why?
What steps have you taken towards pursuing a career as a VC investor?
If you had your own pool of VC capital, what would you be investing in right now? Why?
Looking back on your career 20 years from now, what does success look like?
Which components of the VC University course and scholarship program are most important to you? Why?

The strongest applications:

Demonstrate clear understanding of the course and scholarship program
Demonstrate clear alignment with the scholarship criteria
Answer the questions directly, clearly, and concisely
Provide focused answers that include specific details or examples
Show that you put meaningful effort and thought into your application
Show that you would meaningfully benefit from the opportunity
Show that you would be an active, engaged program participant

Use of AI tools: The use of AI tools is not expressly prohibited, but strongly discouraged.

We see hundreds of applications each cohort. It’s very clear when an applicant’s answers are AI-augmented, because they’re often generic and extremely similar to one another. Even if you only use AI tools to shorten your own words, these tools condense the answers in extremely similar ways.

We’re seeking honest, thoughtful responses, written in your own words, that reflect an authentic picture of who you are. We can’t tell if AI-augmented responses accurately reflect your personal perspective or strength as a candidate. If we can’t accurately assess your sincerity or strength as a candidate, you are less likely to be selected for a scholarship.

It may feel easier to draft your application answers using ChatGPT or similar tools, but it’s much more likely to hurt your application than help.

You will be asked to disclose whether or not you used AI tools on the application. Use of AI tools is not prohibited, but applicant who are found to be dishonest about doing so will be disqualified.