In America right now, obtaining an education is more complicated than it has ever been. Tuition expenditures are at an all-time high, students have amassed trillions of dollars of debt, and there are few and far between scholarships. This is why it’s so exciting that, through the Taco Bell Foundation, Taco Bell is giving out $6 million worth of scholarship money.
The Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarships this year is $2 million higher than last year and are awarded to students who do not necessarily need the best test scores or the highest GPA but can express their educational passions and goals for the future. You must be between the ages of 16-24 to apply and you will have to produce a two-minute video describing your scholarly interests and the difference with that passion you will be able to make in the world. First-time beneficiaries are eligible for awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
You will also be able to join a network of other Live Mas scholarship winners and mentors, in addition to having some sweet, sweet cash for your education.
You will learn everything you need to know in this post on how to win a Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship and get closer to that not-so-secret dream of paying as close to $0 for your college education as possible!
With a brief description of the Live Más Scholarship, let’s dive right in.
Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship Program Overview
The Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship isn’t a typical scholarship for you.
It is not awarded for scholastic performance, superior standardized test scores, or extracurricular achievement, unlike conventional scholarships. Instead, they’re awarded to those who are considered “Passioneers” by the Taco Bell Foundation, loosely described as innovators, designers, and dreamers who inspire their peers and blaze their own paths passionately.
To apply for the Live Mas Scholarship, you don’t need to be a Taco Bell employee. Both non-Taco Bell employees and Taco Bell employees have access to them.
Three separate programs are currently provided by the Taco Bell Foundation to apply for and win Live Más Scholarships:
- The Live Mas Scholarship Program (For Non-Taco Bell Employees)
- The Live Mas Scholarship for Restaurant Employees Program (For Taco Bell Employees Only)
- The Live Mas Scholarship Renewal Program (For Previous Winners of a Live Más Scholarship)
Under the same scheme as you, you just have to compete with students who qualify for the Live Mas Scholarship. From each program, the Taco Bell Foundation selects 100 winners. So, there are 300 winners of the Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship each year in total.
The Taco Bell Foundation awards up to $1 million worth of Live Mas Scholarships in different quantities for each of the three application tracks mentioned above:
- Up to $5,000 per recipient for up to 30 recipients
- Up to $10,000 per recipient for up to 60 recipients
- Up to $25,000 per recipient for up to 10 recipients
Bear in mind that you only need to compete with students who apply for the same Live Mas Scholarship Program as you. So, 10 Non-Taco Bell staff will win up to $25,000, 10 Taco Bell staff will win up to $25,000, and 10 renewal applicants will win up to $25,000.
Eligibility Requirements for the Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship
To be eligible to apply for a Live Mas Scholarship as a new applicant, you must meet the following requirements:
- Be a legal resident of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (“D.C.”) who is at least 16 years of age and no older than 24 years of age, located in the United States or D.C.
- On-track to apply for, pending receipt of a high school diploma or G.E.D. equivalent, or are currently enrolled in an accredited post-high school/post-secondary educational program (including accredited two- and four-year colleges, universities, vocational, technical, and trade schools).
- Have not previously received a Live Mas Scholarship.
- Obtain and submit written permission from a parent or legal guardian if you’re considered a minor in your state of residence.
How to Apply for the Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship
Forget paper and web applications and long lists of accomplishments, the Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship is awarded for 30 seconds to two minutes on the basis of video submissions. The selection committee is more interested in learning about you and your interests, not whether or not you are destined to become the next Spielberg. Don’t worry if filmmaking isn’t your strength. Videos shot on phones, tablets, computers, or any other M4 video-enabled camera are welcome and available to all formats, be it short films, animations, or simple testimonials.
They want the video to answer four main issues, while the Taco Bell Scholarship is open to how you film and style the video. The Live Mas Scholarship questions are:
- What post-secondary education program, college, or certificate/degree program are you attending?
- What impact will following your passion have on your local community or the world?
- How do you plan to achieve your passion through your educational goals?
- What is your dream college, school, or next step in your education?
During the application process, visit the website of the Taco Bell Foundation once you have created your video and click “Apply.” Then follow the on-screen instructions to fill out your details and submit your video.
How to Win a Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship
The Taco Bell Foundation’s Executive Director announced in 2019 that over 13,000 students applied for a Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship! With that degree of competition, making sure your video submission stands out is all the more relevant.
So, here are some tips you can follow that are based on the terms and conditions of the official application!
1. Don’t just talk about your passion, show your passion
One of the coolest things about the Live Mas Scholarship is that a visual snapshot of what you’re passionate about can be produced. So, don’t just sit and chat about your passion in front of your camera. Show the Taco Bell Foundation the moments where you get the most pleasure from your passion!
2. Be a trailblazer
The Taco Bell Scholarship is in pursuit of “passionate people.” You must put yourself out there in order to win it. Speaking up and sharing your story may be daunting, but there is always someone willing to listen, support, and collaborate.
3. Communicate how your passion is related to your long-term goals
It appears to stick with you for the long term when you’re passionate about something, while also shaping your hopes and dreams. In your video, The Taco Bell Foundation wants you to show them that!
4. Talk about what originally inspired your passion
It’s important to give the Taco Bell Foundation the background of what originally sparked your passion. You can do this by posting pictures or video clips of your life, not just by words. You might also come up with other ways of demonstrating your motivation, of course. What’s most significant is that you show that over time your passion has been established and will continue to develop as you begin the next step of your college life!
5. Tell your story in an emotionally inspiring and authentic way
With your enthusiasm, you most certainly won’t be the only one applying for the Live Mas Scholarship. Many students, for instance, maybe passionate about cinema or the arts. Yet your viewpoint is what will always be distinctive. So, use that viewpoint to convey your passion in a way that is true to you!
6. Share how college will help you pursue your passion
To win a scholarship to help pay for college, it is also important to remember why you’re making the video! So, make sure that the Taco Bell Foundation knows how you want to continue following your college passion. Your link may take a different form between your passion and higher education. But the important thing is that to help the Taco Bell Foundation see how college can help you take what you can do to the next level with your passion, you use your footage.
7. Show how pursuing your passion will help you make an impact on the world
Note that the Taco Bell Foundation wants to award students who are young innovators, designers, and dreamers who want to express and follow their passion with the Live Mas Scholarships. In other words, students who have the ability to use their passion to make an impact on the world deserve to be awarded. So, make sure you spend some time making that point clear in your video!
Final thoughts
We hope you feel motivated to share your passion and apply for the Live Más Scholarship with this post on how to win a Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship. But we also hope there’s no stopping you. And there are even more scholarships that will help you pay for college, just like this one! You can check out the rest of our website where we share tremendous generous scholarships, tips, and strategies on how you can win them, like the Coca-Cola Scholarship and the Chick-fil-A Scholarship.
Good luck!
