Your Faith Lights Up Your Life . . . Use it to Light Up Our World
Share your light! Be part of a meaningful college program that prepares you for leadership in your Church, community and world — a program only available at St. John’s.
As an incoming St. John’s first-year student, you can apply for our Catholic Scholars Program, offering $5,000 for each of your four years of study. Applicants demonstrate a commitment to living the Catholic Tradition through leadership and excellence.
As a Catholic Scholars recipient, you will be a part of a multi-disciplinary community of Catholic Leaders who join professors and Campus Ministers in monthly meetings, lectures, retreats, courses and prayer experiences that integrate faith, reason and service.
The energy of our diverse, metropolitan campus will enrich your education as you explore the richness of the Catholic Tradition and its role in your studies and your future as a faith-inspired leader.
As a Catholic Scholar, you will . . .
- Integrate faith and leadership, inspiring fellow students throughout your college years.
- Develop a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ as a University student, preparing you for life.
- Join an optional “living-learning” community with meetings, activities and leadership experiences to build your foundation of faith.
- Participate in our Catholic and Vincentian leadership initiatives for each of your four years.
- Have the option to participate in a special Study Abroad cohort focusing on Catholic leadership at our Rome, Italy campus.
- Benefit from Campus Ministry, faculty and administrative mentors - and become a mentor yourself!
- Take part in on- and off-campus colloquia on Catholic Social Teaching, social justice and faith formation.
- Find meaningful ways to apply your faith-inspired leadership in your chosen field
How to Apply
This program is available to first-year students entering St. John's University. Please check back for when the application opens. The Catholic Scholars Program offers $5,000 for each of your four years of study. Applicants demonstrate a commitment to living the Catholic Tradition through leadership and excellence.
Applications for current seniors in high school are now open for consideration to the Fall 2026 cohort.
Please apply to the Catholic Scholars program through your admission portal.
For more information about this scholarship program contact Victoria O'Keefe, Director of the Catholic Scholars program, at [email protected]
For assistance with applying in portal, please contact Lisa Sayo, Associate Director of Admissions, at [email protected]
Thank you.
As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without works.
- St. James 2:26
To schedule a meeting with a Campus Minister, please click here to set-up a call or video meeting.
Success at St. John's
Service Activities Aided Alumna in Her Search for a Career to Help Others
Sarah Fagan Cioffi ’18C discovered her pathway for a career in art therapy one Saturday morning as part of a printmaking class she took as a Fine Arts major at St. John’s University.
Highlight
Mrs. Cioffi, who was then working toward her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a minor in Psychology at St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, recalled that one of the most meaningful service opportunities for her at St. John’s was an Academic Service-Learning (AS-L) component of her Printmaking I class with Claudia Sbrissa, M.F.A., Professor, Department of Art and Design. As part of the AS-L project, they created rubber stamps and brought them to St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside, NY, to make art with the patients.