Living with a rare disease means managing unique challenges, including frequent doctor visits, rigorous treatment regimens and hospitalizations, and exposure risks. While quality and duration of life continues to improve thanks to improved diagnosis and treatment approaches, individuals living with rare diseases still face disparities in achieving traditional life milestones. That’s why the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases established the #RAREis Scholarship Fund – to enrich the lives of adults living with rare diseases by providing support for their educational pursuits.

Thanks to the support of Amgen, The EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases will provide one-time awards of $5,000 scholarships to up to 58 rare disease recipients in 2026. Applications were open from March 17 through April 28, 2026 at 2 PM Eastern.

Eligibility

Anyone 17 or older, who is a resident of the United States and who has been diagnosed by a physician as having any form of rare disease, regardless of treatment status.  Applicants will be asked to provide a Diagnosis Verification Form provided by a physician verifying diagnosis. Undiagnosed applicants may also apply with a completed Diagnosis Verification Form by a physician. A Spanish Diagnosis Verification Form is also available.

Applicants must plan to enroll full-time or part-time in undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical/trade school for the Fall 2026 semester. There is no minimum amount of credit hours to be part-time. Students do not need to be pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree.

A disease is defined as rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. If you are unsure if your disease is rare, please refer to The National Institute of Health and the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center and/or NORD.

Scholarship Amount: $5000 (104 Awards)

Application Deadline: April 28, 2026