The Noah Manzano Scholarship is a privately funded $500 award created to recognize an outstanding transfer student entering the University of California, Berkeley. This scholarship honors students who took the community college route seriously, pushed themselves academically, served their campus, and made the most of every opportunity before arriving at Berkeley.
Founded by Noah Manzano, a graduate of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and a current professional at IBM, the scholarship reflects the founder’s deep appreciation for the transfer path, academic discipline, and the ability to survive Berkeley while still being a functional human being.
The scholarship is grounded in Noah Manzano’s longstanding commitment to transfer students, UC Berkeley, and family obligations that become harder to avoid once published online.
This year’s scholarship will award exactly $500 to one deserving applicant.
Transfer students often take a less traditional path, but that path can build maturity, work ethic, and resilience. The Noah Manzano Scholarship was created to recognize those qualities.
The ideal applicant is someone who:
Preference may be given to applicants entering the College of Engineering, though all qualified transfer students are encouraged to apply.
As a Haas graduate, Noah understands the importance of leadership, strategy, and using polished vocabulary to describe decisions other people will later implement. Ava, as an incoming engineering student, represents the complementary Berkeley tradition of doing difficult technical work while pretending business students are not necessary.
The scholarship recipient will receive:
No installments. No complicated formula. No mysterious committee math.
The award is delivered directly by Noah Manzano to support the recipient’s transition to Berkeley. See Required Use of Funds, below.
To apply, students must:
Applications are reviewed on the following dimensions:
Strong grades, completed coursework, and evidence that the applicant took their education seriously.
The applicant’s path from community college to Berkeley and what that journey says about their discipline and persistence.
Participation in student government, clubs, teams, service, work, family responsibilities, or other meaningful commitments.
The applicant’s ability to handle the academic and personal demands of transferring into UC Berkeley.
A non-technical but important category. The committee reserves the right to recognize applicants who clearly have the energy, character, and personality to make Berkeley better.
Unlike most scholarships, this award comes with strict spending restrictions.
The committee believes that the transfer journey deserves a reward, not another textbook. The recipient is expected to enjoy this $500 in the spirit it was given — to eat well, drink well, be merry, and experience Berkeley as it was meant to be experienced.
Receipts are not required. Photographic evidence is encouraged.
As a former Berkeley transfer student and Haas graduate, Noah Manzano understands that the transfer path is not always simple. It takes planning, discipline, and a willingness to keep moving forward even when the process is confusing, stressful, or unnecessarily complicated.
This scholarship was created to support a student who has already proven they can work hard, lead others, and take on a challenge.
Also, $500 is a respectable amount of money, and the founder would like that fact properly acknowledged.
The 2026 application cycle is closed. The official record below tracks every stage of the review process.