Beyoncé announces Formation scholarship program to celebrate the one year anniversary of her visual album Lemonade

The Run The World (Girls) hit-maker has launched Formation Scholars, which will award scholarships to female students to ‘encourage and support [those] who are unafraid to think outside the box.’

A statement posted on her website reads, ‘To add to the celebration of the one-year anniversary of Lemonade, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter announces the establishment of Formation Scholar awards for the 2017-2018 academic year.’

Giving back: Beyonce, seen here pregnant with twins at the 2017 Grammy Awards, announced the Formation Scholars program on Monday

The program is meant to ‘encourage and support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious and confident.’

The scholarships will be handed to four women ‘pursuing studies in creative arts, music, literature or African-American studies’ in attendance at four selected colleges.

The statement adds: ‘Four scholarships will be awarded, one per college, to female incoming, current or graduate students pursuing studies in creative arts, music, literature or African-American studies. The schools selected for participation are Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design and Spelman College.”

Groundbreaking: Lemonade was released on April 23, 2016 as a short film and album

And Beyoncé is not the only celebrity to offer scholarships to students, Rihanna also set up a program for Caribbean students who are studying in the United States.

Speaking about how, as a child, she dreamed of becoming rich enough to save children all over the world, Rihanna said, ‘When I was 5 or 6 years old, I remember watching TV and I would see these commercials and I was watching other children suffer in other parts of the world. You know? The commercials where you could give 25 cents and save a child’s life.

‘I would think to myself … I wonder how many 25 cents I could save up to save all of the kids in Africa and I would say to myself, “When I grow up and get rich, I’m going to save kids all over the world.” I just didn’t know I’d be in the position to do that when I was a teenager.’

Charitable friends: Rihanna has also gotten in on giving back, seen here with Beyonce at the 2010 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles