Winning a nationally competitive scholarship or fellowship often represents a high point in an undergraduate’s career. Scholarships and fellowships not only provide financial assistance for academic studies, but they also allow scholars the opportunity to expand their horizons and receive academic and professional recognition.
For Sophomores and Juniors
Gilman
Study Abroad; financial need
The Gilman International Scholarship Program, established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000, offers competition for undergraduate study abroad awards. It is open to U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving federal Pell Grant funding at a two- or four-year college or university.
Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program
Sciences, math, and engineering
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman with 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate. The goal is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.
Homeland Security
Sciences, engineering, and technology
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) realizes that a country’s strong science and technology community provides a critical advantage in the development and implementation of counter-terrorist measures and other DHS objectives. The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology innovations, which can be applied to the DHS missions.
National Science Foundation
Research experiences for undergraduates
NSF funds numerous research opportunities for undergraduate students through its REU Sites Program, groups of 10 or so undergraduates who work in the research programs of the host institution. Each student is associated with a specific research project, in which he/she works closely with the faculty and other researchers. Students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with housing and travel. Undergraduate students supported with NSF funds must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions. An REU Site may be located at either a U.S. or foreign location.
NSEP Boren
Foreign languages and cultures
Boren Scholarships provide up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded. These scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. Applicants should identify how their study abroad program, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security, broadly defined.
Phi Kappa Phi
All fields
Phi Kappa Phi sets high standards for its award recipients. Selection committees compriseing representatives from each of the Society’s five regions carefully review all applications. Applicants are evaluated on numerous factors, including academic recognition and awards, campus and community involvement, leadership experiences, and quality and scope of proposed program.
The Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program has been established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DoD laboratories.
Soros
All fields, for “New Americans”
The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is provides opportunities for continuing generations of able and accomplished New Americans to achieve leadership in their chosen fields. The program honors the contributions New Americans have made to American life and in gratitude for the opportunities the United States has afforded the donors and their families.
Truman
Public service
The mission of the Truman Scholarship Foundation is to find and recognize college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education, or elsewhere in public service and to provide them with financial support for graduate study, leadership training, and fellowship with other students also committed to public service.
Udall Undergraduate Scholarships
Environmental interests
Established by Congress in 1992 to honor Morris King Udall’s 30 years of service in the House of Representatives, the Morris K. Udall Foundation is dedicated to educating a new generation of Americans to preserve and protect their national heritage through studies in the environment and Native American health and tribal public policy.
For Seniors and Post Graduate
Beinecke Scholarship Program
Arts, humanities, and social sciences
The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by The Sperry and Hutchinson Company Board of Directors to honor Edwin, Frederick, and Walter Beinecke through an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of young men and women of exceptional promise.
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
All fields; financial need
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s scholarships are designed to encourage and support outstanding students from seventh grade through graduate school who have a breadth of interests, work hard, demonstrate a strong will to succeed, and have financial need.
Ford Foundation
All fields for minority students
The Fellowship Office of Policy and Global Affairs administers predoctoral, dissertation, and postdoctoral fellowship programs in research-based fields of study.
Fulbright
All fields in foreign countries
The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is the largest U.S. international exchange program to offer opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. The Program was established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress to “enable the government of the United States to increase mutual understanding among the people of the United States and other countries.” It awarded approximately 6,000 grants in 2007 at a cost of more than $262 million to U.S. students, teachers, professionals, and scholars to study, teach, lecture, and conduct research in more than 155 countries and to their foreign counterparts to engage in similar activities in the United States.
Gates Cambridge
All fields at Cambridge University
Full-cost scholarships for students outside the U.K. to pursue graduate study and research at one of the world’s leading universities
Hertz
Applied physical sciences
The Hertz Foundation’s mission is to build America’s capacity for innovation by nurturing remarkable applied scientists and engineers who show the most promise to change the world.
Marshall
All fields at a university in the U.K.
Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. Up to 40 scholars are selected each year to study at the graduate level at a U.K. institution in any field of study. Each scholarship is held for two years.
Mitchell
All fields at a university in Ireland
The George J. Mitchell Scholarship is nationally competitive and sponsored by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance. Named to honor the former U.S. Senator’s pivotal contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process, the scholarship is designed to introduce and connect generations of future American leaders to Ireland, while recognizing and fostering intellectual achievement, leadership, and a commitment to public service and community.
National Science Foundation
Sciences and engineering
The National Science Foundation aims to ensure the vitality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 900 to 1,600 graduate fellowships, pending availability of funds. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) invests in graduate education for a cadre of diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to complete successfully graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the National Science Foundation.
Rhodes
All fields at Oxford University
Rhodes Scholars are elected for two years of study at the University of Oxford, with the possibility of renewal for a third year. All educational costs, such as matriculation, tuition, laboratory and certain other fees, are paid on the Scholar’s behalf by the Rhodes Trustees. In addition a maintenance allowance for each student meets necessary expenses for term-time and vacations. The Rhodes Trustees cover the necessary costs of travel to and from Oxford, and upon application, may approve additional grants for research purposes or study-related travel.
Rotary
All fields in foreign countries
The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.
