National Scholarships and Fellowships

Many students qualify for scholarships, grants, loans, and other financial aid offered through the University of North Dakota or through hometown organizations and programs. However, a number of national and international organizations also offer scholarships and fellowships to highly qualified students on a competitive basis. UND students have the potential to be good candidates for many of these awards.

Although the application process for nationally competitive awards can be daunting, the rewards can be equally substantial. Simply going through the experience of putting together an application can be tremendously valuable in helping you focus your educational and professional goals. And winning a nationally competitive award can be life-changing.

Interested in knowing more? Click on the appropriate header. Or make an appointment to visit with Joan Hawthorne, UND's representative for nationally competitive awards.

First and Second Year Students

First and second year students who might want to apply for a national scholarship down the road -- or simply want to make good choices that will help them earn admission to competitive graduate programs or win competitive internships -- should consider enrolling in Honors Colloquium in the Humanities 291: Scholarship and Career Planning (despite what the website says, admission to the Honors program is not required for registration although you do need to call the Honors office in order to register).

This one credit course is typically offered in both Fall and Spring semesters, normally meeting from 3-4:15 twice a week. As a single-credit course, it begins a few weeks into the semester and is completed six weeks later, meaning that you'll complete the course before the mad rush toward final papers, projects, and exams begins.

If you have high aspirations, are early in your time at UND, and might benefit from a course that helps you identify and take advantage of opportunities to strengthen your preparation for "what's next," this is a great course to consider.

Scholarship Applications for Fall

The first due dates that come up in the fall, which students should really think about over the summer or even during the prior spring, are primarily for students who’ll graduate later that year.  If you might be a candidate for a student Fulbright or a Rhodes, Gates-Cambridge, Marshall, or Mitchell scholarship, this applies to you.  Each program will have a campus due-date which comes prior to the national deadline, so don’t plan to work on these at the last minute.  Recent UND winners of Fulbright awards have been able to spend time in Korea and Jordan as a result of program funding, but Fulbrights can be used in a broad range of countries.

The K. Patricia Cross award, available to graduate students aiming at careers in higher education, will also have an early fall due date.

Gilman scholarships to fund overseas study have both fall and spring due dates, depending on the semester during which study will occur.  This is one of the few nationally competitive scholarships for which financial need is considered, but, if it might be applicable to you, it is a very winnable scholarship and goes a long way toward making overseas study possible.

Finally, applications for the Critical Language Scholarship – a program in which UND students have been very successful – are due in the fall.  Chinese has been an especially popular language of study for UND winners, but our students have also studied Korean and Arabic.

Students considering the Boren Scholarship or Fellowship, the Truman Scholarship, and the Goldwater Scholarship will need to begin the application process in the fall although your due date will be shortly after the beginning of the spring semester.  Again, these are awards for which UND students definitely can be (and have been) winners.

There are other opportunities as well, and you can learn more about these and others by going to the Scholarships Overview page, which you can click onto from this site.  There you’ll find summary information on these and other scholarships.

Scholarship Applications for Spring

In addition to finalizing applications for the Boren, the Truman, and the Goldwater in very early spring semester, students should watch for additional due dates.  There will be another round of applications for the Gilman.  Students applying for the Udall will find that applications are due in February or March.  Native American students and environmental science students should take particular note of the Udall.  Mid-spring brings application deadlines for summer Fulbrights for first and second year students. 

Spring semester is also the time of year to consider summer opportunities.  Summer research programs (e.g., the Amgen, REU, and UND's own REFUND U and AURA, among others) provide fantastic gateway experiences to both scholarship competitions and graduate school applications. Some overseas opportunities exist as well.

And, of course, late spring is time for about-to-be seniors to begin thinking about programs with early fall due dates that may be of interest.  Check out requirements for the Fulbright, Rhodes, Gates-Cambridge, Marshall, and Mitchell.

Click on the "Scholarships Overview" webpage (click on the gray box on the left) for summary information about all of these opportunities.  Or do a web search for full program details. And contact me at joan.hawthorne@und.edu two or more months prior to the due date on any application.