Scholarships inside your academic department
Your academic department may hold scholarships that never appear in your first aid offer. Learn where those awards sit, how departments choose recipients and how a department award fits with the rest of your aid.
Why departments hold their own money
Donors often give to the part of a college they care about most, such as a nursing school, an engineering department or a music program. The gift agreement usually limits the scholarship to students in that field, and the department chooses who receives it. The faculty committee that reviews applicants may know the students personally, which is part of why the department keeps the decision.
These funds are separate from the general grants in a first aid offer. They usually go to students already enrolled, and often to those who have declared the major, so many open up in the second year or later.
How to find and apply for them
Start with the department's own web pages and its main office. Many departments post a single scholarship application each spring for the following year, sometimes with a list of every named fund it covers. Others announce awards through an advisor, a student email list or a notice board in the building.
Some colleges gather departmental awards into one campus scholarship portal, where a single application is routed to each department whose awards fit your record. Even then, a department may add its own questions, a faculty recommendation, a writing sample, a portfolio or an audition. Read each listing to see what it adds.
A few awards go only by nomination, with faculty putting forward students they have taught. Steady work and conversations with professors during office hours are how a student comes to their attention.
Start with the department's own web pages and its main office.
How a department award fits your aid
A departmental scholarship is reported to the aid office and becomes part of your total aid. If your aid already reaches your need or the cost of attendance, the college may adjust another part of the offer, so ask the aid office how it handles departmental awards. Many colleges lower loans or work-study before grants, though each college sets its own order.
Departmental awards often carry conditions, such as staying in the major, keeping a grade average in major courses or attending an awards event. The award letter states them. Keep that letter, since the department may review the conditions before renewing the scholarship.
Steps to take this week
- Visit your department's main office
- Look for a campus scholarship portal
- Note the spring application deadline
- Ask a professor about nomination-only awards
Who decides
Your academic department's office and your college's financial aid office
Departmental scholarships are chosen by the department, so its office and advisors are where to look and whom to ask.
