Our office provides a wide range of services to students. First, we try to make students aware of the nationally- and internationally-competitive awards that are available, and we provide information about eligibility for these awards. Secondly, we provide extensive support to students as they work through the application process. We accomplish this goal by helping students write and revise the required written materials for applications (personal statements, project outlines, etc.), develop their resumes, and put together the most professional, and competitive, application possible. One part of this process is providing students with logistical support as well, such as obtaining transcripts, sending materials, and providing other clerical resources.

**While any student is welcome to use our website in their national fellowships search, the services we provide are only available to alumni or students who are currently enrolled at The University of Illinois at Chicago.**

Students are always welcome to talk with OEF staff to discuss external fellowships and scholarships. The Director has much experience partnering with the foundations that grant these fellowships, and that experience will help her advise you about which opportunities are a good fit for you, and how you can put together the best possible application for a particular award.

OEF serves all UIC undergraduate students and recent alumni. OEF may serve graduate students whose programs are not part of the Graduate College.

For students in the Graduate College, please contact Fellowships and Awards Coordinator, Benn Williams: bwilli7@uic.edu.

Students should come whenever they are ready to investigate the external fellowship and scholarship opportunities that are available to them. It’s never too early to start!

Many fellowship applications have a long lead time, so that you need to be writing and preparing weeks, or even months, in advance of the due date. OEF is here to walk you through the entire process.

For many scholarships, you may need to position yourself by gaining key co-curricular experiences, like research and internships, over many semesters, including the summers. OEF can advise you about those too!

The first step is to complete the Student Information Form. Once we receive your information, we will follow up with you to schedule an appointment.

If you have already met with staff at OEF and would like to meet again, please email oef@uic.edu.

For Summer and Fall 2020, all of OEF’s advising appointments are being held via Zoom or Webex, and we continue to provide the same level of in-depth fellowships advising to students across UIC as during normal operations.

Generally, OEF is open for appointments in the hours of 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday through Friday. We are open year-round, including during the summer. All individual meetings are by appointment only.

For Summer and Fall 2020, all of OEF’s advising appointments are being held via Zoom or Webex, and we continue to provide the same level of in-depth fellowships advising to students across UIC as during normal operations.

The Office of External Fellowships focuses most of our time and energy on a select group of nationally competitive awards (see Fellowships page). This focus is due largely to the fact that many of the organizations that bestow these awards require a formal nomination or endorsement from UIC. This means that you don’t apply directly by yourself but rather get nominated by UIC, and OEF coordinates this process.

In addition, OEF seeks to help students locate other awards sponsored by organizations outside of UIC, including those that provide funding for graduate and professional school, study abroad, or undergraduate education.

When we say that an award is ‘nationally competitive’ we mean that applicants from all across the United States are applying for the award. Similarly, an ‘internationally competitive’ award is open to students from around the world. Not surprisingly, this means there is a higher level of competitiveness as compared to awards that may be sponsored by local entities, such as the State of Illinois or a Chicago-based organization. In addition, these awards are generally viewed as the hardest to win, and therefore may require a substantial amount of preparatory work. While many perceive that these awards generally go to students attending elite private institutions, that is far from the whole story. UIC and many other state universities have candidates who win these prestigious awards on a regular basis, and we know that there are UIC students every year who are capable of winning them. Please see our Recent Recipients page for recent award recipients from UIC.

Because our office works with a variety of fellowships, each with their own application timeline, there is no single deadline that students must meet. The golden rule is: It’s never too early to start!

For example, the end of the spring semester and early summer is an excellent time to come to OEF for advice and help with awards that have fall deadlines, such as the Fulbright, Rhodes, or Marshall. Students should not wait until just prior to the deadline when they, and many others, are likely to need assistance.

As a student with strong grades, you will likely be invited to join honor societies. Most of them are legitimate organizations, but from time to time we hear about suspicious organizations offering membership for a fee that turns out to be simply scams. Honor societies with an established history at UIC have access to your overall GPA but those outside the university do not. UIC sponsored honor societies are listed on this Honors College page.

Scholarships are offered through the university and from outside sources for incoming students, continuing students, graduating seniors, and sometimes alumni. High school students applying to UIC only need to apply to the university and the designated special programs they are interested in (e.g. Honors College, GPPA, Business Scholars) to be considered for ALL scholarships available to incoming freshmen.

Continuing students can apply for UIC-based scholarships through UIC SnAP. Students can find external scholarships on the UIC Scholarships site.

For assistance with scholarships and financial aid, please contact Director of Scholarships, Kara Holloway: khollowa@uic.edu.

The UIC Scholarship and Awards Program or UIC SnAP is UIC’s portal for continuing students to apply for scholarships. If you are an undergraduate, graduate student or professional program student you are likely to find scholarships in the system that will fit you. Most UIC scholarships are live in the system in spring and the funds apply to your account the following fall. Some awards require you to write essays and submit a resume. Others may request references or other supporting material. A variety of awards are available year-round. Use your UIC account to log into uic.academicworks.com to apply.