University of Georgia
Founded in 1972 by The University of Georgia Foundation’s trustees, the Foundation Fellows Program is the university’s foremost undergraduate scholarship, placing students in a community of similarly dedicated scholars, offering a stipend that approximates the cost of attendance, a post-first-year Maymester study abroad program, individual travel-study grants, group travel-study opportunities each spring, research and academic conference grants, dinner seminars with some of the university’s best minds, and a mentoring plan that matches Fellows with professors who share their interests.
Beyond the obvious scholastic benefits, the Foundation Fellows Program also emphasizes fellowship, sharing of resources and ideas, and lifelong friendships. Peer mentoring (Big and Little Fellows), dinner seminars, cultural events, annual retreats, the Fellows Library in Moore College, and group travel promote a sense of community among the Fellows.
Beyond campus, the opportunities for academic and personal enrichment stretch around the globe. Group travel is a hallmark of the Foundation Fellows Program as first-year Fellows take an annual spring break trip to New York City and Washington, DC – where they interact with titans of policy, government, law, the arts, industry and trade – and also enjoy a month-long Maymester sojourn to Oxford, England to take classes at Oxford University, where the university has its own residential facility. As they advance in their academic careers, Fellows take part in fully funded spring break travel-study programs designed by senior faculty. In recent years, Fellows have been part of travel-study programs in Jordan, Fiji, India, the Galapagos Islands, Borneo, Bosnia and The Hague, South Korea, and Costa Rica.
In addition, students receive individual travel grants to pursue their own areas of professional and academic interest, and they are eligible for academic research and conference grants to conduct faculty-directed research, attend and make presentations at professional conferences, and advance their career goals through internships.
Complementing the Foundation Fellows Program is UGA’s Honors Program, one of the oldest and most respected programs in the country. The program provides some 2,300 students with the resources – including 300 Honors classes a year with an average class size of 17 students, expert advice from Honors and faculty advisors, independent research opportunities, one-on-one attention through the Honors Faculty Mentor Network, internships, lunchbox lectures and book discussions with faculty, and coveted spots in the Myers Hall residential community – to make the most of their higher education experience. The Honors Program affords numerous opportunities for local, national, and global civic engagement, including the Roosevelt Institution, a student-run think tank. Foundation Fellows and Honors students also staff the student selection committee of the prestigious Delta Prize for Global Understanding, whose past recipients have included Dr. ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
The Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) pairs students with premier research faculty members on investigatory projects that not only augment classroom study but also provide important research-related experience that can help meet the demands of graduate or professional school, or those of any contemporary career. Undergraduate research opportunities abound across the curriculum, from laboratory science to the humanities and fine arts. Among the on-campus benefits provided to Fellows is access to Honors staff members, including the Major Scholarships Coordinator, who is available to provide important counsel for a variety of pursuits, including interview practice, finding the best scholarship vehicle for postgraduate study, and developing personal statements, resumes, and research proposals for scholarship and postgraduate applications. Fellows have been extraordinarily successful in national scholarship competitions.
Stamps Scholarship Application Process
The deadline for the Foundation Fellowship application falls in mid-November. The application is available online in September on the Admissions Office site. Applicants are notified as to whether or not they are finalists for a Fellowship by late January. Finalists are invited to our Interview Weekend in late February. Finalists who are selected to receive the Fellowship are notified immediately after the Interview Weekend. Find more details at the Scholarship page.
Tel: 706-542-3000
Website: http://www.uga.edu/