Diversity Scholarship Announcement - Instructions for AY 24-25

    Diversity Scholarship at CIIS
    $300,000 Fund for the 2024 - 2025 Academic Year

    About
    CIIS is a university committed to diversity, inclusion, and advocating for social justice. The university, guided by these principles, is offering 2x $12,500 Diversity Scholarships, 12x $10,000 and 31x $5,000 Diversity Scholarships for the academic year 2024-2025. 

    In line with our institutional mission of embracing traditions that enhance social and political liberation, these scholarships are intended to support the recruitment of a diverse student body, particularly students who are historically underrepresented in higher education.
    • 37 Diversity Scholarships will be offered to new students starting their first semester in Fall 2024.
    • 8 Diversity Scholarships will be offered to new students starting their first semester in Spring 2025.

    Diversity scholarship recipients...

    • Are historically underrepresented in higher education, as indicated on the application form.
    • Demonstrate a commitment to advocating for diversity and inclusion among the campus and larger community, as articulated in the essay questions below.
    • Have financial need as determined by the Financial Aid Office and federal guidelines, based on financial information submitted by the student to the Financial Aid Office by the deadline.

    Eligible applicants:

    1. Have turned in all required materials for a Complete Admissions Application to one of our degree-granting programs by the deadline.
    2. Have submitted either a FAFSA application (domestic students) or the CIIS International Student Aid application (international or undocumented students) by the deadline.
    3. Will be a new degree-seeking student in their first semester of their new degree program at CIIS for the semester to which they are applying and be officially admitted by the CIIS Admissions Office. (The scholarship is not open to change of program applicants from within CIIS. Students who graduated from CIIS and are applying to a new degree program at CIIS are eligible for consideration if they are applying before the start of their first semester.) Students may apply for the Diversity Scholarship prior to knowing of their admissions status but will only be eligible to receive the scholarship if they are admitted to one of our degree programs.

    Note: All above points must be met in order to be considered for the scholarship. The Diversity Scholarship Committee takes into account a student's mix of academic merit and financial need.
    Requirements to Receive the Scholarship
    In order to receive the scholarship, you must be:
    • Entering CIIS as a new student (not an internal change of program or readmitting student). Continuing alumni are welcome to apply but must be applying for their first semester of their new degree program. The scholarship is not open to readmitted students or students continuing into their second or later semester of study, or students returning from a leave of absence.
    • Enrolled as a full-time student for the full award or as a part-time student for a pro-rated amount. (For PITP and PSOM students only, a 6-unit course load is considered full-time.)
    • Officially admitted into a degree-seeking program of study at CIIS. (Students not yet admitted but anticipating being admitted are invited to apply!)
    • Fully or conditionally admitted to CIIS. Applicants who are provisionally admitted are eligible for consideration, but the scholarship will not be awarded and released to provisionally admitted students until they become fully admitted. (Again, provisionally admitted students are welcome to apply.)
    More importantly, you must have submitted all application materials by the deadline.

    Spring 2025 scholarship application deadlines:
    • October 15th - 1st Round
    • November 15th - 2nd Round
    • December 1st - Final Round
    Overlap with other CIIS Scholarships
    Students applying for the Diversity Scholarship can also be eligible for the CIIS Opportunity Scholarship, but are not eligible for additional named scholarships at CIIS. If selected for the Diversity Scholarship and another named scholarship, students need to choose which scholarship to accept.
    Award Notification and Distribution

    Timeline for Selection

    The Diversity Scholarship Committee reviews scholarship applications once a month from October 15th to December 1st. A number of recipients (8-10 for the Fall and 3-4 for the Spring) are chosen each month. All eligible applicants who meet the eligibility criteria by the deadline are considered during each round.
    The Diversity Scholarship Committee will notify applicants of the outcome of their application via email by the following month if the applicant is chosen for that round.
    Award Distribution
    • This award is a tuition-remission credit, awarded in a student’s first year and is not renewable. It goes only up to the amount of tuition charged and there are no refunds.
    • The $5,000 award will be distributed over 1-2 semesters with $2,500 awarded in the first, and $2,500 in the second semester if student is enrolled in a program that offers year-round classes.
    • Likewise for the $10,000 award and $12,500 award: It is distributed over two semesters, up to the amount of tuition charged.
    Please review all eligibility rules and then fill out this application in its entirety by the posted deadlines to be considered.

    Start a Degree Application

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    Applicants: Apply to Diversity Scholarship

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    You will hear from us about the outcome of the Diversity Scholarship by the 15th of December, 2024.