Merit Scholarship Description
The Merit Scholarship is awarded to a select number of newly admitted ISD master’s students who have a record of excellent academic achievement and meet one or more of the following: have demonstrated leadership and extraordinary potential for professional success, have experienced financial hardship, have come from an educational, cultural or geographic background that is underrepresented in the field of study in the U.S. or at the University, or have demonstrated commitment to diversity in the academic, professional, or civic realm.
Merit Scholarship Eligibility
The Merit Scholarship is a competitive award open to newly admitted full-time master’s students in an ISD graduate degree program who have a record of excellent academic achievement (e.g., grade point average, academic honors) and meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Have demonstrated leadership and extraordinary potential for professional success
- Have experienced financial hardship as a result of family economic circumstances
- Come from an educational, cultural or geographic background that is underrepresented in the field of study in in the U.S. or at the University of Michigan
- Have demonstrated sustained commitment to diversity in the academic, professional, or civic realm; this can be through their work experience, volunteer engagement, or leadership of student or community organizations. (e.g. efforts to recognize and reduce social, educational or economic disparities based on race, ethnicity or gender)
Award Details
Awards of $10,000-$20,000 will be given starting in the student’s first Fall or Winter academic term enrolled in an ISD graduate degree program.
Application Process
- These are competitive awards that are available annually for all newly admitted ISD students.
- After a student has been formally admitted to an ISD degree program, the student can apply for a Merit Scholarship by using the Merit Scholarship Self-Nomination Form.
- Students are encouraged to carefully review the Merit Scholarship eligibility criteria before submitting a Merit Scholarship application and to clearly identify their qualifications, experience, and engagement in those categories in their application responses.
Application Deadlines
- Fall or Spring/Summer Semester Admits: March 18
- Winter Semester Admits: September 18
Award Term
- To receive the Merit Scholarship award in any academic term, students must be registered full-time in their ISD program of study (minimum of 8 credit hours during that term).
- An award will be dispersed as a financial aid installment for the term and will be applied to any tuition balance first (the rest can be used as a stipend).
- If your enrollment status changes, your Merit Scholarship award amount will be adjusted accordingly.
- Merit Scholarship recipients pursuing dual degrees with non-ISD degree programs must have their programs of study filed and approved by ISD before Merit Scholarship funding can be released. ISD funds may not be used to pay for tuition/stipend during a term when the student is enrolled in the non-ISD degree program.
- As a Merit Scholarship recipient, awardees are expected to meet the satisfactory academic progress standards established by the student’s graduate degree program and ISD throughout the period of the scholarship award and to seek ongoing direction and counsel from their Program Director and Graduate Program Coordinator.
- During a term when the student is receiving a Merit Scholarship award, they may not accept Graduate Student Instructor (GSI), Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA), or Graduate Student Staff Assistant (GSSA) employment above a 0.25 (25%) appointment effort (not exceeding 10 hours per week). These appointments require the successful completion of a background check.
- All awardees will be recognized at a formal ISD event