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Financial Support

Honors Student Handbook

Each year, the Honors College offers opportunities for outstanding honors students to earn merit-based scholarships on a competitive basis. Learn more about scholarships, fellowships and other types of financial resources available for Honors College students.

Merit Scholarships

A majority of incoming honors first-year students receive merit scholarships. Awards range from $1,000 to the equivalent of in-state tuition and fees and are awarded one year at a time.

Students not offered an honors merit scholarship their first year are encouraged to maintain Honors involvement and submit the University Scholarship Application annually. New scholarship funds become available each year and can be awarded any time in a student's career.

It is common for juniors or seniors to receive new scholarships, either from Honors or from their major departments. Students also may be eligible for a scholarship increase.

As of the 2022-2023 academic year, Honors scholarships will only be awarded and renewed upon a student's submission of the University Scholarship Application. The application opens each December 1st, with a priority deadline of March 1st.

Students must be in good standing in Honors to be considered for honors merit scholarships, which means maintaining an appropriate GPA and making adequate progress on Honors curricular requirements.

More Financial Opportunities

The Honors College distributes information and assists with applications for several national scholarships and fellowships which provide financial support and research and travel opportunities for students.

These awards are competitive and offer large sums to students in specific fields, usually for their junior or senior years and for graduate study. Students interested in competing for these awards must begin early and set their goals high.

Following are some of the national fellowships received by UNCW honors students:

The Center for the Support of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CSURF) supports students as they apply for these opportunities. Email Dr. Grove for information about various opportunities.

The Wilmington Fellows are Honors College students who make a commitment to engage in activities during the academic year and summers to make themselves competitive for national fellowships, undergraduate research, study abroad, and graduate study.

They make this commitment during their first year and participate in special mentoring activities to help them reach this goal. Wilmington Fellows also receive a small annual scholarship as long as they remain in good standing.

They are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.75 and significant campus involvement and leadership. First-year Honors students are invited each December to apply for the Wilmington Fellows program. Please reach out to Dr. Bingham if you have questions or would like to know when this process is complete.

There are many opportunities for on-campus jobs, which are available through Handshake.

The Honors Office also employs several students as front desk staff, helping maintain and organize the office. In the past, we have also placed students out to the Women’s Studies and Resource Center, the Watson College of Education and other departments as work-study positions sponsored through Honors.

Students must be in good standing to work in the Honors Office (appropriate GPA and making progress through the honors curriculum). When positions open in the Honors Office, staff will send out an email call for applicants.

Per the UNCW Financial Aid Office's Work-Study guidelines, Honors employee positions start at $8.00 per hour, with scaffolded raises for years of service and/or increased responsibility and complexity of tasks.

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