There are two types of scholarships at UCI: UCI Distinguished Scholarships and UCI Campuswide Scholarships.

The UCI Distinguished Scholarships are the Regents’ Scholarship and Chancellor’s Excellence Scholarship. No application is needed for these scholarships, as the UCI Admissions Office automatically considers all new students based on their UC common application.

The UCI Campuswide Scholarships are separated into four categories: Community Leadership Scholarships, Innovation Scholarships, Academic Scholarships, and Anteater Scholarships. These will be awarded to students based on their UCI scholarship applications.

Continuing students may apply online for some departmental and Campuswide Scholarships during the open application period from January to the end of February for the upcoming academic year. Although there are many scholarships available on our platform, we encourage students to ask their department advisors about any additional scholarships that may not be on our platform.

Entering students are considered for all campuswide scholarships as long as they complete the online scholarship application. Once the evaluation is complete, recipients will be notified.

Continuing students are considered for scholarships by completing the online scholarship application. Once the evaluation is complete, recipients will be notified from June to July.

If you have submitted the first five forms on the application individually, your application is considered complete and will be reviewed. 

Yes, you would not qualify for need-based scholarships, but you may still apply for merit-based scholarships.

Some scholarships may require a certain residency or immigration status for applicants to be considered eligible. However, UCI has multiple scholarships available for most residency and immigration statuses, including U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and eligible non-citizens.

International students may still apply for scholarships. They do not qualify for need-based aid, but they may still qualify for merit-based scholarships. International students should disregard the FAFSA/DREAM Act requirement.

Masters Students may apply for scholarships. There are also scholarships for students in the Nursing and Business programs. No other graduate students are eligible at this time.

Unfortunately, our scholarships are intended for students attending UCI for the 2020-2021 academic year full-time. You may inquire with your department to see if they have any available scholarships for graduating seniors.

A few scholarships may require the submission of a Letter of Recommendation. If a scholarship requires a Letter of Recommendation, it will be explicitly requested from you. Most of our project-based scholarships require a reference instead. Reference requests are emailed to a supervisor/mentor from the scholarship application, and it allows them to confirm that you have indeed worked with them on a project. Letters of recommendation are NOT necessary to complete a reference. Your reference is only required to sign their name in confirmation that they have worked with you.

No, you may apply to all scholarships with the same online application. The UCI scholarship application has 12 short answer questions that address multiple different scholarships. You only need to answer the questions that are pertinent to you.

You should not answer any questions that do not apply to you. It will not affect your chances of receiving a scholarship if you leave a question blank.

This does not affect your application. You may leave the additional scholarship forms blank. Your application will be submitted so long as you have completed the first five sections.

Timestamp issues will not affect your scholarship application, as our reviewers do not take the timestamps into consideration. Your application has been received and is considered on time if forms 2 through 5 on your portal are showing a green checkmark.

If you have made a mistake on any of the forms, please send an email to scholarships@uci.edu with your name, student or application ID, and an explanation of what you would like to change. Please note that we will not accept changes made to either the short answer questions or the employment and academic experience form after the application deadline has passed.

The minimum GPA requirement varies by scholarship. The absolute minimum GPA to qualify for scholarships is 2.5.

Scholarship awards are considered financial assistance toward the cost of attendance. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships typically reduces a work study offer or an offered loan to accommodate a scholarship in a student’s budget. When it is not possible to reduce work study or an offered loan in a student’s budget, an adjustment to the financial aid package may be considered.

Scholarship awards are like any other items in the financial aid package. They are disbursed and distributed equally each quarter into a student’s account.

Most scholarships require students to be enrolled full-time at UCI and maintain a minimum number of units to stay eligible. In cases of withdrawal, scholarship recipients must submit an appeal to the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. The Scholarships Appeal Committee will review and evaluate student appeals on a case by case basis.

No. UCI scholarships will only be awarded to students enrolled full-time at UCI.

No, the scholarship application is reviewed independently of your admissions application.