Presidential Scholars are eligible to apply for their Enrichment Award funds of $2,500 at any time during their four undergraduate years of enrollment at the University of Connecticut.
The Enrichment Award is intended to help students participate in educationally and/or professionally enriching activities related to their academic program that might not otherwise be possible without the enrichment award funds. Students must apply for the enrichment grant at least three to four weeks prior to beginning their enrichment activity. The enrichment activities and grant must be used prior to the end of the 8th semester of attendance.
Acceptable Uses for Presidential Scholarship Enrichment Award Funds
Study Abroad Students may use the Enrichment Award funds ONLY for travel and foreign room and board. This means EA funds may not be used for tuition or fees for these programs. All programs administered by the Office of Experiential Global Learning (EGL) provide estimates that break down the costs of travel, room, and board, and students should rely on these estimates when submitting their budgets. |
Unpaid or Low-Paying Internships |
Summer Research
This award is intended to support expenses that are specific to a student’s project and consumed through use in the student’s project. This means that generally speaking, requests for funds for laptops, processors, lab equipment, etc., will not be approved.
The project may not be for a course that is a required element in the curriculum for the student’s undergraduate degree program (e.g., senior project for BFA students, design lab for Engineering students). However, students pursuing optional research projects that go beyond degree requirements (e.g., an Honors Thesis), and who may be enrolled in independent study credits or other academic coursework related to those projects, may receive funds to support their project supply costs. Funds may not be used to pay tuition and fees for independent studies during the summer.
Students may not receive Presidential EA funding concurrently with other funding intended for the same purpose (e.g., SURF, Beckman Scholars, Holster, BOLD, Health Research Program, IBACS, MARC, McNair, other departmental summer research programs, UConn IDEA Grant). However, requests to use Presidential EA funds to cover eligible, project-related expenses that exceed the budgets of programs such as the ones listed above will be considered on a case-by-case basis. |
Research During the Academic Year
This award is intended to support expenses that are specific to a student’s project and consumed through use in the student’s project. This means that generally speaking, requests for funds for laptops, processors, lab equipment, etc., will not be approved.
The project may not be for a course that is a required element in the curriculum for the student’s undergraduate degree program (e.g., senior project for BFA students, design lab for Engineering students). However, students pursuing optional research projects that go beyond degree requirements (e.g., an Honors Thesis), and who may be enrolled in independent study credits related to those projects, may receive funds to support their project supply costs. However, unlike the summer, students may not receive funds for living expenses during the academic year.
Students may not receive Presidential EA funding concurrently with other funding intended for the same purpose (e.g., SURF, Beckman Scholars, BOLD, Holster, Health Research Program, IBACS, MARC, McNair, other departmental summer research programs, UConn IDEA Grant). However, requests to use Presidential EA funds to cover eligible, project-related expenses that exceed the budgets of programs such as the ones listed above will be considered on a case-by-case basis. |
Professional Development Students may use award funds to conduct field-work, to travel for research purposes, and to attend pre-professional or academic conferences. Pre-professional, professional, and academic conferences are the most common professional development activities supported by these funds.
Exceptions: In 2020, to account for the dramatic contraction of professional development opportunities available to students due to Covid, UConn temporarily allowed students on pre-health professions tracks to request funding to offset costs of Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification programs as long as the programs in which students enrolled did not carry academic credit (from UConn or another institution). At this time, these remain the only exceptions to this policy. We will continue to update this website as the status of these “Covid exceptions,” which are set to expire in July 2023, evolves. |
Volunteer/Service Experience |
Unacceptable Uses for Presidential Scholarship Enrichment Award Funds
UConn fee bill balances, including tuition, fees, parking tickets, pharmacy charges, etc., or other items such as course textbooks, computers/tablets, lab fees, program costs and course materials. |
Registration and test sitting fees, and costs associated with preparation for such tests, are not allowed if the exams are required and/or necessary steps towards graduate or professional school admission and/or professional licensure (e.g., MCAT, LSAT, GRE, and actuarial exams). |
Tuition, program costs or fees that approximate tuition at other educational institutions or agencies (e.g., certification programs not covered under the “Covid exceptions” listed above). |
Compensation, in the form of salary, wages, or stipends.
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Applications must be submitted PRIOR to the enrichment activity and may not be used retroactively for past experiences |
If you have questions about a specific experience or use of your award, please contact us.
Questions not related to the $2,500 Enrichment Award should be directed to the Office of Financial Aid or Admissions Office.