Student Scholarships & Funds
Oakes College is passionate about providing funding opportunities for our students. Below you’ll find a variety of internal and external scholarships, grants, and awards to consider applying for.
Septima Clark Oakes Faculty Fellows Award
The Septima Clark Oakes Faculty Fellows Award builds on the mission of Oakes College and its commitment tosocial and political change. Oakes College has always centered the intellectual and activist contributions of scholar-activists of color who have been systematically excluded from universities, and who have long-understood the political stakes of critical, community-centered teaching and research to build a more socially-just world.
In honor of this legacy, this award is named after Septima Poinsette Clark, an educator and organizer who understood that literacy was deeply connected to political, social, and economic struggles for liberation, particularly for the Black community.
Clark was born in Charleston, South Carolina and 1898 to parents who had survived plantation, and over the course of her life struggled for the rights of Black educators to teach in public schools, organized with the NAACP, and went on to become the director of workshops at the Highlander Folk School, where she where she developed the Citizenship School curriculum (SNNC Digital).
This award provides a scholarship in the amount of $1,500 to support an Oakes student who will provide research support for a community-engaged research project, under the direction of an Oakes Faculty Fellow. Oakes Faculty Fellows will receive a $500 research award for their mentorship role. While the overall vision, scope, or impact of the project should be community-engaged, the undergraduate researcher’s role may include a range of research-related and/or community-engagement activities.
We are particularly interested in supporting projects that reflect the community-engagement and social justice missions of Oakes College and the Oakes CARA Program, and provide meaningful community-engaged research mentorship opportunities for undergraduate students. Faculty are encouraged to work with students from communities who have been systematically excluded from higher education, including students of color, first-generation students, undocumented students, among others. Students must be affiliated with Oakes College. This is an inclusive scholarship and students with or without DACA are also eligible. We also encourage faculty to utilize this award to develop and build community-engaged partnerships and projects that are in their early-stages. The college can support faculty to identify an Oakes student as their mentee/awardee.
Three awards will be named per academic year, one per quarter. Funds can be utilized to support undergraduates for the entire academic year. All projects and research assignments should comply with campus COVID-19 health and safety policies.
Apply to Be a Faculty Mentor
- Eligibility: Current Oakes Faculty Fellows are eligible to apply. Lecturers may be eligible to apply if the proposed project is tied to an existing community-engaged class or an existing course equivalency.
- Deadline: Rolling.
- How to Apply: Fill out this google form to apply.
- If you have any questions, email oakscara@ucsc.edu.
Apply to Be a Student Mentee
- Eligibility: All Oakes-affiliated students are eligible to apply.
- Deadlines: This application process is rolling. We will contact students to match mentees with faculty mentors as projects are selected.
- Note: If you are already connected to a faculty mentor, and they have included your name in their faculty application, you do not need to apply to be a student mentee. This application is only for students who are not already connected to faculty mentors.
- How to Apply: Fill out this google form to be considered as a mentee.
- If you have any questions, please email oakscara@ucsc.edu.
Atharva Chinchwadkar Scholarship
This scholarship honors Atharva Chinchwadkar, a UCSC student who tragically passed away on February 21, 2021. Atharva was a charismatic young man who was studying at UC Santa Cruz with dreams of becoming a doctor. He was born and raised in Fremont, California, and despite only being 19 years old, he had a tremendous impact on his community and was loved by all the people around him. Atharva was a true athlete at heart, with a special passion for running. He was a great son and brother, and overall just a kind, upstanding person.
In Atharva’s memory, his family established this scholarship. It awards $1,500 to an Oakes College student who has demonstrated academic excellence and a commitment to athletics and community.
Who can apply? Any registered Oakes student who has demonstrated academic excellence and a commitment to athletics and community.
How do I apply? Fill out this application by January 31st, 2026.
When are applications due? January 31st, 2026.
For more information email the Oakes College Academic Manager, oakescam@ucsc.edu.
Scholarships Beyond Oakes
On-Campus:
Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program
CUIP provides on-campus internships in partnership with programs and departments throughout campus. Interns work with a mentor to develop personal and professional skills, and take a leading role in producing projects in their internship. A two-unit leadership seminar class is required for fall, winter and spring quarters. A scholarship of 8,200 dollars is paid towards the intern’s registration fees for the academic year.
Find more information here.
UndocuCareer Development Fund
The UndocuCareer Development Fund offers students the opportunity to apply to a scholarship for their participation in a variety of career-relevant opportunities including unpaid/underpaid internships/fellowships, conference registration, or participating in fee-based professional development.
Eligibility Criteria
- California Dream Act Application (CADAA) on file with the UCSC Financial Aid & Scholarship office
- Enrolled full time (12 units or more)
- Good academic and student conduct standing
- Have a cumulative 2.0 GPA
To apply to UCDF funding for any professional development opportunity you’re pursuing, you must first schedule an appointment with a USS/EOP counselor. During this meeting, you will discuss your opportunity and receive guidance on the application process. Appointments can be made through SlugSuccess. Learn more about making an appointment via SlugSuccess by clicking here.
Need help finding an opportunity? Please refer to our Resource List to connect with an office that is willing to host a UCDF student!
If you have questions after requiring these resources, please email us at eopab540@ucsc.edu.
As a result of applying for the UndocuCareer Development Fund, students will:
- Gain experience submitting a proposal for funding
- Have the chance to receive funding for an opportunity that will contribute to their professional development and career meaning-making
Additional Requirements of the Program
Virtual testimonials will be collected after their experience for of each recipient.
President’s Fellowship
The President’s Experiential Learning Fellowship is an exclusive opportunity designed for undergraduate and graduate undocumented students. Undocumented Students Services seek for students who are enrolled in courses related to their major or minor that provide practical, hands-on experience aligned with their academic goals. Eligible courses include research seminars, projects, labs, fieldwork, practicums, and more.
This fellowship provides additional funding to support your educational journey, if you are enrolled in a hands-on course this quarter. We seek undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in courses related to their major or minor that provide practical, hands-on experience aligned with academic or professional goals. Eligible courses include research seminars, projects, labs, fieldwork, practicums, and more. Not sure if your course qualifies? We’ve compiled a list of potential qualifying courses, which you can review: [Class Directory]
- Only one eligible course will be considered for the fellowship.
- Fellowship funds will be disbursed after a passing grade is posted for the course.
- Eligibility will be reviewed by the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office.
- Priority will be given to new students who have not been previously awarded.
Ready to apply? Complete the following form by no later than Friday, May 30, 2025. (You might need to be logged onto your UCSC email to access the application form.)
M.I.E.L
MIEL is a Migration, Identity & Education Lab. Members of MIEL use social, psychological, educational, and interdisciplinary perspectives to understand the diverse experiences of immigrant-origin students and students of color by highlighting their understudied social identities and the cultural strengths they bring to their educational experiences. MIEL’s overarching objective is to conduct rigorous research about the learning experiences of students of color and immigrant-origin students.
You can apply to the lab here.
You can also visit their website for more information here.
If you have any questions please email Dr. Saskias Casanova at scasanov@ucsc.edu.
Transforming Futures: Summer Internship Scholarship Programing Futures
The Institute for Social Transformation offers an internship scholarship program called Transforming Futures. The goal of the program is to open up opportunities and remove financial barriers for first-generation, underrepresented, and low-income students at UC Santa Cruz so they can participate in career-advancing non-credit summer internships off campus. Transforming Futures scholarship awards are up to $7,500 for summer interns. Award amounts will differ based on financial need and the level of students’ expected summer living expenses. Internships should be with off-campus employers, primarily those who are not able to provide fully paid internships, such as nonprofit organizations, government entities, small businesses or start-ups. The location can be anywhere in the world.
***Currently, scholarships are limited to UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students in the Social Sciences***
Find more information here.
CAMINO Summer Internship Program
CAMINO is a full-support internship program that recruits and supports students with needs who are minoritized and underrepresented in life science fields. Our interns engage with a community of peer scholars and graduate student and faculty mentors to conduct authentic projects alongside their mentors while simultaneously engaging in a suite of support programming that starts the spring before their internship and is designed to help students explore life science careers, build community, and develop skills to support success in their internships, graduate school and beyond. CAMINO scholars develop questions and conduct their research over 8-10 weeks, get support to develop scientific talks about their work and, in a culminating symposium in the fall, present their work to an audience of peers, mentors, and faculty.
Find more information here.
Off-Campus:
Dream SF Fellowship
The DreamSF Fellowship is an opportunity for immigrant youth to serve San Francisco’s immigrant communities while gaining paid professional experience and training. DreamSF Fellows commit to working 20 hours per week on a project-based fellowship with an immigrant-serving nonprofit or public organization. Additionally, Fellows receive weekly leadership development and professional skills training and a monthly stipend.
Find more information here.
Dream Summer Fellowship
The Dream Summer program has provided 550+ fellowship opportunities to immigrant youth and allies throughout the nation. Past Dream Summer Fellows have engaged in social justice work and intersectional movement building by aligning the call for immigrant rights issues alongside the unique challenges of queer and transgender communities, Asian and Pacific Islander communities, Black immigrant communities, the ongoing mass incarceration and criminalization of people of color, and health care access for all.
Find more information here.
Health Career Connection (HCC)
HCC offers talented, diverse undergraduate and recent college graduates a comprehensive paid summer internship program that provides invaluable exposure, experience, mentoring, and networking in the health field. The HCC program includes:
- Experiential Learning
- Professional Development
- Mentorship
- Peer Support and Network
- Exposure and Exploration
If you are a DACA student or applying to DACA you are welcome to apply
Find more information about the application process here.
Centro Legal de la Raza Diversity Legal Pipeline
The DLP is an intensive, week-long pre-law boot camp that introduces students to the law school application process and puts them face-to-face with law students, lawyers, and judges who affirm that legal education is within their reach. During one week from June 10-14, students will participate in a mock constitutional law class, take an actual LSAT, read real court cases, and have plenty of time to meet and network with other students and legal professionals. After the boot camp, students are offered supplemental support to assist them on their path to law school. Application for Summer 2025 is Now Open!
Find more information here.