Application Criteria

Eligible, full-time undergraduate, UMBC students with unmet financial need are encouraged to apply for the Alumni Association General Scholarship.

To qualify, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be a rising senior scheduled to graduate in the current academic year
• Have completed at least one semester of study at UMBC
• Be a degree-seeking undergraduate with at least 45 credits by Jan. 31
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75
• Demonstrate campus leadership and involvement and/or demonstrate leadership in the workforce and professional community,
• Have unmet financial need.

Applicants must have applied for federal financial aid (FAFSA) and have given their permission to allow the UMBC Financial Aid Office to share information with the Alumni Association Scholarship committee. If you do not have a FAFSA on file at the Financial Aid office, then you are not eligible to apply for this scholarship. Scholarship funds will be split equally in fall and spring semesters.
Students who graduate in December will receive half of the scholarship award in the fall semester only.

As a note, remember that students who are children or grandchildren of UMBC Alumni are also eligible for the Alumni Legacy Scholarship. Please note: If you apply for both scholarships, you will only be considered to receive one. 

Students who are selected to receive the Alumni Association General Scholarship will be required to attend the Annual Alumni Awards. More information will be shared on the details of this event at a later date. 

Application Process:

Applications will only be accepted via the Scholarship Retriever application site. 

The quality and content of writing in the application is extremely important. Please review and edit your work carefully, we encourage applicants to write out their responses in a Word document and copy and paste them into the online application. You may want to consider having the Writing Center review your application prior to submission. The selection committee is recommending 200 words minimum and a maximum word count of 750 for each answer. 

In addition to completing the online application form, applicants MUST submit at least one letter of recommendation from a non-family member.

Letters of recommendation and references can be included as part of your application in the Scholarship Retriever submission site (preferred method) or they can be emailed directly to darbyb@umbc.edu.

Apply now! If you have questions, please contact Bernadette Darby at darbyb@umbc.edu.