A variety of funding sources are available for undergraduate students, including grants, loans, scholarships and student employment. Student Financial Assistance provides a good overview of these options.
Here are some opportunities of special interest to students in the Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. Use the tabs below to view the funding opportunities that are of interest to you. For more details, click on the name of each opportunity.
SGSUP Awards
The Brian & Leah Swanton Urban Planning Scholarship will award students intending to utilize their work in the urban planning field to positively impact distressed communities across the U.S. while helping to create social equity amongst low income populations.
Application Deadline: March 13
Discipline: Planning
Citizenship: International, United States
Award(s) will be made to undergraduate and/or graduate students in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University to support field work that will culminate in a B.A., B.S., M.A. or Ph.D. degree in Geography at Arizona State University.
Application Deadline: March 13
Discipline: Geography, GIS
Citizenship: International, United States
This endowed fund makes an annual award to the undergraduate geography major with the highest grade point average and who has completed 80 credit hours. If several students have equal grade point averages, the awardee is selected by a committee of geography faculty.
Selection Process: By a faculty committee
Discipline: Geography
Citizenship: International, United States
Arizona Awards
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers a number of scholarships based on merit, financial aid and/or specific academic criteria. Some of these are specific to certain majors while others are open to students from all majors. There are also scholarships available to students involved in Undergraduate Research and Study Abroad programs.
Discipline: Geography, GIS, Planning
Citizenship: International, United States
The Arizona chapter of the Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITAz) in conjunction with Pima County and the Arizona Geographic Information Council (AGIC), offers free student registrations for the annual AGIC Symposium held each fall. To be considered for these awards, students must be currently enrolled in, or have graduated within the past 6 months from, an undergraduate or graduate program in GIS or a related field.
Application Deadline: August
Discipline: GIS
Citizenship: International, United States
National and International Awards
American Planning Association Scholarships and Fellowships Guide
The American Planning Association offers diverse scholarships and fellowships at both the national and division level. This site links to information about both types of opportunities, and also includes a listing of scholarships and fellowships offered to planning students by other organizations.
Selection Process: For most of the scholarships, students submit an application.
Discipline: Planning
Citizenship: United States
Each year, the Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) sponsors three scholarships that recognize academic achievement and encourage the continuing success of outstanding cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), and geographic information science (GIScience) students. Applicants must be enrolled, or accepted into, a masters or PhD degree program in the year of the announcement or the following year.
Application Deadline: January
Discipline: GIS
Citizenship: International, United States
The Fellowship Program is open to third and fourth year undergraduate students, master's degree students, and certain law students. One fellowship with a stipend of $3,000 is awarded per academic year. The stipend includes a $2,000 award and a $1,000 APA membership and Annual Conference stipend. The term of the fellowship is approximately 10 months (the typical length of two semesters or three quarters), from mid-October to mid-August, and will include approximately 100 to 200 total hours of work.
Discipline: Planning
Citizenship: United States
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces this new funding opportunity especially for undergraduate students. Subject to availability of funding and other applicable considerations, the Agency plans to award approximately 34 new fellowships. Eligible students will receive support for their junior and senior years of undergraduate study and for an internship at an EPA facility during the summer of their junior year. The fellowship provides up to $20,700 per academic year of support and $8,600 of support for a three-month summer internship.
Application Deadline: 19-May-15
Discipline: Geography, Planning
Citizenship: United States
Each year, ESRI offers student assistantships to its user conference, which takes place each summer in SanDiego, California. Students assistants help staff with conference support, and in return receive full registration, hotel accommodations and a per diem allowance for meals. Open to currently-enrolled graduate students and 4th year undergraduate students who are familiar with GIS software and geospatial applications.
Application Deadline: April
Discipline: GIS
Citizenship: International, United States
The intent of the competition is to showcase the geospatial technology skills of U.S. undergraduate students. Competing students will create a project that utilizes geospatial technology to address a real-world problem. The student will then present the project and the resulting deliverables as a video (approximately 10-15 minutes in length).
Application Deadline: 12-Jun-15
Discipline: Geography
Citizenship: United States
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) program is a unique undergraduate-graduate-faculty experience that engages in research on human-environment relationships in Massachusetts. NSF REU Site HERO Fellows conduct hands-on research under the mentorship of Clark University faculty. The research conducted by HERO Fellows often leads to scholarly publications, presentations at academic conferences across the USA, and awards and honors.
Application Deadline: February of each year
Discipline: Geography, GIS
Citizenship: International, United States
Approximately 20 NASA-MSU Professional Enhancement Awards (up to $700 each) are given each year to cover expenses associated with attending the conference. Applications are judged based on the merits of the applicants' abstracts, financial needs, and professional backgrounds and goals. Former award recipients are not eligible to apply. Underrepresented individuals are especially encouraged to apply.
Discipline: Geography, GIS, Planning
Citizenship: International, United States
The Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarship Advisement (LWFONSA) helps students from all ASU’s campuses prepare to compete for national and international awards of merit. In several competitions, ASU ranks among the top schools in the United States. Awards won include: Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Truman, Goldwater, Mellon, NSF, Udall, National Security Education Program (graduate and undergraduate), Gilman, Freeman Asia, Hon Kachina, Javits, Woodrow Wilson, Rotary, USA Today, and others.
Discipline: Geography, GIS, Planning
Citizenship: International, United States
The organization's graduate fellowship provides up to $90,000 in support for immigrants and children of immigrants who are pursuing graduate school in any field and at any institution in the United States. Their new application for students is now open and available on their website, where you can also find full eligibility requirements: pdsoros.org. If you're considering graduate school, apply in the fall for funding for your first year of graduate school.
Application Deadline: November
Discipline: Geography, GIS, Planning
Citizenship: United States
USGIF is dedicated to assist promising students interested in the geospatial sciences with scholarship awards. This includes students interested in using capabilities of geospatial science, data and technologies to address human security challenges. Graduating high school seniors, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students can apply. Scholarship recipients are chosen based on their academic and professional excellence in a field related to the geospatial intelligence tradecraft.
Application Deadline: April
Discipline: Geography, GIS, Planning
Citizenship: International, United States
The Association of American Geographers offers a number of awards for students, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Choose 'For students and undergraduates' to see a listing of the awards.
Application Deadline: varies
Discipline: Geography, GIS
Citizenship: International, United States
This awards program provides a means for student groups to share their ideas, learn from one another, and receive recognition (and rewards!) for creative, successful activities. The program is designed to promote students' volunteer involvement; recognize their outstanding efforts; identify best practices; and strengthen the ties between student organizations and the American Planning Association. Awards in each category will include a monetary contribution to schools' PSO to fund its activities.
Application Deadline: December
Discipline: Planning
Citizenship: International, United States
The American Geographical Society sponsors a Scholar-Internship Program throughout the year in its headquarters in Brooklyn Heights, New York.College undergraduate and graduate students with interests in any of the following areas are encouraged to apply: Geography, geospatial analysis and GIS, information technology and web development, media and communications, event management, and accounting and finance. Part-time internships during the academic year generally have duration of 15 weeks each in the Fall and Spring Semesters and require that the student work 15 hours per week.
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines
Discipline: Geography, GIS
Citizenship: International, United States