Departmental Scholarships
Thanks to generous donors, the Department of Political Science is able to award several scholarships each year. While the exact number and value of scholarships varies each year, we have typically been able to award 8-10 scholarships per year, ranging in value from approximately $800 to approximately $2,000.
Each scholarship has different selection criteria, but, in general, scholarships are awarded to honor students’ academic achievement, leadership, and service to the campus and/or broader community.
How to Apply for Scholarships
Scholarship applications are centralized through the College of Arts and Sciences. Students should receive an email from CAS with instructions on how to apply for College-wide and Departmental scholarships.
The Department of Political Science requires applicants to submit references from two faculty members. We encourage, but do not require, that at least one of your references be a member of the Political Science Department. Full letters of recommendation are not required; references are requested and submitted through the CAS application portal. We encourage applicants to reach out to their references ahead of time, to ask if they are willing to provide a reference, and to let them know to expect a reference request from the College.
All required materials must be submitted to the College of Arts and Sciences application portal by the deadline set by the College.
Selection Guidelines
Who should recommend you?
The scholarship committee requires that both your recommenders be a faculty member, and suggest that at least one must be a member of the OSU Department of Political Science. We suggest that you select a slate of recommenders who, together, can speak to your performance on all of the qualifications described below.
The Scholarship Selection Committee is composed of faculty members from the Department of Political Science representing a variety of fields of study. In order to be competitive, students must demonstrate to the committee that they excel in one or more of the areas listed below:
- Scholarship: academic record including, GPA, awards (e.g., honor roll), previous or current scholarship awards, scholarly research, honors college involvement, or other tangible signs of academic achievement.
- Leadership and Service: experience helping run or contributing to campus organizations (offices, committees, contributions to the growth or excellence of student organizations) or living groups involvement (office, honors, or service), or any activities that benefit members of the campus, the community, or society in general.
- Special Merit: activities that bring distinction to the University (national offices, honors including athletic involvement, other designations that call positive attention to Oklahoma State University), or personal growth and determination (obstacles overcome in pursuit of degree, extenuating circumstances, etc.)
CAS Scholarship Appreciation Week
All scholarship award winners must attend the College of Arts and Sciences' A&S Scholarship Appreciation Week. During this event, scholarship recipients learn more about their scholarship, write letters to the scholarship donors and get a photo taken with the donor. Scholarship recipients will receive more details about the event in their award letters.