Grants for Honors Experiences
The University Honors Program has grants available for UHP students engaging in honors experiences as well as for presenting at an academic or professional conference.
Students are never fully funded for their experiences. Instead, grants cover a portion of the approved expenses. Honors grant awards are typically 20% or less of the approved budget. The quality of your proposal can impact a grant award. A grant is never guaranteed nor is a specific amount or % guaranteed.
Grants should be considered as a reimbursement rather than an advance. Grants will be applied as a credit to a student's bill. If you have a balance with the university, your grant will be applied to your balance. If you do not have a balance with the university or the amount awarded is more than the balance due, you will receive reimbursement for the difference.
Overview of Grant Eligibility
- Grant amounts are contingent upon availability of funds, quality of the proposal, and a student’s financial aid package/eligibility.
- Students must be enrolled as a full-time student (12 credit hours, not co-op) in order to receive a grant.
- Grants generally cover less than 20% of approved expenses.
- The maximum honors grant award for one honors experience is $800.
- Beginning with the June 5, 2019 proposal deadline, the UHP will no longer provide honors grants to students for unpaid research or internships. Students can still engage in these as honors experiences, but will not receive honors grants.
- Students are only eligible to receive a grant for experiences that take place while they are undergraduates in the University Honors Program. Students cannot complete experiences after graduation and thus are not eligible to receive a grant.
- Students may not receive funding for travel if the experience is part of a personal or family vacation.
- Grants will only be approved for personal, consumable costs of a learning experience. See below for examples. Grants that fund or otherwise benefit student organizations or community groups will not be awarded.
Students can be considered for UHP grants when:
- Proposing a self-designed honors experience that qualifies
- Participating in some pre-approved experiences (automatically applied upon confirmation of participation)
- Participating in an honors seminar with a study tour (automatically applied upon registration)
- Presenting at a professional conference or traveling to receive an award
It is crucial that you read the information in the "Important Notice about Grant Eligibility, Timing of Grant Awards and Financial Aid" section below to ensure that you are aware of how and when grants are awarded and how your individual financial aid status could impact your eligibility.
- Costs directly related to engagement in a self-designed honors experience (exceptions noted below).
- Travel costs (airfare, accommodations, ground transportation, tours, guides, admission fees).
- Cost of printing research posters that students will use for conferences, presentations, etc.
- Consumable supplies (e.g., language development software, paint for an art project)
- Permanent equipment (e.g., camera, memory cards, binoculars, lab equipment, musical instruments)
- Passports and visas
- Vaccines or medical needs
- UC tuition or other tuition charges
- Costs or fees for professional, academic, or other certifications
- Gifts on behalf of an organization
- Materials for project to benefit an organization
- Donation of materials or supplies to an organization
- Souvenirs
- Personal supplies for travel
- Books - we recommend utilizing the library. If you feel you have an exception, you can include the book title with a rationale in the budget
- Uniforms, clothing or other supplies for a job or internship
- Gas and mileage for local travel
- Parking passes/fees/bus passes at UC and in the greater Cincinnati area
- Business start-up costs (e.g., LLC, marketing/promotional materials)
- Sports dues
- Unpaid research or internships
- Expenses related to family vacations
Note: If you are unsure of whether your experience qualifies to receive a grant, provide a budget on your self-designed proposal and the honors proposal review committee will make a decision.
If you are considering doing an experience in another country, you need to review our International Travel web page.
Grants for Presenting at a Conference
To apply for a grant to support your travel to an academic/professional conference in which you are presenting, submit the following:
- A copy of your presentation proposal (whatever you submitted in the conference’s presentation selection process).
- A copy of your official notification that your presentation was accepted.
- A detailed budget, including information about any other funding you have received.
- Current resume.
Submit all of the above information to Tricia Yee via email (tricia.yee@uc.edu) and copy your University Honors advisor. Please submit it all in one email. Requests for grants to present at an academic/professional conference may be submitted at any time.
It is crucial that you read the information in the "Important Notice about Grant Eligibility, Timing of Grant Awards and Financial Aid"
section below to ensure that you are aware of how and when grants are awarded and how your individual financial aid status could impact your eligibility.
Important Notice: Grant Eligibility, Timing of Grant Awards and Financial Aid
Honors grants are posted to students' accounts as scholarships and can affect an individual student’s financial aid. A student’s financial aid award could be adjusted as the result of receiving a scholarship. Students should contact OneStop to find out how a scholarship could affect his/her financial aid.
Some students may not be eligible to receive honors grants due to the amount of scholarship funding that they are already receiving. This can especially impact students who have the full cost of their education funded by scholarships. If you are unsure of whether you would be eligible to receive an additional scholarship (the honors grant is posted to your student account as a scholarship), please contact OneStop.
Students will see the funds posted on their accounts as the "Mary Rowe Moore Book Award" or "Honors Student Award."
Grants can only be posted to a student's account during a term in which a student is enrolled full time (12 or more credits). This requirement could delay the receipt of grant funds.
Grants cannot be posted to students' accounts during terms in which they are on co-op.
Students must have direct deposit set up on their account in order to receive the grant award in the most timely fashion.
If a student is awarded a grant but does not participate in or complete the program/project for which the grant was awarded for any reason, he/she will be required to reimburse University Honors for the full amount of the grant. Contact your honors advisor immediately if you cannot complete your experience.
If a student is awarded a grant and completes the experience but does not complete the reflective essay within two review cycles, the student will no longer be eligible to receive grant funding and the experience will not count as an honors experience.
Questions?
Contact Tricia Yee at tricia.yee@uc.edu or 556-6236 with questions regarding the administration of the grant. Contact your University Honors advisor with questions about to the self-designed honors experience proposal.