IDS Scholarship Information

Information on the A. J. Harris II IDS Student Field Experience Scholarship and the IDS Scholarship for Working Students appear below.

Applications for the 2008-2009 academic year are due Friday, March 14, 2008.

A. J. Harris II IDS Student Field Experience Scholarship

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Up to three scholarships, in the amount of $700. each, will be awarded.  Application packets are due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 14, 2008.  Recipients will be notified on, or before, Friday, April 4. 

Click here for application form.

This award recognizes capable and deserving IDS students who are embarking upon for-credit field work experiences in the upcoming academic year (Fall Semester 2008 or Spring Semester 2009). 

Nominees must be sophomores, juniors, or seniors who will be enrolled and engaged in the field work experience (i.e., internship, study-internship program, field study project) Fall Semester 2008 or Spring Semester 2009.  Only students who have completed at least one semester of course work at MSU are eligible.

Recipients shall be selected on the basis of academic achievement and financial need.  The Selection Committee will look for evidence of a well-rounded undergraduate education and an interest in career preparation and development.  A high GPA, by itself, in the absence of any indication that the undergraduate program and ancillary work were designed and pursued as a basis for further personal, intellectual, and career-related development, is not likely to impress the committee. 

A nomination must include:

*  an application

*  a resume, showing academic and career achievements to date

*  one letter of recommendation, preferably from a faculty member or academic advisor

*  a brief essay (no more than one page), prepared by the applicant.

The essay should include: (1) a statement of the applicant's academic and career goals; (2) an explanation of how the applicant sees herself/himself gaining from the field work experience, and, in particular, how she/he sees it enhancing her/his career preparation; and (3) a statement about the applicant's financial need, placing emphasis upon how the applicant sees this award affecting her/his situation.

In the selection process, the committee will give preference to --

1.  economically disadvantaged students who may not otherwise qualify for financial aid but who have shown a willingness to work their way through college through previous and/or current work assignments;

2.  individuals who are embarking upon field work assignments that require travel outside the Lansing metropolitan area (e.g., other cities in Michigan, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Hawaii, Overseas Student internship assignments, etc.). 

Please send/drop off your application packet (including the resume, letter, and essay) to

Note: Submission of an application gives the selection committee permission to review the student's academic record and information pertaining to financial need. 

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Interdisciplinary Studies Scholarship for Working Students

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We're pleased to announce the second annual competition for the Interdisciplinary Studies Scholarship for Working Students.  This scholarship was initiated and funded by one of our program alums.  One scholarship, in the amount of $2,500. will be awarded for the 2008-09 academic year.

Nomination packets are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 14, 2008.  The recipient will be notified on, or before, Friday, April 4. Please contact your IDS advisor if you have questions.

Click here for application form.

This award is intended to encourage students who have demonstrated the capacity to achieve educational and professional goals, the motivation to achieve these goals, and the initiative to seek opportunities to further their progress.  The award -- for 2008-09 -- will provide financial assistance to a deserving IDS student who is employed and working to put herself/himself through Michigan State University. 

The recipient shall be selected on the basis of class level, academic achievement, financial need, and working status.  The recipient must be a junior (entering her/his senior year in the fall), and must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average for undergraduate course work.  The recipient must hold a paying job and be working throughout the school year to support her/his educational goals.  (Applicants will be required to submit a recent pay stub to validate their employment status -- at the point of receipt of the award, and prior to the beginning of the second semester, Spring Semester 2009.)  To be eligible for the award, a student must be enrolled (or plan to enroll) full-time (i.e., 12 or more credits per semester) for Fall Semester 2008 and Spring Semester 2009.  In addition, the individual must be working (and plan to continue to work) at least 20 hours per week during the academic year.  In the event that there is competition for the award, preference will be given to applicants who are working a larger number of hours (i.e., 30 or more) per week. 

In preparing an application, please keep in mind that the Selection Committee will be seeking evidence of intellectual maturity and well-rounded undergraduate education in which there has been an integration of both academic and career directions.  While good grades are important, a high GPA by itself, in the absence of any indication that the undergraduate program and ancillary work were designed and pursued as a basis for further personal, intellectual, and career-related development, is not likely to impress the committee. 

A nomination packet must contain:

1.  An application

2.  A brief personal essay of no more than two pages, prepared by the student, setting out the applicant's academic and career goals and indicating what progress has been made toward these goals, and outlining the applicant's employment history during her/his college years and how employment has assisted in the achievement of goals. 

3.  One letter of support/recommendation from a faculty member or academic advisor.

4.  A student-prepared resume of academic and career achievements to date.

Please send/drop off your application packet (including the resume, letter, and essay) to