Scholarships

Welcome to the scholarship page! Here, you can find a guide on where to look for scholarships as well as a timeline for applications. 

Scholarship Application Guide: Where to Look

• UW-Madison Affiliated

UW-Madison’s Undergraduate Academic Awards Office (UAA):
Staff from this office are dedicated to helping you find both on-campus opportunities and national/off-campus opportunities. Get support to find options that match your goals and interests, navigate the scholarship application process, develop your essays, and prepare for national scholarship interviews. 

• • • Students interested in applying for national scholarships should also schedule an appointment with the Undergraduate Academic Awards Office staff to learn about how to put together a strong, competitive application.

Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH):
After researching campus-wide scholarships for UW-Madison, the next step is to log in to the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub. You will be prompted to fill out a “general application,” which is a series of questions to filter a list of departmental or campus-wide scholarships for which you might qualify.

Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS):
This is the best place to start searching for international fellowship or grant programs. This campus unit can help you apply to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which is designed to give recent B.S./B.A. graduates and young professionals opportunities for personal development and international experiences. 

• Independent

Law School Scholarship Directories

• • • The Accesslex scholarship directory allows you to filter your scholarship search by applicant attributes such as religion, disability, race or ethnicity, gender, first-generation status, and more.

    • The LGBTQ Bar lists external scholarships that LGBTQ+ law students are encouraged to apply for.

    • Scholarship Directory FAQs – Learn more about applying for law school scholarships here.

Current UW Scholarships

Wolff Fellowship Award

College of Letters and Science

Award Up to $45,000 Deadline 01/25/2026

The Wolff Fellowship program provides an award of up to $45,000 to an outstanding graduating senior for a year-long travel, service or study-abroad experience. Letters & Science graduates will be empowered to take on a year of travel and service as part of a new fellowship opportunity, made possible by a generous gift from Paul Martin Wolff and Rhea S. Schwartz. 

Eligibility Criteria:

Letters & Science undergraduate degree candidates (for Spring 2026) who have attended UW-Madison for the entirety of their undergraduate careers with a minimum 3.75 cumulative GPA (at the time of application) who have distinguished themselves by demonstrated academic achievement, service to the University and service to the greater world community. Transfer students are ineligible to apply for this opportunity.

Nominations from faculty and staff are solicited each cycle and students may nominate themselves and apply directly for this award.

Upon receipt of required documents, payments will be made on a quarterly basis.

Manny Ross Great Thinkers Scholarship

College of Letters and Science

Award $5,000 - $10,000 Deadline 01/12/2026

The scholarship will support undergraduate students in their intellectual pursuit of literary criticism, philosophy, and great thinkers. Examples of great thinkers may include but are not limited to Shakespeare, Freud, and Churchill. The scholarship will be a merit-based scholarship awarded annually (as available) to a student in the College of Letters & Science with a demonstrated interest in humanities and/or humanistic social sciences in the top 10% of L&S undergraduates. The scholarship award is $5,000 – $10,000. Awards to finalists will paid out at the start of the spring term.

Nicole Else-Quest Scholarship

Department of Psychology

Award $5,000 Deadline 11/21/2025

The Nicole Else-Quest Scholarship will be awarded to two undergraduate Psychology students who are first-generation students in their family to attend college, demonstrate financial need, have graduated from a high school in Wisconsin, and have demonstrated excellence in the study and pursuit of psychology.

Eligibility Criteria:
Students must be a declared and currently enrolled psychology major.