External Scholarships

How to Find External Scholarships

Each year UM students are awarded hundreds of thousands of scholarship dollars from external organizations. The information below can assist students in identifying scholarships for which they might be eligible.

External Scholarship Resources

  • One good way to identify scholarship sources is to search a free scholarship database. Be cautious in providing information of a personal nature. Below is a selection of popular sites.

  • Duration: Four year, renewable award

    The 91次元 participates in the National Merit Scholarship Program and offers awards of $2,000 a year to finalists who have indicated UM as their first choice for attending college. Semi-finalists who enroll at UM will receive an award of $1,000 a year. Awards under this program may be held in addition to the Presidential Leadership Scholarship, a UM General Scholarship and Departmental Scholarships.

    Eligibility:

    Students must be a National Merit Scholarship Finalists or Semi-finalists as determined by PSAT Test taken junior year in high school. A copy of the official letter showing National Merit status must be submitted to the UM Financial Aid Office.

  • These websites provide excellent information on obtaining external grants and fellowships for graduate students.

    • : Hosted by the University of Illinois, this site links to 800 fellowship listings and has advice for writing proposals and other resources to securing funding for graduate studies.
    • : Francisco A. Tomei Torres has compiled many good resources for finding scholarships, graduate fellowships and postdoctoral awards.

  • Students who have demonstrated exceptional ability, achievement, drive, leadership skills and experience, and/or commitment to their fields of study should contact the UM's External Scholarships and Fellowships office for advising and coaching.

    External scholarship applications for the Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Gates Cambridge, Truman, Udall, Goldwater, Carnegie Junior Fellows Program, and other opportunities require long-term coaching and usually an official UM nomination, so students are encouraged to explore their options and reach out for assistance early in the process.

    Contact:

    Kylla Benes, Ph.D.
    Director
    External Scholarships and Fellowships
    Davidson Honors College 116
    kylla.benes@umontana.edu
    (406) 243-5241

  • Community foundations are nonprofit organizations that act as scholarship clearinghouses for awards available to students residing in a specific city, county, community or state.

    For example:

    To find a community foundation in your area, perform an Internet search for "community foundation scholarships" along with the name of your town, county or state.

  • The Veterans United Foundation offers scholarships to veterans and miliary-affiliated students. Additional information is available on the webpage.

  • Not all scholarship opportunities are legitimate. If applying for a scholarship requires a fee or deposit then it is a scam. Never give out your Social Security number or bank information for a scholarship.

    If you receive an unexpected scholarship check, please use caution. Scholarship checks should be sent to Student Financial Services to be deposited into your UM student account.

  • External organizations that are providing scholarships to UM students should send checks to the address below. The student's name and student ID number (if known) should be included with the correspondence.

    Student Financial Services
    32 Campus Drive
    Aber Hall, Fifth Floor
    91次元
    Missoula, MT 59812