Scholarships, Awards, and Funding

Many awards and scholarships are available to help students fund their academic journey. In addition to those highlighted below, check out our extensive additional funding opportunities guide, which includes both UCSC and non-UCSC awards and scholarships.

Opportunities for undergraduates

Sociology of Race, Class, and Gender Senior Thesis Award

Deadline to apply: TBD for 2025-2026

This award is given to a sociology major who has completed the best senior thesis on race, class, and gender during the academic year. The award amount varies yearly. Students who are currently working on their thesis but are not yet ready to apply are eligible to apply in the spring of the following academic year, even if the student has graduated. This means students who are working on their senior thesis for this academic year but are not ready to apply may apply in the spring of the next academic year. The award is funded by the Pamela Ann Roby Sociology of Race, Class, and Gender Endowment, which was established in 2000 by Pamela Ann Roby, a UCSC Professor Emerita of Sociology.

View previous winners.

How to apply

Step 1: Student’s senior thesis faculty advisor sends a letter to the Sociology Department’s Undergraduate Advisor ( socyadvising@ucsc.edu), nominating the senior thesis, specifying how it examines issues of race, class, and gender and describing the merits of the thesis.
Step 2: Nominee also sends a letter stating that a) they are submitting their senior thesis for consideration for the Sociology of Race, Class, and Gender Senior Thesis Award and b) that, should they receive the award, they are willing to have their name and the title of their senior thesis announced as the recipient of the award.
Step 3: The nominee submits a PDF version of the senior thesis as an email attachment to the Sociology Undergraduate Advisor, (socyadvising@ucsc.edu).

Fanny Carruthers Sociology Scholarship

Deadline to apply: TBD for 2025-2026

Anne Jane “Fanny” Carruthers Howard died on February 15, 1972, leaving a portion of her estate in a trust to be used to fund scholarships for undergraduate or graduate students attending UC Santa Cruz who are in need of financial assistance. This award is specific to undergraduate and graduate students who graduated from a high school in Santa Clara County and have chosen sociology as their major. This award is based on financial need and academic merit. The award amount varies each year.

View previous winners.

How to apply

Step 1: Draft a one-page letter, in PDF format, explaining why you are a good candidate for this scholarship. Indicate whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, your student ID number, the high school you graduated from, and contact information, including address and phone number.
Step 2: Obtain your unofficial transcript(s) and a faculty letter of recommendation. Sociology Department faculty are preferred but not required.
Step 3: The nominee submits materials to the Undergraduate Advisor (socyadvising@ucsc.edu).

Social Sciences Division awards

The Division of Social Sciences provides many award opportunities for undergraduates. Departments set their own internal deadlines and application processes for several divisional awards, including the following.

Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship

The Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship Fund supports undergraduate students who are passionate about social issues and committed to public service. The Sociology Department nominates two students for this award each year.

Benjamin Quaye Memorial Scholarship

The Benjamin Quaye Memorial Endowment supports undergraduates pursuing education and career goals in social justice, especially first-generation students and students who volunteer to help underserved communities. The Sociology Department nominates one student for this award each year.

To be considered for nomination for either of these awards, please email all application materials listed on the awards information page to the Sociology Undergraduate Advisor at socyadvising@ucsc.edu. For all other divisional awards, follow the application processes listed on the awards information page.

Campus awards

The following awards from units across campus are also available for undergraduates:

Opportunities for graduate students

Jessica L. Roy Memorial Award

Deadline to apply: TBD for 2025-2026

This award honors the work and memory of Jessica L. Roy, who was a graduate student in the Sociology Department at UC Santa Cruz. Graduate students in any UC Santa Cruz department may apply. Preference will be given to applicants who are pursuing studies in or have a demonstrated interest in issues of equity and poverty in international development, especially in relation to women and the environment. The award is based on academic merit and is intended to provide a stipend to support fieldwork travel and research. Up to two awards of $1,300 each are awarded each year.

About Jessica Roy

Jessica Roy earned an M.A. in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz in June 2004. Two months later, while engaged in her dissertation fieldwork in Kenya, she was killed in a vehicular accident near Nairobi. Her research in rural Africa was designed to illuminate the problem of access to safe water resources and the influence of gender relations on this access. Her approach was interdisciplinary, including environmental, feminist, and sociological perspectives. After Jessica’s death, her friends and family created the Jessica Roy Memorial Award, with the goal of supporting the kind of research in which she was engaged and continuing her legacy of involvement and commitment to social justice.

Application Instructions

Submit the following materials to the graduate coordinator at socyga@ucsc.edu by the deadline:

Application form
Project statement: Provide a clear and coherent description of the goals and methods of your research project. Your statement should also demonstrate your interest in and/or how you will be exploring questions about poverty, environment, and international development, especially in relation to women. Enumerate your academic and personal goals (both short-term and long-term). This statement should be no more than 1,500 words. Include your name on each page and use a 12-point font, and 1.5- or double-space format.
Project budget: Submit as a separate document a brief budget outlining the expenses to be supported by the award, which is intended to provide stipends to support fieldwork travel and research. This section should be no more than one page. Please include your name.
Copy of unofficial UCSC transcripts

Sociology of Race, Class and Gender Graduate Award

Deadline to apply: TBD for 2025-2026

The award is a merit-based award for dissertation research that contributes to social science and public understanding of race, class, and gender within the United States and may also include one or more additional nations. Common topics are related but not limited to, health, education, language, environment, work, culture, and the economy. Eligibility is limited to UCSC sociology graduate students who have advanced to candidacy.

Milam-McGinty-Kaun Award for Teaching Excellence

Deadline to apply: TBD for 2025-2026

This Social Sciences Division award of up to $1,500 per person recognizes two graduate students each year for their excellence in teaching. One winner is always from the Economics Department, and the other is chosen from another department within the division, with the eligible department rotating annually. To find out if you’re eligible for nomination, check with your graduate advisor.

Other campus funding opportunities

Graduate students from the Sociology Department are also eligible for the following awards and funded positions from units across campus:

Tuition support for international students

The Graduate Division at UC Santa Cruz has funded a limited number of two-year international student non-resident supplemental tuition (NRST) fellowships for incoming cohort doctoral students. These are awarded on a competitive basis, and each division is allotted a certain number of two types of fellowships, including those (1) restricted to applicants with citizenship from any Latin American country (including Mexico and Central American countries) and (2) unrestricted for non-US citizens from all other countries.

If an international student is chosen for the department’s shortlist of admits, the selection committee may decide to nominate them for one of these awards. The divisional deans choose their division’s recipients, and departments are authorized to include two years of NRST funding in the admissions offer. For general information about NRST policies and exemptions, refer to UCOP.

How to apply

Complete and sign this form to request an AB540 exemption from Nonresident Supplemental Tuition charged to nonresident students. It is the student’s responsibility to pursue the process to establish residency. The department will assume you’ve taken the necessary steps by the beginning of the second year.