Awards and Scholarships
Deans', Chancellor's and Steck Awards
Daniel Briggs Memorial Award
The Dan Briggs Memorial Award supports students and their sponsoring faculty annually as part of UCSC's Keeley Coastal Scholar program and will use the same criteria to select recipients. The Keeley Coastal Scholars program supports the continuity of research and education. It provides financial assistance to underrepresented students from California with an unmet financial need doing research connected to coastal sustainability.
Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to apply by submitting an online application, a project budget, a letter of support from a faculty mentor, and an unofficial copy of their transcripts. The sponsoring faculty member's letter must detail the student’s abilities and specific project responsibilities. The deadline to apply is March 3rd, 2025.
Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship
The Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established to support undergraduate students in the Division of Social Sciences who are passionate about social issues and committed to public service. Gabriel “Gabe” Zimmerman graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2002 as a Sociology major, and he was working for Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as her Director of Community Outreach when he was tragically shot and killed. Generous donations from more than 520 alumni, community members, and the general public funded this endowment. In 2022 up to $9,000 is available to award to one or more outstanding undergraduate students majoring in any of the departments within the Division of Social Sciences.
Undergraduate majors in the social sciences are invited to apply for this scholarship by submitting: 1) a short essay (2-3 pages maximum) about their passion for social issues and commitment to public service, 2) a resume and 3) an unofficial copy of a transcript. Candidates must be in good academic standing. Applications must be submitted by March 1st, 2025 through this form.
Keeley Coastal Scholarship
Undergraduate majors are invited to apply for this summer scholarship by submitting an online application, project budget, and an unofficial copy of their transcript. Candidates must be in good academic standing and have established financial need during the current academic year. The sponsoring faculty member should submit a letter detailing the student’s abilities and specific project responsibilities. Online applications can be submitted here. The deadline to apply is March 3rd, 2025.
Benjamin Quaye Memorial Scholarship
The Benjamin Quaye Memorial Endowment for Social Justice award is an annual undergraduate scholarship for a student with significant financial need who is pursuing educational and career goals in social justice, with a strong preference for a student who is the first in his/her family to attend college. Students who, like Benjamin, volunteer to help the underserved, such as foster youth, people with disabilities, and the homeless are ideal recipients of this award. Students will be nominated by their departments, and do not need to put forward an application for this scholarship.
Students who feel they are good candidates are invited to submit to the department a 1-2 page letter describing their qualifications for the award. Such a letter should include an account of the student’s educational and career goals, whether the student is a recipient of Cal Grant or other forms of need-based aid, whether the student is a first-gen student, and anything else about themselves and their accomplishments that they think are relevant to the social justice theme of the award. Application information: TBA
