What scholarships are available at Colorado State University for graduate students?


Graduate students, resident or nonresident:

  • Scholarships through the online CSU Scholarship Application
  • Scholarships through your program of study; contact your Dean’s Office

My scholarship donor needs verification that I am enrolled before they send the check. What do I do?


Some donors require verification of enrollment. You may send your scholarship donor a printout of your schedule from RAMweb, or the scholarship registration verification letter, also available on RAMweb. Or, you may Contact us and we will verify your enrollment and request the check from the scholarship donor.

My scholarship donor needs to know where to send my scholarship check. What do I tell them?

My scholarship has been offered for fall/spring, but it was supposed to be all fall, or all spring. What do I do?


Contact us with this information. We will double-check the donor information. If there is no stipulation that it must be fall/spring, we will change it to the requested term.

I would like to apply for alumni scholarships. What is available?


Office of Financial Aid administers the following alumni scholarships: Evelyn Jones Alumni, Class of 1956, Class of 1968, Class of 1969, Class of 1970, Wyoming-CSU Alumni, and the CSU Alumni First Generation Scholarships (not to be confused with the First Generation Award which requires a separate application form). To apply, use the CSU Scholarship Application. Recipients must demonstrate financial need. Only the Evelyn Jones Alumni Scholarship has criteria requiring the recipient be a child of an active CSU alumna/us.

The Alumni Association also administers a variety of Alumni Association scholarships available to students at Colorado State University. Award amounts are based on endowment figures and may vary each year.  Contact the Alumni Association for more information.

I received a letter/flier/postcard offering me a scholarship search and guaranteeing me a scholarship. They are charging a fee. Do I take advantage of this?


There are many scholarship search services available. As a rule, we do not recommend paying a fee for any of them. Students may conduct their own search for free by utilizing the sources in Scholarship Searches. Scholarship search services that offer a money-back guarantee typically require the student to prove they applied to each and every source given to them, and were denied. Often this is impossible because some scholarships are no longer in existence. There are a number of scholarship search services on the Internet that a student can use free of charge. One is FastWeb. For information on scams, see Scholarship Scams.

Some general rules for a scholarship search are to begin in October or November, to look close to home, and to not give up if unsuccessful the first year. If you are an incoming freshman, look in your community, high school, and the college you will attend. If you are currently attending college, look at Scholarships from your College, Office of Financial Aid, and the University as a whole. By April, most deadlines will have passed. Try again next year…don’t give up. Many scholarships are not available to entering freshmen but are available to upperclassmen.

When will the scholarships credit to my account?


Scholarships disburse to your student account when other financial aid disburses, provided you are enrolled in sufficient number of credits and meet all other disbursement criteria.

A “co-payable” scholarship check (payable to CSU and the student) must be endorsed by the student before it can be credited to the student’s account. If we receive a co-payable check for you, we will notify you to come to our office (Centennial Hall) to endorse it.

Additionally, some scholarships may require thank you notes to donors, award forms signed and submitted, and/or other paperwork prior to disbursement.

Does receiving a scholarship affect other financial aid?


Total financial aid awards received through scholarships, grants, work-study and/or loans may not exceed the cost of attendance at Colorado State University for one year. Receiving a scholarship may cause a reduction in other financial aid. If possible loans will be reduced. However, it is sometimes necessary to reduce work-study, grants (with the exception of Federal Pell Grant), and/or scholarships. This policy is in accordance with federal regulations and institutional policy. If your financial aid must be reduced due to receipt of a scholarship, you will receive notification from Office of Financial Aid.