The University of Oregon’s Stamps scholarship program will double its number of participants from 10 to 20 students after the Stamps Foundation approached the university about an expansion, which includes an additional $11.3 million in funding.
According to Jim Brooks, UO’s director of student financial aid and scholarships, the funding for the scholarships is split 50/50 between the Stamps Foundation and the University of Oregon. Institutional funds from UO are used to fund the scholarships, and when expansions have happened now and in the past it must be a conversation with the president’s office as to what the university’s investment needs to be to increase the funding.
Now, 10 resident and 10 non-resident students will be offered a Stamps scholarship at the University of Oregon every year, indefinitely. For residents, the scholarship includes full tuition, fees and room and board. Non-residents are awarded the cost of out-of-state tuition. All scholars will also receive “enrichment funding,” which can be used at any time during their time at UO for internships, study abroad opportunities or academic research.
Stamps scholars are also offered guaranteed admission to the Clark Honors College.
The Stamps Foundation has a partnership with 35 schools across the United States, and one in the United Kingdom. The University of Oregon is the only partnered school on the west coast.
“Stamps was intrigued by what was happening at Oregon, and they were not on the west coast at all,” Brooks said. “They reached out, we had some conversations and the partnership was established.”
Another full-tuition scholarship, PathwayOregon, for Oregon students who are Pell Grant recipients, is similar. Instead of an outside partner like the Stamps Foundation, Brooks said that the Pathway scholarships are partly funded by donors and gifted funds.
According to Michelle Holdway, associate director for scholarships at UO, the number of applicants for the Stamps program is anywhere from 1,100 to 1,200 every year.
“It has ticked up each year,” Holdway said. “I think as the word gets out further, and as now especially that the program has doubled I think people feel more inclined to try their hand and go ahead and apply.”
“They go through a pretty rigorous process,” Brooks said about application submissions. When students apply for admission to UO, they must also fill out an additional application to be considered for the Stamps scholarship. Because of the scholarship’s early deadline of Nov. 13, students must have applied to UO by the early action deadline to be able to apply to the scholarship. Then, applications are read by multiple scholarship committees. Semi-finalists are interviewed in person on UO’s campus and ultimately, finalists speak virtually with the Stamps Foundation.
Once admitted, Stamps scholars work closely with faculty, especially when it comes to deciding what to do with their enrichment funding.
“It is the first thing that students want to talk about once they’ve gotten their scholarship,” Holdway said. “They already start thinking about ‘oh, I’m so excited, how can I use it? What are other students doing?’”
Holdway said that the funding isn’t always used at one time, and students can use it across several different opportunities. According to Holdway, this flexible funding which allows students to explore something they’re interested in is one of the biggest draws for students to apply to the Stamps program.
Recipients of the scholarship were notified on March 1, and the first expanded cohort of Stamps scholars will be welcomed this fall.