Our Role
U-M's Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships is located in the LSA Honors Program, but it is a service provided to all students at the University. Our applicants come from all 18 U-M schools and colleges, graduate and professional as well as undergraduate.
Many nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships require applicants to be endorsed by their institution. In these instances, ONSF serves as the proxy by which U-M students are endorsed by the university.
Most of the opportunities listed on this website require U-M endorsement. In these cases, students cannot apply directly and must follow the instructions and deadlines posted for the U-M nomination process. While ONSF does still offer advising for non-nominated programs, for programs that do not require U-M nomination, students may apply directly without assistance from ONSF.
Our Mission
ONSF's mission is to increase the competitiveness of U-M students applying to major national scholarships and fellowships while helping all applicants to develop into self-aware leaders and citizens. We pursue this goal through broadly advertised information sessions, direct outreach to students, and through partnerships with a wide variety of U-M units, communities, and student groups.
ONSF is committed to the principle that the application process itself has tremendous educational value. Given the competitiveness of national scholarships and fellowships, even highly qualified and well prepared applicants often will not receive the awards to which they apply. We believe the true value of applying to these awards is the investment in developing one's goals, preparing for interviews, and building relationships with references and peers. We are committed to designing processes that encourage deep reflection about applicants' values and sense of mission/purpose as well as articulated plans for their post-graduate education and early careers.
Who We Serve
ONSF is committed to providing equitable access to information about national scholarship and fellowship opportunities to all U-M students. We welcome members of the U-M community, be they undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni, from all 19 schools and colleges - not just LSA Honors students. Our office is highly committed to diversifying the pool of candidates applying to these scholarships and fellowships.
ONSF is also committed to promoting scholarship and fellowship opportunities that are broadly accessible to applicants from all backgrounds. This includes (but is not limited to) first-gen students, transfer students, and other underserved populations. When opportunities are limited to a particular applicant pool by eligibility criteria (e.g. US citizenship) we actively seek to provide alternatives whenever possible. Please contact us to talk about ways we can better serve your community's specific advising needs.
Note: For scholarships offered to undocumented students, please go here.
