Beinecke Scholarship

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About

The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by the Board of Directors of The Sperry and Hutchinson Company to honor Edwin, Frederick, and Walter Beinecke. The Board created an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of young men and women of exceptional promise. The program seeks to encourage and enable highly motivated students to pursue opportunities available to them and to be courageous in the selection of a graduate course of study in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Since 1975 the program has selected more than 759 college juniors from more than 123 different undergraduate institutions for support during graduate study at any accredited university.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Beinecke Scholarship, a student must:

• Have demonstrated superior standards of intellectual ability, scholastic achievement and personal promise during his or her undergraduate career.
• Be a college junior pursuing a bachelor’s degree
• Plan to enter a master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences.
• Be a United States citizen or a United States national from American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
• Have a documented history of receiving need-based financial aid during his or her undergraduate years. An institutional financial aid officer will be required to complete a Financial Data Sheet certifying that the student meets this criterion. During the selection process, the amount of financial need will be one of the factors considered with preference being given to candidates for whom the awarding of a scholarship would significantly increase the likelihood of the student’s being able to attend graduate school.

Application Timeline & Procedure

1. Before Oct. 1: Email Dean Ghosh to schedule an initial advising appointment. This meeting is to discuss your goals and create a plan to compete in the scholarship process.
2. Oct. 1: Application opens on Beineke website. 
3. By Nov. 30: Email the required preliminary screening documents to Dean Ghosh.
   • A current resume
   • A personal statement of 1,000 words or less describing your background, interests, plans for graduate study, and career aspirations. The statement should include a discussion of some experiences and ideas that have shaped those interests, plans, and aspirations.
   • One letter of recommendation (if selected, two additional letters will be required.)
   • An unofficial transcript.
4. December: CWRU's campus selection committee will complete a preliminary review of applications. The campus selection committee consists of faculty representatives and deans from the Office of Undergraduate Advising Support. 
5. December and January: Campus interviews take place. 
6. By Feb. 1: Campus nomination deadline. CWRU endorses one nominee for the Beineke Scholarship.
7. By March 27: National deadline. The selected candidate will work directly with Dean Ghosh on submission to the national competition.

Value of the Award

Each scholar receives $5,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school. There are no geographic restrictions on the use of the scholarship, and recipients are allowed to supplement the award with other scholarships, assistantships and research grants. Scholars are encouraged to begin graduate study as soon as possible following graduation from college, and must utilize all of the funding within five years of completion of undergraduate studies.

Contact

Please contact Dean Rajlakshmi Ghosh with any scholarship-related questions.

Past Winners

2011

Sarah Lukowski
Class of 2012
Psychology

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