Skip to content

Miguel Velez Scholarship

The UC Merced Miguel Velez (MV) Scholarship is a prestigious award that provides students with an academic year scholarship.  It is intended for Latin American graduate students who exhibit excellence in character and ability.


Eligibility Requirements & Standards

  • Citizen or resident from a Latin American country, with preference given to students from South America.
  • Enrolled in 12 units in one of the graduate programs, GPA ≥ 3.0 and good academic standing.
  • Awardee information may be shared with donors, including but not limited to: name, award amount, UC Merced email address, application materials and/or summary of program/research interest.

Financial Support

  • Up to two awards will be made each academic year.
  • Recipients will receive a $10,000 fellowship to be paid in two equal installments of $5,000 during the Fall and Spring semesters.

Student Loan Impact

Per federal guidelines, all fellowship and tuition support is taken into consideration when determining student loan eligibility.  If the student will receive federal student loans during the same academic year as this award, please note that this award could, and most likely will, reduce their student loan eligibility.


Use of Funds

Funds must be used specifically for the pursuit of educational and graduate career goals.


Application Procedures

  • Apply by completing an online application. Please note, the fellowship application is built within the admissions system, so you might see some items that reference admissions.
  • During the application process you will be able to select this fellowship among others, if it is currently open.
  • Please include the following items with your application:
    • General Statement - 1-2 pages that describe your research area(s) of interest, accomplishments to date and long-term academic goals.
    • Project Plan/Timeline - 1-2 pages that describe your academic goals that will be supported by the fellowship(s), including a plan for training and research activities for the time period of fellowship support. The plan may include professional meetings, courses, workshops, seminars, and professional development activities for pursuing an academic career.
    • For your statement and plan if applicable, write for a general academic audience, i.e., a faculty reviewer who does not necessarily have expertise in your area of research.
    • Unofficial up-to-date UC Merced transcript.
    • Curriculum vitae (CV)
    • Latin American Citizenship/Residency - (Required only for Miguel Velez Scholarship) A photocopy of citizenship documentation or a letter confirming citizenship/residency from a Latin American country.
    • One letter of recommendation from a UCM faculty member.
  • The fellowship committee will review all complete applications. Review criteria will include adherence to the fellowship guidelines, the academic qualifications of the applicant, and the letter of recommendation. Please note, incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

 

 

 

 

* Graduate Division reserves the right not to make an award in any given year for which a call for applications/nominations has been issued.

 

 

Deadlines

See the Internal Fellowships page for current deadlines associated with this fellowship.