Marshall Scholarships
Marshall Scholarships finance up to 50 young Americans of high ability to study for a graduate degree in the United Kingdom.
Award: The Two Year Marshall Scholarship is tenable for two academic years. The One Year Marshall Scholarship is tenable for one academic year (12 months) and cannot be extended. Almost all Marshal Scholarships are two-year awards, so an applicant should only apply to a one-year Marshall in extraordinary circumstances. The award covers university fees, cost of living expenses, annual book grant, thesis grant, research and daily travel grants, fares to and from the United States and, where applicable, a contribution towards the support of a dependent spouse.
Criteria: In appointing Scholars the selectors will look for candidates who have the potential to excel as scholars, as leaders and as contributors to improved UK-US understanding. Assessment will be based on academic merit, leadership potential and ambassadorial potential.
Applicants must be endorsed by UNC-Chapel Hill in order to apply for the Marshall Scholarship. To be eligible to apply for UNC-Chapel Hill endorsement, applicants must meet with ODS Executive Director Marc Howlett at least twice. Those meetings must occur in the current calendar year, be separated by at least a week, and occur before the endorsement deadline.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a Marshall Scholarship, candidates must:
- be citizens of the United States of America (at the time they apply for a scholarship)
- hold their first undergraduate degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States by the time they take up their scholarship in September of the following year
- have obtained a grade point average of not less than 3.7 on their undergraduate degree (Applicants must have a GPA of 3.7 at the time of application)
- Please note that while 3.7 is the minimum GPA to be eligible to apply, most applicants will have a much higher GPA. Applicants with GPAs below 3.8 will have an even more challenging time receiving UNC-Chapel Hill endorsement for the Marshall Scholarship
- Have graduated from their first undergraduate college or university after April 2023
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- not have studied for, or hold a degree or degree-equivalent qualification from a British University or GCSE or A Levels taken at school in the UK
*Note* please verify eligibility on the Marshall Scholarships website.
How to apply for UNC endorsement
- Meet with ODS Executive Director at least twice. These meetings must occur in the current calendar year, be separated by at least a week, and occur before the endorsement deadline. You can make an appointment here
For the endorsement application, you will be primarily working within the Marshall Scholarship application portal. The exception is for letters of recommendation. Please leave the portal section of letters of recommendation blank for now
Marshall UNC endorsement application (except letters of recommendation).
- Create an account in the Marshall Scholarship application portal
- Complete all of the sections of the Marshall Scholarship application, including essays, within the portal (the exception being letters of recommendation)
- By the endorsement deadline, download a complete application in PDF form from the Marshall portal and submit it to ODS via the Application for UNC Endorsement Form
- Please be sure to include all relevant transcripts with your endorsement application
Letters of recommendation
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- Use the Recommender Name Submission Form to request letters
- *The Marshall Scholarship has specific requirements concerning who can write your letters; please review those requirements on the website before selecting recommenders*
- Use the Recommender Name Submission Form to request letters
Resources for applicants
- Thoroughly read the following Marshall rules and guidelines:
- ODS information sessions and prep-shops
- Schedule a meeting with the ODS executive director to discuss your application and receive advice to consider. (Note: You may receive feedback on your Marshall personal statement and essays, but you may not incorporate the revised prose from the statement or essay content into a Rhodes or Mitchell Scholarships personal statement.)
Applicants may apply for multiple scholarship awards simultaneously, including the Rhodes, Marshall, and Mitchell Scholarships. However, pay careful attention to differences in guidelines for personal statements among other things.
