Awards Requiring UNC Endorsement

Please notify the Office of Distinguished Scholarships (ods@unc.edu) if you wish to apply for one or more of these awards. Please note that these are hard deadlines and no individual exceptions will be made regarding endorsement application deadlines. The deadlines are publicly posted on this website multiple months prior to the actual deadline. Incomplete endorsement applications will not be reviewed by their respective awards committees. The only exception to this is the Fulbright US Student Program as that award has a non-competitive endorsement process.

Beinecke Scholarship

Open to third-year students

Endorsement application deadline: Tuesday, February 24, 2026 (9:00 pm ET)
Final application deadline: Friday, March 27, 2026 (5:00 pm ET)

Boren Awards

Open to enrolled undergraduate and graduate students

Endorsement application deadline* Tuesday, January 6, 2025 (9:00 pm ET) –note endorsement is recommended but not required for Boren Awards
Boren Fellowships (graduate students) final application deadline: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Boren Scholarships (undergraduate students) final application deadline: Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Churchill Scholarship

Open to fourth-year students and alumni from the previous academic year

Endorsement application deadline: Monday, September 22, 2025 (11:59 pm ET)
Endorsed students must apply to Cambridge by Wednesday, October 15 (11:59 pm ET)
Final application deadline: November 3, 2025 (5:00 pm ET)

Fulbright U.S. Student Program

Open to graduating seniors, master’s students, doctoral candidates, and alumni.

Endorsement application deadline: Sunday, September 7 (11:59 pm eastern)
Final application deadline: Tuesday, October 7, 2025 (5:00 pm eastern)

James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program

Open to fourth-year students and alumni from the previous academic year

Endorsement application deadline: Tuesday, November 25, 2025 (9:00 pm ET)
Final application deadline: Thursday, January 15, 2026

Goldwater Scholarship

Open to second- and third-year students

Endorsement application deadline: Tuesday, December 2, 2025 (9:00 pm ET)
Final application deadline: TBA: likely late January 2025

Marshall Scholarships

Open to fourth-year students and recent alumni

Endorsement application deadline: Tuesday, August 5, 2025 (9:00 pm ET)
To be eligible to apply for UNC endorsement, applicants must meet with ODS Executive Director Marc Howlett at least twice before the endorsement deadline.
Please note that there is a new Marshall endorsement application process for 2025. See here for more details.
Final application deadline: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 (5:00 pm ET)

McCall MacBain Scholarship

Open to fourth-year students and alumni

Endorsement application deadline: Tuesday, August 12, 2025 (9:00 pm ET)
Final application deadline: Wednesday, September 24, 2025 (4:00 pm ET)

Michel David-Weill Scholarship

Open to graduating seniors only

Endorsement application deadline: Tuesday, October 21, 2025 (11:59 PM)
Final application deadline: November 15, 2025
The endorsee must also apply to a Science Po master’s program no later than November 15, 2025

Mitchell Scholarship

As of March 2024 the Mitchell Scholarship has “paused”. The Mitchel Scholarship remains paused for the 2025-2026 application cycle, and there will be no competition.

Rhodes Scholarship

Open to graduating seniors and recent alumni

Endorsement application deadline for US and Canadian applicants: Tuesday, August 5, 2025 (9:00 pm ET)
To be eligible to apply for UNC endorsement, applicants must meet with ODS Executive Director Marc Howlett at least twice before the endorsement deadline.
Final application deadline: for US applicants: Wednesday, October 1, 2025 (11:59 pm). For Canadian applicants: Tuesday, September 23, 2025 (11:59 pm)
Other competitions have final deadlines that may be much earlier than the US competition; check with ODS regarding endorsement for non-US competitions

Truman Scholarship