Many students at the University of Central Missouri receive collegiate financial support through various types of scholarships. Prospective and current students can find a variety of scholarships through UCM Scholarship Finder, an online portal available to prospective and current UCM students. The portal provides filters applicants can use to find scholarships for which they are eligible.
“We have roughly 640 scholarships in Scholarship Finder,” Jen Skidmore, Fund Management Coordinator for the UCM Alumni Foundation, said. She further explains that out of these 640, some scholarships are awarded to multiple students at a time, whereas other scholarships may only have one recipient.
“While there are 640 scholarships, that actually is typically given out to well over one thousand students,” Skidmore said. Skidmore explains that in fiscal year 2024, the Alumni Foundation awarded $1.6 million in scholarships.
“There are some scholarships that require students to apply to them directly. There are some scholarships that are just based on things like GPA, major and that sort of thing. There are others that you have to fill out the general application to be eligible for, and if you don’t fill out that general application, you aren’t even considered for them,” Skidmore said. In previous years, only a small percentage of all UCM students completed the general application.
“On our best years, roughly ten percent of the [UCM student] population fill out the general application,” Skidmore said. Skidmore believes students have the opportunity to benefit in a variety of ways from receiving scholarships.
“Not only are you getting that money to pay for college, which hopefully will take a lot of stress off a lot of students, but hopefully, you can work less and pay more attention to your academics,” Skidmore said. “In some cases, it can also connect you with the donors of these scholarships or other people that have received that scholarship and have networking potential.”
Students have the chance to secure financial support that makes their educational journey more affordable at UCM. Finding scholarships may seem overwhelming, but one student found it worth it.
Fidelia Chioma Agwuncha is a graduate student at UCM’s College of Education. She received the Duane R. Sterling Scholarship – Rotary Program, which is awarded to one qualified international student per year.
According to UCM Scholarship Finder, the scholarship is awarded by the University of Central Missouri Alumni Foundation in partnership with The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. The scholarship is intended to cover two semesters of the total cost of study for the selected student, along with housing and food.
Agwuncha believes the scholarship made an impact on her. She has been able to put more time into doing other things that she feels passionate about. She is currently working in the University Health Center, Office of Health Promotion with the Care to Act program.
She believes all future applicants should dig deep and draw on their past experiences when completing the application.
“It does not have to be something great or mighty,” Awuncha said. “In order to achieve something first we need to dream about it. You also need to be focused and believe that nothing is too big. I believe nothing is impossible.”
