StudyDesk Scholarships
About the scholarship
The University of Georgia does not run one single undergraduate scholarship with one form. Most of its merit awards are considered automatically when you apply for admission. The exception — and the award this article is about — is the Foundation Fellowship, the university’s premier undergraduate academic scholarship. It is the only UGA award that needs its own application, and it is the route to the university’s largest funding package, including its Stamps Scholarships.
The Fellowship looks first for a very high academic threshold, then for leadership in school and community, artistic, athletic or other special talents, intense intellectual curiosity, and a willingness to share what you learn. Membership is about more than money: Fellows join a small community with dinner seminars, faculty and peer mentoring, and a programme of travel that runs through all four years.
Benefits
The current official figures, taken from the Morehead Honors College page, are higher than the figures still quoted by many older guides (around $26,080 plus a $19,040 waiver). Use the current figures below, and do not rely on the older ones:
- International students: an annual stipend of $30,000 plus a Presidential waiver worth $21,740 a year.
- Out-of-state students: an annual stipend of $25,930 plus a Presidential waiver worth $20,844 a year.
- In-state students: an annual stipend of $15,750 plus the Zell Miller Scholarship, worth $10,134 a year.
- A post-first-year Maymester study-abroad programme at the University of Oxford, fully funded and valued at $10,000.
- Three fully funded spring travel-study programmes in the first three years, valued together at $15,000. Recent destinations have included Bali, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Japan, Morocco, South Korea, Thailand, Tanzania and Vietnam.
- Individual travel-study grants up to a cumulative total of $10,000, tied to your academic and professional goals, which can be combined with a semester or year abroad.
- Research and academic conference grants.
The stipend is described by UGA as approximating the cost of attendance, not as covering every possible charge: mandatory fees, housing and food sit outside a simple tuition figure, so read any award letter for exactly what the waiver covers.
Who can apply
- You are applying as a first-year student and have not yet matriculated at another university.
- International students are eligible, and so are dual-enrolled high school seniors.
- Transfer applicants and current undergraduate students are not eligible.
- You must first submit a First-Year Admission application to the University of Georgia. Only then do you gain access to the Foundation Fellowship application, which is linked to the Morehead Honors College application — so begin the Honors College application well before 1 November, not on the day.
- Academic standing matters for renewal: guides report a 3.40 cumulative UGA GPA and full-time enrolment as the renewal conditions. Confirm the current renewal rule in your award letter.
Documents required
The official Fellowship pages checked do not publish a separate document checklist for the Fellowship application itself, so no document list is invented here. In practice, the Fellowship application sits on top of your admission application, so the admission file — school record, test scores where submitted, and the Honors College application materials — is the foundation. If the Fellowship application asks for anything further, it will appear in the Morehead Honors College portal once your admission application unlocks it; check there rather than trusting a third-party checklist.
How to apply
- Submit a First-Year Admission application to the University of Georgia. Note that the Early Action deadline of 15 October 2026 has already passed; the Regular Decision deadline is 1 January 2027, but the Fellowship deadline comes first, so do not wait for Regular Decision to start this process.
- Begin the Morehead Honors College application, which unlocks the Foundation Fellowship application.
- Complete and submit the Foundation Fellowship application by 1 November 2026.
- Finalists are notified by late January. Finalists are invited to a mandatory Interview Weekend over the last full weekend in February — scheduled for Friday 26 and Saturday 27 February 2027.
- If selected, confirm the stipend, waiver and renewal conditions in writing before accepting.
FAQs
Yes. The official page states explicitly that international students are eligible, as are dual-enrolled high school seniors. Transfer applicants and current undergraduates are not.
The Fellowship is the exception at UGA: most awards are automatic with admission, but the Fellowship needs its own application, unlocked only after you submit a First-Year Admission application and begin the Morehead Honors College application.
On the current official figures, an annual stipend of $30,000 plus a Presidential waiver worth $21,740 a year, plus the funded Oxford Maymester, spring travel-study programmes and individual travel-study and research grants. Older guides quoting about $26,080 plus $19,040 are out of date.
Finalists are notified by late January and attend a mandatory Interview Weekend on 26–27 February 2027. Missing 1 November closes the Fellowship route even if your admission application is still open.
UGA describes the stipend as approximating the cost of attendance. Mandatory fees and living costs are separate items in a student bill, so check your award letter line by line.
Verified 30 Oct 2026 against the University of Georgia Morehead Honors College official Foundation Fellowship pages (honors.uga.edu: 1 November deadline, international-student eligibility, transfer/current-undergraduate exclusion, first-admission-then-Fellowship route, $30,000 international stipend plus $21,740 Presidential waiver, Oxford Maymester, spring travel-study and individual grants, late-January finalist notification and 26–27 February 2027 Interview Weekend) and corroborating guides (GlobalScholarships, ScholarPositions) for the 1 November 2026 date and the automatic-with-admission rule for other UGA awards. Older stipend figures ($26,080/$19,040) in some guides are superseded by the current official figures used here.
