Scholarships and Travel Awards

The College of Public Health annually provides scholarships and global travel awards to its students of all backgrounds and interests. Every public health student is encouraged to apply. These funds are here for you — created and sustained by generous alumni and friends who give back to ensure our current and future students have access to the world-class education our college offers.

The college has more than 20 funds for scholarships and global travel awards available for current public health graduate and undergraduate students. Students only need to complete one scholarship application to be considered for multiple scholarships.

Both scholarships and travel awards are granted based on a number of criteria including merit, financial need, research interests, first-generation status and other statuses.

Eligibility

Academic scholarships

You must be an undergraduate or graduate student in a College of Public Health degree program during the 2024-25 academic year to apply for a scholarship. Students who have their education fully funded are not eligible. Public Health pre-majors are not eligible.

Global Health Travel award

The global travel award is available to College of Public Health undergraduate and graduate students traveling to conduct research, participate in field practice placement and/or partaking in service-learning opportunities, all focused on global public health. To be eligible to apply for this one-time award, students must have the equivalent of one full-time year of study prior to travel date; and travel must directly align degree program academics, research and/or service.

Previously funded experiences include:

  • travel to professional conferences (international and national conferences with a global health interest)
  • international applied practice experiences (APEs)
  • participation in programs with international research, service, or coursework.

Scholarship and travel award deadlines

Academic scholarships

  • Application opens: January 10
  • Deadline to apply: March 15

Global Health Travel award

  • Summer term travel: March 1
  • Autumn semester travel: July 1
  • Spring semester travel: October 1

Apply for travel awards

Travel awards are available each semester. The deadline for summer term travel is March 1.

Travel Application

ScholarshipUniverse – Get matched to more scholarships

Build a profile to find and apply to Ohio State and external scholarships.

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Scholarship details

Application Process

To apply for College of Public Health scholarships or a global travel award, access the application through ScholarshipUniverse. Students must submit the appropriate application and all required documentation online by stated deadlines.

Apply to CPH scholarships

 

The following responsibilities apply to all CPH academic and travel award recipients:

  • Recipients will be informed via their Ohio State email account if they have received an award.  In the email notification, recipients will be given award acceptance instructions and a deadline to accept the award. The process involves accepting the award online and submitting a photograph.
  • If recipients do not formally accept their awards by the deadline specified in their offer letters, the funds may be reallocated to other applicants.
  • Recipients also may be asked to attend a scholarship event honoring them and the relevant donors.

Additionally, for CPH international travel award recipients:

Question Will applications be reviewed by divisions or programs before reaching the Student Scholarship and Awards Committee?

Answer

No. The Student Scholarship and Awards Committee reviews and decides on all applications. The only exceptions are any scholarships specific to a division (e.g., Mary Plummer, Bruce Casto), which are awarded within that division.

Question What happens if students apply for other funding for travel after they have been awarded by CPH?

Answer

If a student secures additional funds from another source after receiving an award from the College of Public Health, the committee has the ability to reduce a student’s CPH travel award so as not to exceed the total cost of travel.

Question For travel awards, what information should I include when describing my budget?

Answer

In addition to providing a total dollar amount requested, please itemize your expected costs. The travel award is meant to cover the cost of travel, food, lodging, and data collection.

Question Question What does the committee consider when selecting scholarship or travel award recipients?

Answer

The committee considers each applicant’s academic record; personal background information; public health experiences, community service, and leadership; description of current financial assistance; how the award will help the applicant achieve academic goals; and overall presentation and writing skills.   

For scholarships, general scoring is based on the extent to which the application (1) clearly articulates the student’s own public health career goals, (2) demonstrates how the student will act to advance diversity and inclusive excellence in the college and/or university, (3) demonstrates the student’s ability to overcome obstacles and persevere with goals and (4) demonstrates a high level of financial need.   

For the travel award, scoring is based on the extent to which the application (1) clearly articulates the student’s own public health career goals, (2) clearly articulates how the travel experience will advance the student’s career goals, and (3) demonstrates a high level of financial need. Priority is given to projects aligned with Ohio State’s Global Gateways, currently in China, India, Brazil and emerging regions in Africa.

Question How are the funds disbursed?

Answer

Scholarship funds are disbursed into the student’s Ohio State account by the Bursar at the beginning of each term covered. For travel awards, half of the funds are disbursed into the student’s account prior to travel and the other half are disbursed after travel is completed.