Significant Scholarships: CU Denver Launches New Merit-based Awards for International Undergraduate Students
Scholarships -- Spring 2022
Aug 23, 2021
You’ve always heard that your student GPA (grade point average) matters. Now, it can automatically qualify you for a scholarship of up to $10,000 per year when you enroll in an undergraduate degree program at the University of Colorado Denver. Adding to this good news, your scholarship can be renewable; four years for international first-year students or two years for international transfer students. In addition, it’s an easy process – you don’t even need to apply for the scholarship; it happens automatically.
The message from CU Denver is loud and clear: this is a safe and welcoming place to pursue your academic and career dreams.
“We are thrilled to offer this exciting new scholarships program to support our international students,” explained Clay Harmon, Director of International Enrollment Management. “Students from all over the world are a vital part of CU Denver’s community. By offering the scholarships, we hope to increase our international enrollment numbers, and to advance the university’s strategic goal of becoming the first equity-serving institution in the United States. The message from CU Denver is loud and clear: this is a safe and welcoming place to pursue your academic and career dreams.”
International Undergraduate Scholarships
The University of Colorado Denver is committed to supporting international students’ long-term academic and personal success throughout their educational journey. In addition to the new automatic funding, International Admissions also offers automatic merit-based scholarships and additional funding through donor awards and need-based grants. Additionally, students can apply for program-specific and external scholarships. Scholarships can be combined, along with employment opportunities and other financial resources, to contribute to the cost of attendance.
How Does It Work?
International GPAs are converted to the United States 4.0 scale during the admission review; scholarships are awarded automatically based on a student’s GPA. These scholarships are open to non-resident, non-sponsored freshman, and transfer students. In addition, smaller awards are available to students with Colorado residency (in-state tuition).
GPA & Award Amounts
GPA Range Annual Award Amount
2.85 – 2.99 $2,500.00
3.00 – 3.49 $5,000.00
3.50 – 3.74 $7,500.00
3.75+ $10,000.00
Closing the Funding Gap
As the full impact of the 2020 worldwide epidemic disrupted studies, CU Denver | CU Anschutz jumped into action and took proactive measures to develop interactive virtual versions of courses and unique scholarships to meet the challenging times. For example, the Lynx Online Scholarship was offered for international students who enrolled and began CU Denver degree programs from their home country with the intent to travel to the Denver campus as soon as it was safe and possible to travel again.
Students can choose from more than 100-degree programs at CU Denver, ranging from architecture to business to engineering to public health and more. Suppose a student is admitted into a degree program and needs to start their program remotely. In that case, they are still eligible for these international student scholarships. However, this does not apply to online courses offered by the Office of Digital Education (ODE) or CU Online. When you applying for admission to CU Denver | CU Anschutz, a web page drop-down allows you to filter out ODE and CU Online courses.
In recent years, international students from diverse global regions have benefited from various scholarships offered by CU Denver, including scholarships to support graduates of the university’s ESL Academy.
One of the electrical engineering scholarship awardees from China, Yukun (Pete) Wang, commented, “The first time I received the email about my scholarship award, I thought it was phishing. But it was not, it was real!” Wang’s lively academic curiosity and innate sense of humor helped him thrive throughout his student journey at the University of Colorado Denver.
“At the ESL Academy, I was able to improve my English writing, reading, grammar, and speaking skills.” Then, with a smile, he added, “I didn’t want to order the wrong beverage at Starbucks because the American way of speaking seemed shorter and more clipped; I wanted to understand and be understood.”
ESL Academy Scholarships
In addition to the university’s new automatic merit-based scholarships created in 2021, another guaranteed scholarship was also created. It is open to any eligible student who graduates from CU Denver’s ESL Academy and continues into an undergraduate degree program at CU Denver.
- $1,000 per year or each term completed at the CU Denver ESL Academy.
- The tuition and fees cost for one term at the ESL is approximately $4,000. This scholarship provides an opportunity to earn back the total tuition and fees cost of students’ ESL study throughout their degree studies.
- Open to self-pay (non-sponsored) undergraduate students.
- The award will repeat up to four years for freshmen and two years for transfers.
- Must maintain full-time enrollment and a cumulative CU GPA of 2.5+.
Plan Ahead
“My family and friends in Argentina are amazed and proud of me being at CU Denver,” said 2019 scholarship awardee Zoe Nasimoff. “I wanted to come to the United States since I was in high school and immersed myself in jazz and music. I kept my grades up with a scholarship in mind—to study music in the U.S.”
The extra boost that Nasimoff gained from her scholarship, combined with her keen determination and thoughtful planning, launched her into an exciting degree program in the College of Arts and Media. In addition, she gained on-campus employment as a Student Global Ambassador for the Office of International Affairs.
Nasimoff concluded, “My friends say, ‘You are actually living your dream!’
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