Beinecke Scholarships, worth $35,000, are awarded to exceptional third-year students who aspire to research-focused or creative-focused master’s or doctoral programs in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. Grinnell College may nominate one student per year.
- Applicants must be United States citizens or United States nationals from American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Applicants must have demonstrated financial need.
Eligibility: See below; third-year students apply for Grinnell’s nomination.
Campus deadline: Thursday, February 15, 2024 between 1 – 5 p.m. CT
Foundation deadline: March 29, 2024
Scholarship URL: https://beineckescholarship.org/
Spring 2024 Beinecke Scholarship: Campus Application Checklist [Grinnell login required]
Documents:
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About the Award
The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by the Board of Directors of the Sperry and Hutchinson Company to honor Edwin, Frederick, and Walter Beinecke. The Board created an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the education of young men and women of exceptional promise. The program seeks to encourage and enable highly motivated students to pursue opportunities available to them and to be courageous in the selection of a research-focused graduate course of study in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.
Each Beinecke Scholar receives $5,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school. There are no geographic restrictions on the use of the scholarship, and recipients are allowed to supplement the award with other scholarships, assistantships, and research grants. Scholars are encouraged to begin graduate study as soon as possible following graduation from college and must use all of the funding within five years of completion of undergraduate studies. Scholars may take a one-year leave of absence immediately following graduation but are expected to enter graduate school and begin receipt of Beinecke funding in the following year. Eligibility for the award is limited to students planning to attend graduate school in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.
Generally the selection committee does not respond favorably to nominees planning to attend law school, business school, or other professional school programs that emphasize skills and practical analysis over theory and research such as clinical psychology, social work, education, architecture, and journalism. In addition, students in the social sciences who plan to pursue graduate study in neuroscience should not apply for a Beinecke Scholarship.
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Eligibility
To be eligible for a Beinecke Scholarship, a student must:
- Have demonstrated superior standards of intellectual ability, scholastic achievement, and personal promise during their undergraduate career.
- Be a college junior pursuing a bachelor’s degree during the 2023-24 academic year. “Junior” means a student who plans to continue full-time undergraduate study and who expects to receive a baccalaureate degree between December 2024 and August 2025.
- Plan to enter a research-focused or creative-focused master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities, or social science. Students in the social sciences who plan to pursue graduate study in neuroscience should not apply for a Beinecke Scholarship.
- Be a United States citizen or a United States national from American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Have a documented history of being eligible to receive need-based financial aid during their undergraduate years, with a slight preference for Pell Grant recipients. Other evidence of meeting this criterion is a student’s history of receiving need-based institutional, state, or federal grants-in-aid. Applicants, with guidance from the institutional financial aid officer, will be required to complete a Financial Aid Data Sheet certifying that the student meets this criterion. The amount or level of financial need demonstrated by the student will be one of the factors considered during the selection process, and preference is given to candidates for whom the awarding of a scholarship would increase the likelihood of the student’s being able to attend graduate school.
- Note: If you received merit-based scholarships or awards that replaced need-based aid, then you may also be eligible.
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How to Apply
Grinnell may annually nominate one student for this award. Students interested in applying for Grinnell’s nomination for the Beinecke Scholarship should follow the instructions on the Campus Application Checklist (see above). For the current resume or academic-style curriculum vitae please visit the CLS general advising staff for assistance with this document. For guidance in completing the Financial Aid Data Sheet please visit with Meg Jones in the Financial Aid Office.
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Personal Statement Advice
If you’re stumped on how to approach the Beinecke Scholarship personal statement, consult this page of advice. [Grinnell login required]
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Ethical Guidelines
All applicants are expected to adhere to these ethical guidelines.
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Previous Beinecke Scholars
Grinnell College nominees who have received the Beinecke Scholarship include:
- Mateo Jarquín ’13 (2012)
- Holly Lutwitze ’08 (2007)
- Ilana Meltzer ’05 (2004)
- Rachel L. Melis ’01 (2000)
- Jonathan C. Edel ’99 (1998)
- Sarah J. Purcell ’92 (1991)