University of Illinois students who excel in both academics and athletics are encouraged to enter the 2018-19 Avery Brundage Scholarship competition. Scholarship applications can be submitted online. The deadline for submission is Feb. 6.
Full-time students at the Chicago, Springfield and Urbana campuses may apply, including incoming freshmen, graduate and transfer students. Grant-in-aid recipients may be eligible for Brundage scholarships, under specified conditions. Academic and athletic competence will be considered over financial need.
Undergraduate and transfer student applicants must rank in the top 25 percent of their college, and incoming freshmen must rank in the upper 25 percent of their incoming class. Graduate and professional students must be in good academic standing.
Students also must have demonstrated a special athletic ability in an amateur sport. However, their participation must have been for personal development, rather than as preparation for professional athletics. Previous winners represent a wide variety of sports, from archery and tennis to swimming and wheelchair basketball. Last year, 17 winners were awarded $2,500 each.
The late Avery Brundage, a 1909 U. of I. graduate, competed in the 1912 Olympics and later served as president of both the U.S. and International Olympic committees. He established the scholarship in 1974, with a $343,000 endowment to the University of Illinois Foundation. Over the past 43 years, 932 scholarships with a total value of $1,284,255 have been awarded.
For more information, contact Tim Gilles, the scholarship coordinator at University Academic Programs and Services, at 217-333-2030.
