Funding Opportunities for H&A Students

This scholarship recognizes and supports students who have explored outside their formally stated course of study in ways that demonstrate curiosity, interest in others and a hunger to learn new things. There will be two awards per academic year. $3,200 per award.

Eligibility:

Open to all majors, with students in the Division of Humanities and the Arts strongly encouraged to apply

Only students with at least 45 credits and a declared major are advised to apply

Application:

Students must submit evidence of a project, research paper, community initiative, or other piece of student work that demonstrates drive, curiosity, and a spirit of exploration outside his or her formal field of study, as well as a brief cover letter explaining how this project represents exploration outside their formally stated course of study.

Selection:

Will be made by a panel of faculty and staff

Applications will be evaluated in the most flexible possible manner, with panel members examining them as signs of curiosity and potential growth rather than final accomplishment.

Deadline: Monday, September 15, 2025

Apply here:  https://form.jotform.com/251976045867168

This scholarship supports a liberal arts major, with preference given to those considering a career in law. There will be one award per academic year for $1,000.

Eligibility:

• Open to Liberal Arts majors, with preference to a student taking pre-law courses.

Application:

• Students must submit a letter of application detailing need and why they are pursuing a pre-law program.

Deadline: Friday, October 10, 2025

Apply here: https://form.jotform.com/251975797398180

The Maria Bournas Student Fellowship provides a stipend of $1000 to a single student to support either tuition or expenses associated with attending City College.

Selection Criteria:

• A student majoring in Humanities & Arts (with a preference for an English major)
• Student must have demonstrated exceptional facility in both written and spoken English
• Student has demonstrated an interest in supporting other students who are English Language Learners
• Student must have a minimum 3.3 GPA
• The Fellowship recipient will work with the English as a Second Language (ESL) coordinator or with another faculty member designated by the Dean of Humanities & the Arts as a peer tutor to provide students with additional practice in spoken and/or written English.
• The number of hours of service will not exceed fifteen (15) and will be conducted during the Spring 2026 semester
• Applications require nomination by a faculty member and a letter of interest from the applicant detailing why they are interested in this Fellowship
• The fellowship will be awarded by the Dean of Humanities & the Arts

Nominations and applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

Applications should be submitted here: Maria Bournas Fellowship application

Nominations should be submitted to humanities@ccny.cuny.edu .

Review of applications will begin on November 14, 2025.

Five City College Humanities and Arts students will spend eight weeks on the beautiful campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Stanford will match each CCNY student with a Stanford faculty member who will mentor the student's research project. Students will participate in a weekly seminar on the graduate application process and about research in the Humanities. A free Graduate Record Exam (GRE) preparation course will be provided for those interested.

Complete information may be found here: Stanford/CCNY Summer Research Program in the Humanities

The application form may be found here: Stanford Summer Research Program application

The Milton and Carmela Ackman Endowed Scholarship offered by the Division of Humanities and the Arts, provides 2-3 scholarships of between $2,000 and $3,000 annually to students pursuing internships or other enrichment activities (e.g.: language study or research) relevant to their majors and who have shown exceptional promise within the humanities and arts disciplines. Undergraduate humanities students of any standing majoring in history, literature, art, or art history are eligible. While the scholarship is not need-based, the college reserves the right to consider financial need when selecting awardees.

To apply for The Milton and Carmela Ackman Endowed Scholarship, interested students should submit a letter of application of up to two pages detailing how they fulfill the scholarship's requirements. The letter should specify the activity the student seeks to pursue, any compensation it provides (if an internship, for example), and how the student will use these funds. The student should, additionally, have a faculty member submit a letter of support. The deadline for submission is

The application may be found here: Ackman Scholarship application form

**Please confirm with faculty if they are willing to write a letter of support before listing their name and email address here.

The Blanche Mason Starkweather Award

The Blanche Mason Starkweather Award provides a stipend of $4,000 to a BA or MA student engaged in a significant humanistic research project of his/her own design conducted under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Research projects should involve the study of: history; philosophy; languages; linguistics; literature; archeology; jurisprudence; the history, theory, and criticism of the arts; ethics; comparative religion; and those aspects of the social sciences that employ historical and philosophical approaches.

Apply here: Blanche Mason Starkweather application

  The Sydney and Helen Jacoff Scholarship

Thanks to the great generosity of CCNY alumnus Sydney Jacoff, the Division of Humanities and the Arts will award four $15,000 scholarships to graduating students pursuing master's or doctoral degrees in the Humanities and Arts.

Deadline: March 27, 2026

Application: Sydney and Helen Jacoff application

The Division of Humanities and the Arts is delighted to announce the establishment of The Floyd & Judith Whellan Endowed Scholarship, designed to assist dedicated undergraduate students enrolled in liberal arts programs. The scholarship provides financial assistance of up to $2000. To qualify for this scholarship, applicants must be undergraduate students enrolled in a liberal arts program at CCNY, demonstrate financial need, and maintain good academic standing with a minimum B average (3.0 GPA). Additionally, applicants must be enrolled in a full-time program of study and working either full or part-time. Successful candidates will be awarded the scholarship in their first year at CCNY and will continue to receive the award for their entire undergraduate career if they maintain their grades and financial need. Furthermore, applicants must be residents of one of the five boroughs of New York City and must remain living in one of the five boroughs of New York City while receiving the Whellan Scholarship.

To apply for The Floyd & Judith Whellan Endowed Scholarship, interested students should submit a letter of application of up to two pages detailing how they fulfill the scholarship's requirements, along with a letter of support from a faculty member. The faculty member should send their letter to humanities@ccny.cuny.edu.

The deadline for submission will be determined at a later date.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: TBA

The application may be found here: TBA

**Please confirm with faculty if they are willing to write a letter of support before listing their name and email address on the application.

We are currently accepting applications for the 2026 cycle for the Belle Zeller Scholarship, with awards designated for the fall of 2026.
 
The scholarship, established in 1979 in honor of Professor Belle Zeller, recognizes her pioneering contributions to the American Labor Movement and her tenure at Brooklyn College from 1930 until her retirement in 1973. Professor Zeller was also the founding president of the Professional Staff Congress. The program commemorates her legacy by providing financial support to outstanding CUNY students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, law, or professional school studies.
 
Eligible applicants must have completed at least 16 credits at CUNY, be enrolled full-time, maintain a GPA of 3.75 or higher, and demonstrate a strong commitment to voluntary community service.
 
Each scholar receives a $5,000 award, and typically, 8–12 scholarships are granted from over 250 applications. Scholars are recognized in three categories: undergraduate students, doctoral candidates affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Center, and students enrolled in CUNY Law School or other professional schools.
 
Applications are now open and can be accessed, along with additional details, at www.bellezeller.org. The deadline for submitting applications and letters of recommendation is February 27, 2026.

City College Fellowships help support talented students who are considering entering Ph.D. programs in preparation for careers as college teachers and/or researchers. The fellowship program aims to develop the next generation of faculty, starting with the undergraduate training of Fellows and culminating in their placement in Ph.D. programs. The heart of the program is an undergraduate experience with special opportunities for academic and personal enrichment. The Fellows become actively involved members of a close-knit community of aspiring scholars from numerous disciplines. They participate in ventures that draw them together as a group, teaching and learning from one another, as well as from the faculty. Upon admission to the program, each Fellow chooses a faculty mentor—a professor engaged in teaching, research, and other professional pursuits. Fellows will work with their mentors on guided research projects and, with the help of the mentors, experience the culture and activities of academic life. Each semester, Fellows gather to participate in a forum that highlights aspects of research and academic life, as well as in workshops that help them prepare successful applications to graduate school. At the annual spring research conference, Fellows are encouraged to present their research.

City College Fellowships provide the following benefits:

• A stipend of $2,000 per semester for four semesters with the possibility of extension by written appeal.
• Eligibility for additional funds for academic support, including: research expenses; travel to conferences, research libraries, and archives; tuition to study abroad programs, language-training courses, or other appropriate programs or internships; and summer stipends.
• Mentoring from a faculty member.
• Pre-graduate school advising including workshops on financial aid, applying to graduate programs, writing the personal statement, and preparing to take the GRE.
• Participation in the Fellowship Program’s annual spring research conference.

Apply here: City College Fellowship application

Established in 1988 to address the barriers that result in the problem of underrepresentation in the faculty ranks of higher education, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is a research training program in the Humanities, Sociology and Anthropology that supports access to graduate education to students interested in elevating accounts, interpretations, and narratives that expand present understandings, thus fostering a diverse professoriate.

Its name honors Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the noted African American educator, statesman, minister, and former president of Morehouse College. As of 2024, the program has produced more than 1,100 PhDs, almost 800 of whom are currently college professors.

The program provides financial support and a developmental structure from the summer preceding a student's junior year until admission to graduate school. In addition, Mellon Mays Fellows receive continuing support from the Mellon Foundation as they advance through graduate school and gain faculty appointments.

For more information, see: www.mmuf.org.

Apply here: Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship application

The Moynihan Undergraduate Fellowship is a transformative program that prepares promising CCNY students for impactful careers in government, policy research, and civic leadership. Fellows join a dynamic intellectual community that spans several career stages, from peer undergraduates to distinguished practitioners, while engaging in a unique curriculum that combines rigorous academic study with practical professional development.

Visit the Moynihan Fellowship page

Opportunities in Research and Creative Arts (ORCA)

ORCA—Opportunities in Research and Creative Arts—is a new CCNY program funded by a grant from CUNY.  It seeks to increase the retention and success of our first-year freshman and transfer students by involving them in the most exciting and cutting-edge work being done at City College, while supporting the research, scholarship, and creative activity of City College faculty.

The Phi Beta Kappa Sophomore Scholarship is awarded in the fall semester to the Humanities and Arts major with the highest level of academic achievement in their first year. There is no application for this award—the awardee is chosen by the Dean of Humanities & the Arts.

Students must complete 30 credits in their first year at City College to be eligible.

Please visit your respective Department's website or visit their office to learn more about departmental awards, some of which may include financial grants—here are some examples:

• Art Departmental Awards
• Black Studies Program Awards
• English Departmental Awards
• Advertising & Public Relations Program Scholarships
• Music Departmental Awards
• Classical & Modern Languages Departmental Awards