Skip to content

Family and Consumer Studies Scholarships

Applications open November 1, 2023
Submissions will be due on February 1, 2024

Start your application today!


Items to Prepare for the 2024 - 2025 Scholarship Application

  1.  One page (about 500 words) essay telling the scholarship committee about your background, your educational and career plans, and how receiving a scholarship would benefit you. You should be thoughtful and clear in your personal statement to help the committee  understand what has brought you to this point in your life, and where you intend to go. This statement will also help the committee ascertain how well you write. So be sure to proof read it yourself and have others proof read it as well.
  2.  Two people ready to upload letters of recommendation. It is required that at least one be from an Instructor or Professor. Another   Instructor or Professor would be great for the second letter but if not,  a professional source is best such as your supervisor at work or where   you volunteer. Select people who know you well enough to offer thoughtful and meaningful comments about you and your abilities. Ask   them to write it and have it ready to upload to the new scholarship system. You will enter their e-mail address and they will recieve   notification and instructions for how to upload the letter.
  3.  Your University of Utah Transcripts. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted and can be found by logging into Campus Information System and   in the box labeled "grades" clicking on "view your unofficial transcript".
  4.  Transcripts from all other Colleges or Universities you have attended. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted.
  5.  FYI -Most (but not all) of our scholarships require at least a 3.0 GPA

Important! All undergraduate students interested in applying for scholarships MUST fill out the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA). This is how we determine "financial need" for scholarships that require it.

fill out your fafsa

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Late applications and/or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Some of our scholarships require the student be in "financial need".

The University of Utah has decided to use a student's financial aid application (FAFSA) to determine if the student is in fact in "financial need". If you would like to be considered for those scholarships be sure you have competed the FAFSA for the 2018-2019 school year.

More information about FAFSA can be found on our financial aid website: http://financialaid.utah.edu/

Below is information about the various scholarships the FCS Department has to award. When the scholarship committee reviews your application we will be looking for information that helps us fit you to the right scholarship. For example the criteria for the recipeint of the Caputo Scholarship indicates an interest in "teaching or work in the area of school and family relations". So if you feel like a good fit for this scholarship be sure to talk about your interest in teaching or directing an afterschool program etc. in your 500 word essay.  You will see many are pretty open and just need things like a high enough GPA or demonstrated financial need (your FAFSA will determine this).

 

Family and Consumer Studies Department Scholarships currently offered:

Scholarship Name: Eda Parkinson Anderson Endowed Scholarship

Available to: Undergraduate and graduate students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: Financial need

Amount of Award: Typically under $1,000

Number of Awards: Typically one

Donor: A.J. Anderson contributed the funds for the scholarship in honor of his wife Eda Parkinson Anderson (1907-1991) reflecting her many years as a teacher of home economics.

Scholarship Name: The Colleen C. Caputo Endowed Scholarship

Available to: Undergraduate and graduate students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: Merit and an interest in pursuing a career as a teacher or work in the area of school and family relations. Awarded at the discretion of the selection committee

Amount of Award: Typically $4,000

Number of Awards: Varies

Donor: Dr. Colleen Cluff Caputo is a former Chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Studies. She was honored as a Distinguished Alumna in 2016.

click here to learn more about dr. colleen cluff caputo

Scholarship Name: Barbara G. Christensen Memorial Scholarship

Available to: Undergraduate and graduate students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: Financial need

Amount of Award: Typically between $1,000 and $3,000

Number of Awards: Varies

Donor: Una Christensen in memory of her sister Barbara Christensen (1932-1995) Barbara Christensen graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah in 1954, a Master's degree from Oregon State and a PhD from Utah State University. In 1968 she began a 24 year teaching career at San Jose State University teaching Clothing and Textiles. She was a recognized authority on bark cloth following her research on textile technology in Hawaii.

Scholarship Name: Olpin-Ashton Trust and Fellowship Endowment

Available to: Graduate students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: Merit as well as acceptance into the graduate program

Amount of Award: Typically up to $2000

Number of Awards: Typically one

Donor: The fund was established in 1967 by Mary G. Lowe, Head of the Home Economics Department of the university (now Family and Consumer Studies) to encourage excellence in pursuing graduate study in "areas related to home and family". The fund was created as a permanent tribute to the support of university president, A. Ray Olpin and Raymond J. Ashton to develop the Home Living Center on the campus of the university.

Scholarship Name: Elva Acklam Stark and Arvil L. Stark PhD Scholarship

Available to: Junior or senior students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria:

  1. Merit
  2. 3.0 GPA or greater
  3. Financial need

Amount of Award: Typically $3,000 - $5,000

Number of Awards: Typically 1 or 2 at the discretion of the department

Donor: Elva Stark was a University of Utah reference librarian from 1958 until her retirement in 1974. In 1975 she was awarded Utah's Mother of the Year. She believed that "we must all do what we can, individually and collectively to make our communities, state and world a cleaner, safer, healthier, more moral, beautiful and law abiding place for all children now and in the future".

Scholarship Name: Trudi Thomas Endowed Scholarship


Available to: Junior or senior student in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria:

  1. Financial need
  2. Preference for a graduate of a Davis County High School
  3. A resident of Utah

Amount of Award: Typically $2000

Number of Awards: Typically one

Donor: The fund was established by Mike and Valerie Thomas in memory of their daughter, Trudi Thomas (1976-2007) who was killed while jogging. She was a student of Early Childhood and Middle East Studies. Funds were donated by her parents and raised through a series of public events in the community.

Scholarship Name: Virginia F. Cutler Family Fellowship Award

Available to: Students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: At the discretion of the selection committee

Amount of Award: Typically $2000

Number of Awards: Typically one

Donor: The fund was established by Dr. Colleen Caputo from contributions by and as a tribute to Dr. Virginia Cutler, past director of the Home Economics Department at the University of Utah.

click here to learn more about virginia cutler

Scholarship Name: Sara Baum Welke Scholarship

Available to: Sophomore, junior or senior students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria:

  1. Preference for non-Utah residents from Idaho (or elsewhere)
  2. 3.3 GPA
  3. Not convicted of using illegal drugs
  4. U.S. citizen majoring in Family and Consumer Studies

Amount of Award: Typically $4,000

Number of Awards: Typically two, sometimes more

Donor: The Sara Baum Welke Scholarship was endowed as part of a bequest by Ida Mae Hanks who left a substantial estate to several areas of the University of Utah.

Scholarship Name: Esther Peterson Scholarship

Available to: Students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: At the discretion of the selection committee

Amount of Award: Varies

Number of Awards: Typically one

Donor:

click here to learn more about esther peterson

Scholarship Name: Hulda Van Steeter Garrett Memorial Family Strength Scholarship

Available to: Non-traditional students in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: Preference for non-traditional students intending to pursue a career to strengthen families and financial need

Amount of Award: Varies

Number of Awards: Typically one

Donor: Established by Barbara Vance in memory of Hulda Van Steeter Garrett (1904-1995), a long-time instructor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies.

Scholarship Name: Sterling W. Sill Scholarship

Available to: A Junior in Family and Consumer Studies

Selection Criteria: The highest ranked junior as determined by the department

Amount of Award: $2,000

Number of Awards: Typically one

Donor: Established in 1955 by Sterling W. Sill (1903-1994). Sill was a graduate of the University of Utah.

click here to learn more about sterling w. sill


More Financial Resources

Last Updated: 2/16/24