College Scholarships and Awards

Thanks to the generous support of many alumni and friends, the college is pleased to offer numerous scholarships and awards for CMNS undergraduate students. All CMNS college scholarships will take into consideration BOTH academic merit and financial need. Priority will be given to students who have not previously completed a bachelor’s degree.

Students seeking support must complete an electronic application to help us review their qualifications/match for available scholarships and awards. Students will be considered for all college scholarships for which they are eligible.

Eligibility Requirements

You are eligible for an award if:

• Your primary major is in CMNS. Please note that Computer Engineering is NOT a CMNS primary major.
• You have a current Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on file with the University of Maryland Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA). This allows us to determine financial need. Students who do not have a FAFSA on file for the coming academic year will not be considered for CMNS scholarships.
• You are currently enrolled at UMD for the Spring 2026 semester and will be returning for the next academic year. CMNS scholarships are not awarded to new fall freshmen and transfer students.
• Students who received a CMNS scholarship in 2025-26 and are continuing their studies in 2026-27 MUST REAPPLY to be considered for a scholarship in the coming academic year. 

Timeline

CMNS Scholarships are awarded on an annual cycle.  The application period for CMNS Scholarships is NOW OPEN. Each year the Scholarship Application opens in from mid-March and continues through mid-April   Applications are reviewed during the summer and students are notified by mid-August.

Application Information

• Our scholarship application is now part of the Scholarship Universe (SU) platform being used by the University and the Office of Student Financial Aid. The SU platform will allow you to apply for CMNS Undergraduate Scholarships and to search/apply for other on-campus and off-campus scholarships you may be eligible for now or in the future.
• The SU platform will communicate with your @terpmail.umd.edu or @umd.edu email account, so be sure to look for those communications. When you have successfully submitted your application, be sure to see that you have received a confirmation email (and check your spam folder as well). All scholarship award notifications will be made through the SU platform to these same email accounts.
• In addition to brief demographic and major/career interest questions, students should be prepared to cut and paste a resume into their application.
• Because the SU platform draws a lot of demographic and financial eligibility information from UMD records, the application completion time should be much shorter. We estimate that it will take 30 minutes or less to complete the application.
• You may start/stop your application without losing information.  However, you must complete/submit the application for it to be reviewed and considered. Submitted applications will receive an email confirmation.

To Complete an Application

The CMNS scholarship application IS NOW OPEN, with applications accepted beginning March 23, 2026.    The application period will closed on Friday, April 17, 2026 at 5 PM.    This is an automatic application system and there are no exceptions to submitting by this deadline.

To complete an application, please visit the University Scholarship Universe platform at the link below:

CMNS 2026-27 College Scholarship Application

Questions

Students with additional questions about CMNS scholarships should email Associate Dean Robert Infantino at infantino@umd.edu.

Department Scholarships and Awards

In addition to the scholarships and awards that are administered at the college level, many departments in CMNS have additional scholarship and award opportunities available for students. We encourage you to visit your program's website to learn more about the eligibility requirements and timeline, and to apply.