Funding & Scholarships

Geoscience Department Funding Sources

In addition to the university's financial aid program, the Department of Geosciences has several named scholarships that are awarded on an annual basis to undergraduate students.  Find out more by following these links:

John M. Branch Memorial Scholarship

for upper-level Geo majors with strong
academic record

Clyde T. Hardy Memorial Field Camp Scholarship

assists with expenses for field camp

Peter T. Kolesar Scholarship

for upper-level Geo major in good standing

Robert Q. Oaks, Jr. Scholarship

for undergrad and grad students
near completion of their degrees

David Rider Memorial Scholarship

for upper-level Geo major

Beryl O. & Tura H. Springer Memorial Scholarship

for grad and undergrad Geo students with excellent academic achievement

Jamison Geoscience Education Scholarship


to support a Geo major in teaching, research, or outreach

Michael Varge Lowe Scholarship for Academic Excellence


for Geo major Senior with high academic standing

An awardee named by the department each year.

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Undergraduate Scholarship Applications accepted in the Spring Semester, staring in February, with an April 1 deadline.

Please note, FASFA must be filled out before applying for scholarships.

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Financial Aid at Utah State University

Utah State University has many avenues for undergraduate students to receive financial aid, including grants, student loans, parent loans, and work-study funds. Check out USU's Financial Aid Office for complete details.

Undergraduate Research Funding

Students conducting undergraduate research with faculty should apply for funding opportunities internal to USU. For a first undergraduate research experience, please apply for a College of Science Minigrant. For continuing research experiences, for example culminating in a Senior Thesis, USU's Research Office awards Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunity (URCO) grants. Both of these involve matching funds from the Department of Geosciences.

Evan Millsap Memorial URCO Awards

USU’s Office of Research and the Geosciences Department have created a named URCO grant award to honor the memory of former student Evan Millsap. Evan Millsap Memorial URCO grants are awarded to proposals from Geosciences that meet the high standard that Evan set in his own research. No separate application is necessary.

Evan Dallas Millsap graduated from Utah State University with a BS in Geology, magna cum laude, in 2018. His stellar performance in research and academics led him to a doctoral program at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks discovering and studying late Cretaceous hadrosaurs. An avid mountaineer, Evan tragically died in a rock-climbing accident during the summer of 2019 while serving as a field camp teaching assistant in Denali National Park.

We remember Evan’s bright spirit and intellect.

Evan Millsap

Dominion Energy Scholarship (College of Science)

Dominion Energy scholarships provide assistance to an outstanding science student majoring in computer science, geology, or other physical sciences. Preference is given to students in need of financial aid. The College of Science accepts applications early in the spring semester and has other scholarship opportunities to offer.

Intermountain Power Association, "IPA for Today and Tomorrow" Scholarship

IPA scholarships are for junior or senior geology or engineering majors. Students need to indicate an interest in the study of clean coal technologies.

IPA scholarships are administered by USU Student Services. Please apply on ScholarshipUniverse. Applications are accepted from January 1 to March 31 each year.