The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP) offers competitive scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are committed to careers in biomedical, behavioral, and social science health-related research. The program provides up to $20,000 per academic year in tuition, educational expenses, and reasonable living expenses to scholarship recipients. Scholarships are awarded for one year and can be renewed for up to four years.

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In return, scholars must commit to two NIH service obligations for every year of scholarship support. Scholars will spend ten weeks during the summer following each year of academic support, working in an NIH research laboratory. After graduation, scholars will spend one year for every year of support as a full-time employee conducting research at NIH. Scholars are paid for work during summers and after graduation. Each scholar will work directly with an NIH Principal Investigator or an NIH postdoctoral fellow, who will serve as mentors.

Eligible applicants must:

• Be U.S. citizens or permanent residents
• Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a full-time undergraduate student at an accredited four-year college or university
• Earn a grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 or greater on a 4.0-point scale, or rank within the top five percent of class
• Demonstrate exceptional financial need (EFN) certified by your undergraduate institution’s financial aid office (EFN certification must be uploaded to the UGSP application portal by the financial aid officer).