Scholarships and Funding

The Department of Sociology actively encourages students to pursue educational assistance.

STAR - UH Foundation Scholarships

Apply to all with one application. These include particular areas of study or background, for example:

  • JTB Hawaii, Inc. Scholarship Endowment provides scholarships to students at UHM who are pursuing studies related to international relations, or academic programs with an international emphasis, with preference given to students studying or pursuing a degree related to Japanese or Okinawan studies. Funds shall be used for costs associated with attendance (e.g. tuition, books, fees, etc.).
  • King David Kalakaua Scholarships are partial tuition scholarships for full-time undergraduate students at UHM. Applicants must be studying in a major or well-designed program related to the Pacific and Asian regions.

Specialized Funded Programs Affiliated with UH

  • The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program provides funding for undergraduate students to engage in research, creative projects, and presentation travel.
  • Mānoa Political Internships provides five political internships at the top levels of government. Through meaningful hands-on work experiences, combined with an enriching academic program, students gain an up-close view of state and federal government and gain skills to advance their careers in a variety of fields.
  • Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships are federally funded academic scholarships designed to provide support and funding to students studying the languages and cultures of a specific Asian country/region. Current FLAS programs at UHM cover East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) and Southeast Asian (Cambodian (Khmer), Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese) languages. Fellowships are awarded one academic year (two semesters) ($5,000 stipend plus tuition support of no more than $10,000 for undergraduate students) and/or one summer at a time (Summer Fellowship provides a $2,500 stipend plus tuition cost). Apply through STAR OR the UHM Center sites: SPAS OR CSEAS.
  • Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is a grant program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for an undergraduate student (U.S. citizen) to study overseas.
  • United States-Japan Bridging Foundation provides scholarships to help students study abroad in Japan for one semester or an academic year. Undergraduate students majoring in any field of study are eligible to apply for these scholarships. Prior Japanese language study is not required.
  • Freeman Awards for Study in Asia (Freeman-ASIA) is designed to increase the number of American undergraduates who study in East and Southeast Asia. Students must demonstrate financial need in order to participate in the Freeman-Asia program. Priority will be given to students with no previous experience in Asia. As a condition of the award, upon their return to the US, students must agree to promote study in Asia by sharing their experiences with peers on their home campuses and in their communities.
  • Boren Fellowship and Scholarship is an initiative of the National Security Education Program that offers undergraduate scholarships for study abroad. The undergraduate student must be a U.S. citizen at the time of application and enrolled as a degree-seeking student in an accredited US college or university. Recipients are required to fulfill a service requirement. Contact the UH campus representative for Boren Awards, Dr. Chizuko Allen (chizuko@hawaii.edu).
  • The Udall Foundation awards scholarships to college sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or to the environment. Contact the UH Mānoa Campus representative Dr. Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez (vvg@hawaii.edu).
  • Hawaiʻi Community Foundation Scholarships - Deadline: Winter/early Spring
  • Wakaba Kai Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship provides funding support to junior or senior-level students enrolled at UHM who are pursuing a degree with a focus in Japanese Studies or who are involved in a service that perpetuates Japanese history and/or culture. The prospective recipient should have graduated from a State of Hawaiʻi high school and be a resident of the State of Hawaiʻi.
  • Ehime Prefectural Summer Internship (EPIC) was initiated to foster friendship between Ehime and Hawaiʻi. The EPIC Summer Internship sends two UHM students to Japan for approximately 60 days during May-August. This includes round-trip airfare, a living stipend, and housing. Applications are due in early February and made available on our website.
  • Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) Scholarship. The Center for Japanese Studies offers a scholarship in the amount of the JASC participation fee to the Japan-America Student Conference for a UHM full-time undergraduate or graduate student. The Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) is a student-led exchange program, initiated in 1934 by university students concerned by the breakdown of bilateral relations prior to the Second World War. Today, an equal number of students from the U.S. and Japan are competitively selected each year to spend one summer month together, studying and analyzing Japan-U.S. relations while visiting four diverse regions in the host country. JASC alternates its host country every year, emphasizing the personal connections between two distinct cultures gathered together in one place. The application period typically opens in early fall and is due in late December.

Native Hawaiian Funding

Paper Awards

  • The Hormann Prize for Best Sociology Paper on Hawaii was established in 1973 in honor of Emeritus Professor Bernhard Hormann of the Department of Sociology by his friends and admirers. Dr. Bernard Hormann was an important sociologist during his career at the Department of Sociology, who wrote about ethnic relations, ethnic cultures, and religion in Hawaii. He had a life-long interest in China, where he was born of missionary parents. Apply through professors in the Department of Sociology.
  • Alpha Kappa Delta sponsors an undergraduate student paper competition. Winners are eligible to win cash prizes and travel money to attend the American Sociological Association annual conference. First place winners are eligible to have their papers published in Sociological Inquiry should they choose to submit them. Prizes range from $100 to $1500 in award and travel expenses.
  • The American Society of Criminology Division of Women and Crime awards undergraduate students between $100 to $250 for submissions in a paper or poster format.
  • The Sociology of Law Section of the American Sociological Association solicits nominations for the 2023 Distinguished Undergraduate Student Paper Award recognizing an outstanding paper written in 2021, 2022, or 2023 in the sociology of law. The author must have been an undergraduate student when the paper was written.