Career Development Opportunity Fund

What is the Career Development Opportunity Fund?

How do I know if I am eligible for the fund?

How do I apply?

How do I find fundable opportunities?

When will I know if I am selected to receive funding?

Questions

What is the Career Development Opportunity Fund?

The Career Development Opportunity Fund is a yearly scholarship program that provides funding for students pursuing unpaid internships, fellowships, volunteer, and/or research opportunities.

The Career Development Opportunity Fund is a scholarship fund processed through your financial aid package. You may apply for as much funding as you need up to $5,000 for the experience you are participating in. Awards will be based on the capacity of the funds, room in your Financial Aid Package, and overall number of requests.

For example, a student completing an unpaid experiential learning opportunity could request an hourly wage of $15.50+ per hour for the hours they will complete. A student who anticipates working 300 hours over the course of the academic year could request $4,650 plus any additional incurred expenses like travel or clothing for the experience. Please contact Career Success at ucscel@ucsc.edu with any questions.

How do I know if I’m eligible for the Fund?

Any currently enrolled undergraduate students, regardless of work authorization, may qualify for the opportunity fund. Priority consideration will be provided to students with the highest demonstrated financial need as assessed by Financial Aid & Scholarships

Eligibility for funding depends on whether there is room in your Financial Aid package to receive funding. Learn more about Financial Need here. Please contact ucscel@ucsc.edu if you have any questions about the application process.

How do I apply?

Fill out our qualtrics form: Student Application for Fall 2023/Winter 2024/Spring 2024

All applications are due by October 16, 2023 at 5pm. We encourage you to wait to submit your response until your budget and short-answer responses are ready for submission. See application content below for short-answer and budget prompts. Review the rubric to see how our committee selects award recipients.

Application Content:

Short-answer questions (100-300 word responses each):

1. How will the experiential learning opportunity support your career path, growth, or professional development? You can consider immediate skill building, long-term goals, or both when responding.
2. There are 8 NACE Career Readiness Competencies, which you can read about here. Which two competencies do you hope to develop through this opportunity? We encourage you to be detailed in your response.

Proposed budget, which may include any of the following:

• For unpaid roles: hours worked and pay requested (e.g. 150 hours, $15.50/hour = $2,325)
• Cost of travel and/or commuting (e.g. Flight: $600 Lyft to/from airport: $100)
• Rent, utilities, food budget (on a monthly basis) for the duration of the unpaid experiential learning opportunity
• Other expenses (e.g. professional clothing)

You may be asked to provide receipts and/or confirmation of expenses if you are selected for the scholarship.

How do I find opportunities?

We recommend finding unpaid opportunities on Handshake, our job and internship platform. View our pdf or video below for a brief guide about how to secure an opportunity.

When will I know if I am selected to receive funding?

The committee will review applications throughout October and November and you will be notified during the month of November. Awards will be distributed during the month of December.

Questions?

Visit our drop-in sessions (links and information below) or email us at ucscel@ucsc.edu with any questions.