Scholarships and Financial Aid

General Scholarships

You may apply for a Merit Scholarship or a Lakeside Lab Scholarship, or both.

The Merit Scholarship covers a portion of your cost to attend Lakeside Lab. These scholarships are provided by the Friends of Lakeside Lab and funded by contributions from the Friends, the Okoboji Protective Association, and individual donors.

Merit Scholarships are awarded to students who have excellent academic records and a strong interest in science, as demonstrated by transcripts, application essays, and letters of recommendation. To qualify, you must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and be registered for at least one four-credit course.

If you apply for a Merit Scholarship, your transcript and other application materials will be reviewed by the Friends scholarship committee.

The Lakeside Lab Scholarship covers a portion of your cost to attend Lakeside Lab. It is awarded to students who demonstrate academic merit and/or an aptitude for field work, and financial need.

Applying for the above scholarships is a two-step process:

First, complete the on-line application. A link to the application will be available on this page by late January.

Be sure to attach the following documents as appropriate:

All applicants: a brief (1-2 page) essay describing your motivation and qualifications for taking a course at Lakeside Lab. If applying for a Lakeside Lab Scholarship, please describe your financial need.
Graduate students: your curriculum vita.
If applying for the Lakeside Lab Scholarship: the page of your 2013-2014 FAFSA showing your Expected Family Contribution. (If you will graduate this spring and have not completed a FAFSA for the 2013-2014 academic year, please attach the appropriate page from your current FAFSA.)

Second, arrange for two letters of recommendation and your undergraduate transcripts to be sent to the Executive Director at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, 1838 Hwy 86, Milford, IA 51351. References may submit letters by e-mail to peter-vanderlinden@uiowa.edu.

The deadline for Merit and Lakeside Lab scholarship applications is 12:00 noon on April 15. Awards will be announced by early May.

Special Scholarships

In addition to the Merit Scholarship, the Friends of Lakeside Lab administer six special scholarships: the Agrestal Environmental Writing Scholarship, offered in partnership with the Agrestal Fund of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation; the John Clayton Kingston Diatom Fellowship, to support the teaching assistant in the Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms course; the Charles W. Reimer Scholarship to support a student in Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms; the Jane Goodall Scholarship; the G. Dennis Cooke Aquatic Ecology Scholarship, to support research in aquatic ecology; and the Parker/Gentry Scholarship, to support students taking Lakeside's Conservation Biology course. Please see the individual pages for these scholarships for application information.

If you qualify for scholarships, student aid or other kinds of support at your home institution, you should be able to apply this to Lakeside courses. Please check with your financial aid office.