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Home Student Philanthropy and Grants Opportunities Student Impact Grant

Student Impact Grant

Student Impact Grants provide funding for a variety of University of Iowa undergraduate and graduate student activities outside the classroom, such as research, travel, and service projects. The goal is to enable students to pursue opportunities that might not otherwise be possible without financial assistance.

The President's Office has generously allocated $7,000 per semester to help enhance the student experience through these grants. The designated funds come from generous philanthropic gifts made by alumni and friends who have chosen to provide unrestricted support to the university.

Grants are awarded twice a year. Applications are typically accepted for the summer/fall semester beginning in January and for the winter/spring semester beginning in September.

Read the stories of previous recipients.

The grants are made possible by a partnership between the Office of the President and Student Advancement Network (SAN).

GRANT GUIDELINES

Award Application Process

Applications will be considered for funding based on the timeline below. An online form will be available for students and student groups to use when the application period opens. A maximum of $7,000 in total grants will be awarded. Grant amounts will range from $100-$1,000 awards.

Winter 2025 and Spring 2026 Semester Award Grant Cycle

  • September 2: Application opens
  • September 26: Application deadline (5 p.m.)
  • November 20: Grant recipients will be notified about funding requests for winter or spring semester.
  • December 3: Summer/Fall 2025 grant recipient presentations detailing how the funds were used and how the grant enhanced the recipient’s Iowa experience. This event is open to the public.
  • December 4: Signed recipient agreement form due
  • December 22: Award transfers/payments for summer projects
  • January 20: Award transfers/payments for fall projects
  • April 28: Winter 2025/Spring 2026 grant recipient presentations detailing how the funds were used and how the grant enhanced the recipient's Iowa experience. This event is open to the public.

Student Eligibility Requirements

  • Applicants must be enrolled full time as a University of Iowa undergraduate or graduate student for the fall 2025 semester and be in good standing as defined in the University of Iowa Code of Student Life.
  • Student groups or organizations must be recognized by the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership or by a University of Iowa department.
  • If your program is funded in full by other programs or funding methods your program is not eligible.
  • Program/experience must abide by all university guidelines. Grant funding does not permit activities that conflict with these guidelines.
  • Program/experience must abide by all university research guidelines. Grant funding does not permit activities that conflict with Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines. Funding does not provide IRB permission for the project.
  • Funding requests must be shown to improve or enhance the student experience and may not be used to reimburse research subjects. Recipients will share about this outcome during a biannual Student Impact Grant Presentation event.
  • Once a student receives a grant, they are not eligible for another University of Iowa Center for Advancement student grant within the next three years.
  • Grants are not renewable.
  • Recipients must present during the Winter/Spring grant recipient presentation detailing how the funds were used and how your Iowa experience was enhanced because of this award. Presentations will be held on April 28, 2026.
Apply Now

Review Process

Members of the University of Iowa Student Advancement Network will review all submissions and make a recommendation. A University of Iowa Center for Advancement employee will oversee the scoring and review process. After review, recommendations will be sent to the Office of the President, which will make the final decision on all grant awards.

Awardees will then be notified of their selection to receive a grant, and payment will be provided by the Office of the President through a transfer to the student's U-Bill or student organization's account. The University of Iowa Office of Student Financial Aid will be consulted to ensure that funding does not affect other financial aid that a student may receive.

If you have questions, please contact Hannah McClintock at hannah.mcclintock@foriowa.org.

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Old Gold: How a UI Cultural Landmark Was Born

Looking back at the African-American Cultural Center?s roots as it turns 50. PHOTOS: Afro-American Cultural Center, Organizations and Clubs Vertical File (RG 01.0015.004), University Archives, the University of Iowa Libraries Students gather in front of the Center, 303 Melrose Ave., in this undated photo likely taken between 1976 and 1980. Editor's note: In Old Gold, University archivist David McCartney looks back at the UI's history and tradition through materials housed in University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries. For black students who attend a predominantly white university, the isolation of feeling alone in a crowd can be overwhelming. While black fraternities and sororities helped to address this concern as early as the 1920s, demands for a UI community center accommodating all black students rose by the 1960s. Such a center at last became reality in 1968. AACC logo designed by Essex Hubbard (79BGS) In the spring of that tumultuous year, the university?s Committee on Human Rights recommended establishment of an Afro-American Cultural Center. During Homecoming weekend, Oct. 11-12, 1968, the AAC opened its doors, a house at the corner of North Capitol and Market streets that had been purchased by the university. In 1976, the AACC moved to its present-day location at 303 Melrose Ave. The climate at Iowa for black students was not always hospitable and, indeed, was often challenging. Minutes from the May 8, 1967, meeting of the Committee on Human Rights revealed reports of discontent: ?[Black] students and staff members still feel discriminated against in their attempts to find housing, but they are not inclined to go through all of the trouble of working through the complicated human relations procedures to bring charges. They choose the line of least resistance. ... Students still complain that some professors on the campus are discriminating. Again, they foresee only difficulty for themselves in pressing charges.? (Records of the Committee on Human Rights, RG 05.0003.040, Box 1, folder ?Minutes and Agendas, 1963-1971?) A 1978 poster advertising a children?s workshop. One year later, facing growing demands to improve the campus climate, the committee approved creation of the center, intended to serve as a study, social, and activity center for black students. Philip G. Hubbard, dean of academic affairs who later became the first African American vice president at a Big Ten university, endorsed the initiative. Since its inception, the AACC has hosted events and programs not otherwise offered specifically to black students or to the larger campus community. In the University Archives? AACC folder in its Organizations and Clubs Vertical File (RG 01.0015.004), a 1978 flyer advertising a children?s Saturday workshop provides a glimpse into the center?s long history of service and activity. A half-century is a remarkable milestone, and the center?one of the first of its kind among U.S. colleges and universities?paved the way for other centers to open in the years to follow at the UI: the Latino-Native American Cultural Center, the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center, and the LGBTQ Resource Center. Each center brings its own brand of service to the community; it all started during that Homecoming weekend 50 years ago. Learn more about the?African-American Cultural Center?and how you can?support its programming?with a donation. ? AACC logo designed by Essex Hubbard (79BGS) ? A 1978 poster advertising a children?s workshop.

UIVA Alumni Organization

The UIVA Alumni Organization serves and connects alumni and students who share the common bond of military service.

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NOTICE: The University of Iowa Center for Advancement is an operational name for the State University of Iowa Foundation, an independent, Iowa nonprofit corporation organized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, publicly supported charitable entity that works to advance the University of Iowa. Please review its full disclosure statement.

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