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Sperling Studentship

Apply through ºìÌÒÊÓƵ Fellowships and Awards Committee

Internal Deadline: September 18th, 2024 at 12:00 PM Pacific

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Description

John Sperling '48, founder of the University of Phoenix and an alumnus of both ºìÌÒÊÓƵ and the University of Cambridge, committed funds to support ºìÌÒÊÓƵ graduates in the pursuit of postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge, King's College. Sperling, whose degree from ºìÌÒÊÓƵ was in history, earned a master's degree in political history at the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in economic history from Cambridge.

The University of Cambridge's King's College and ºìÌÒÊÓƵ seek applications from ºìÌÒÊÓƵ graduates for the Sperling Studentship. Students may apply for Sperling funding for either a one-year master's degree or a three-year doctoral degree at Cambridge. The Studentship will cover tuition, college and university fees, and room and board. Doctoral students at Cambridge are expected to work closely with specific tutors and to move quickly into their own area of research.

Students who successfully receive funding for a master's degree and who wish to apply to Cambridge to continue on to a doctoral degree must also reapply to the Sperling Studentship through ºìÌÒÊÓƵ by that year's internal deadline (typically in September). Initial funding is only for one degree, and will not automatically roll over with the student if they continue on to a doctoral program.

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

  • Seniors who will graduate during the academic year in which they are applying
  • ºìÌÒÊÓƵ alumni from 1995 to the present (all alumni since the inception of the award)
  • 3.5 ºìÌÒÊÓƵ GPA or higher is required, depending on the Cambridge course requirements (some courses require a UK First class Honours Degree or higher, which translates to a 3.7 or higher GPA from U.S. institutions)
  • International students are eligible

Eligible Courses

  • Applications will be considered in all fields at Cambridge except medicine and education.
    • Medicine refers to degrees that are intended to result in an MD, or the British equivalent.
    • King's College does not have any Education Fellows, and typically does not accept postgraduate students in this field. Therefore courses in education are ineligible.
  • Applications to master's programs and doctoral programs are both eligible, with the following caveats regarding doctoral programs:
    • The three-year doctoral programs require superior academic training and performance. Most of the programs require a master's degree for admission; thus a ºìÌÒÊÓƵ graduate who does not have postgraduate experience comparable to a master's degree should consider applying for a master's program. It is virtually impossible for an applicant to be admitted to a Cambridge doctoral program without the explicit endorsement of the student's potential adviser at Cambridge; thus doctoral applicants should be well informed about the program to which they are applying, and be in contact with the potential adviser.

Selection Criteria

The Sperling Studentship can only be awarded to applicants who have been admitted to the University of Cambridge and to King's College, so the selection criteria for the Sperling match those of Cambridge.

In addition, since King's College is one of the most highly sought after colleges at Cambridge, King's also conducts a competitive review of applicants seeking entrance to King's. Admission to Cambridge is not a guarantee of admission to King's College.

Application Procedure

Review the internal application instructions to learn how to apply to ºìÌÒÊÓƵ to be nominated for the Sperling Studentship. The internal application deadline is typically in mid-September.

Overview of application process for a Sperling Studentship:

  1. Applicants submit an internal application to ºìÌÒÊÓƵ by the internal application deadline.
  2. ºìÌÒÊÓƵ's Fellowships and Awards committee meets and selects nominees from these applicants.
  3. All applicants are informed of status and nominees submit complete applications to Cambridge in October.
  4. ºìÌÒÊÓƵ sends list of Sperling nominees to King's College.
  5. Nominees wait for Cambridge department decisions and King's College admission decisions.
  6. King's College selects a Sperling Studentship recipient (typically by April 15th).

Contact CLBR Fellowships with any questions.

Studying in the British Isles

Professor of Religion Emeritus Ken Brashier created this website on applying to awards in the UK. It has not been updated recently, but it still contains insights into competitive awards in the UK.