Student Eligibility & Program Commitments
Student Eligibility
The Haas Scholars Program is open to undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, who meet the following criteria:
- are expecting to graduate in Fall 2024 or Spring/Summer 2025
- are eligible to receive need-based financial aid and are undocumented, permanent residents, or US citizens*
- have maintained a Berkeley GPA of 3.450 or above**
- have a sincere commitment and ability to be part of an interdisciplinary senior capstone experience and build a mutually supportive cohort
*Regarding need-based financial aid–-this aid does not need to be from the US government.
For US Citizens, permanent residents, and AB540 students: If you are eligible for need-based aid for the 24-25 academic year according to the assessment done by the UC Berkeley Financial Aid Office, with an Estimated Family Contribution of less than $26,000, you are eligible. You can find your EFC on the “$ My Finances” -> View Awards screen on your profile at calcentral.berkeley.edu. If in doubt, ask the Program Manager to check your financial aid screen, or send a pdf of the screen showing your EFC.
International students (F-1, J-1, and other international students not eligible for US financial aid) are not eligible for the program.
**Regarding your GPA–we round up from 3.450 –firm cutoff — and we look at your UCB GPA as of the application deadline. Students with pending “I” grades on their record are strongly encouraged to finish the incomplete work by the application deadline, as failure to do will work against you in the selection process.
Student Commitments
Students who are selected as Haas Scholars are expected to make the senior capstone experience a main academic priority during the fellowship year. The Scholar’s Contract below details the commitments that Haas Scholars must make in order to remain eligible for the program. Please review it carefully before you apply!
Here are the major items you should be aware of:
Events (dates are for current 2023-24 cohort):
- New Scholars Reception, April 13, 2023
- Haas Scholars Orientation Retreat, May 22–26, 2023. You will be booked for all day every day and into the evening (except for a few hours off each afternoon), and you are encouraged to sleep each night at the retreat hotel near campus.
- Full-time research all summer, May 30–August 16, 2023 (no jobs or summer courses allowed)
- Haas Scholars Fall Seminar, every Friday, August 25–December 1, 3-5 pm; 1 unit credit (but you may take it for no credit as well)
- Recommended: Haas Scholars working group, every Friday after the seminar, 5-6:30 pm or at another time agreed upon by participating scholars.
- Haas Scholars winter conference, January 11–12, 2024
- Haas Scholars spring writing group, every Friday 3-5 pm in spring 2024; 1 unit credit (mandatory, except for those in structured honors thesis seminars and December grads)
And tasks:
- For both semesters in which you are progressing on your project and are receiving the academic year stipend, you must sign up for 3+ units supervised by your mentor to carry out your project (this is usually an honors thesis, other times an independent study, and sometimes one semester of each)
- You will need to make a plan approved by your mentor, report on your progress, and turn in receipts in early fall and late fall 2023 and at the end of the spring 2024.
- You will turn in all remaining receipts (or return unspent funds), plus your final product (usually your thesis), by May 10, 2024, the last day of finals in Spring 2024.
For more details, please see the contract available here.
Additional commitments for selected and waitlisted students with human subjects
- If your project is considered to have greater than minimal risk, you must complete a draft of your human subjects protocol for the Program Director to review by 9 AM on March 16, 2022.
- Greater than minimal risk protocols must be approved by your faculty mentor and be submitted to CPHS by midnight on March 20, 2022.
- If your project is of minimal risk, you must submit a complete draft of your protocol for the Program Director to review by 9 AM on March 17, 2022.
- Minimal risk protocols must be approved by your faculty mentor and be submitted to CPHS by midnight on March 22, 2022.