Scholarships

The College of Communication, Media, Design and Information offers a number of automatic-consideration, merit scholarships for first-year students, along with many scholarships for continuing students that require an application. Some of the CMDI scholarship opportunities and requirements are outlined below. 

Students entering in the fall semester, who are offered a CU Boulder Esteemed Scholars scholarship will also receive an add-on award from CMDI of $1,000 per year for four years.

(Note: First-time students will be automatically considered for CMDI first-year scholarships based on the strength of their admissions application. Scholarship eligibility is based on a holistic review of academics, personal background, activities and achievements. You can find more information regarding the campus' automatic consideration scholarship review process here.)

Additionally, all prospective first-year students are encouraged to fill out the Financial Aid Scholarship application to be eligible for campus-wide scholarship opportunities.

Dean’s Scholar is a designation given to selected first-year students starting in the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information in the fall semester. Students are selected to participate in this program who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement in high school. All students who apply to CMDI are considered for the designation and students selected as Dean’s Scholars are notified at the time of admission to participate in the program.

The Program: Dean’s Scholars are provided with unique opportunities to develop their professional and leadership skills through a workshop opportunity each semester. Dean’s Scholars serve as an advisory group to the Dean providing input on issues such as student programs, advising and leadership opportunities within the college. Additionally, Dean’s Scholars are recognized each semester at a special event, which provides an opportunity to interact with faculty and invited alumni.

Continuing students can apply for numerous CMDI and CU-Boulder scholarships —both merit and need-based—through Buff Portal Advising. In the scholarship search, choose the filter for the College of Media, Communication and Information in the dropdown.

In addition, many organizations across the United States offer scholarships that provide both financial assistance and national recognition. Students can find additional information through CU Boulder Scholarships. The CU Boulder Scholarship Application opens in November and closes in March each year.

The College of Communication, Media, Design and Information scholarships are made possible through private gifts to the college, and they can be used to supplement university scholarships and financial aid packages.

Established through an estate gift from Bill Hemingway, a longtime Denver Post employee, the DAPS scholarship award is an automatic consideration award for incoming first-year students from 16 Colorado high schools in the Denver metro and near the I-25 corridor. If you are offered this award, you will hear about it through communication about your financial aid package. 

To be eligible for the award, you must attend one of the particular DAPS schools, have a 3.5 high school GPA and be involved in your high school extracurriculars or the workforce. This award is in addition to any other funding you may have learned about from CU Boulder and CMDI thus far. To find out more information, please contact CMDI Admissions, cmdiadmissions@colorado.edu. 

The CMCD Transfer Student Achievement Scholarship is intended to support undergraduate transfer students who show academic success and professional promise in the areas of media, communication and information. 

This scholarship supports students who began their academic career at a different institution and whose academic interests and professional goals are best achieved by completion of a degree in CMCI.  

Incoming transfer students who have completed at least 45 credits at another academic institution, and are joining CU Boulder in the fall semester are eligible. 

Criteria 

  • Academic achievement at prior institution—3.25 or higher GPA
  • Alignment of professional goals with CMCI academic programs
  • Preference given to students who completed their prior coursework at a community college

Deadline and Application
Apply by June 1, 2026 through the CU scholarship portal.

Step-by-Step Guide for Continuing Students of CMDI

As a continuing CMDI student, you can be considered for all CMDI Scholarships. You should complete the CU Boulder General Application and then the CMDI conditional application. 

Awards will be applied to tuition bills for the following academic year. Students must be enrolled in a CMDI major during the following academic year in order to receive funds for these awards.

 

Navigate to the Scholarships card in Buff Portal. The Scholarships card is found within the Finances group within the main menu.

 

 

Click 'Apply for & Manage Scholarships'. A new tab will open the CU Boulder Scholarship Application.

 

 

Now you are in the general scholarship application. You will need to complete this application to be matched to scholarship opportunities.

 

 

When completing the essay portion of the General Application, you may click ‘Save and Keep Editing’ and return to it later if you are not ready to submit your essay yet. For CMDI scholarship consideration, updates can be made to the General Application up to the CMDI scholarship application deadline in March. Any updates to your General Application after that date will not be reflected in your CMDI scholarship application. 

 

 

Once you have begun and or completed the General Application, you will see the CMDI Conditional Application and recommended opportunities. Since you will be auto-matched to all CMDI Scholarship opportunities you do not need to apply to any individual scholarship opportunities. Your conditional application is all you need to complete. 

To fill out the CMDI Conditional Application, you may click ‘Save and Keep Editing’ and return to it later if you are not ready to submit your essay yet. Updates can be made to the conditional application until the application deadline in March.  

Tip: Edit and proofread. A quality application is a demonstrated effort that expresses through quality writing the personal background and professional goals of the applicant.

Tip: Content. The applicant should read each essay prompt carefully and think deeply about what is important to share to the committee. The committee reviews dozens of applications in order to determine the quality of the application vs. the criteria for each scholarship. In order to determine if a scholarship’s criteria matches an applicant’s profile, the committee relies on the responses provided in the application.

 

 

To submit your CMDI conditional application, click on the ‘Finish and Submit’ button at the end of the application.

 

Once the CMDI Conditional scholarship application has closed in March, CMDI will begin the review and selection process.

  • CMDI award recipients will be notified by May 1
  • Award notifications will be sent to your CU Boulder student email account.

Watch our scholarships webinar