RVU Scholarships

The University and the RVU Alumni Association offer several scholarships to incoming students each year. These scholarships are offered in the form of partial tuition waivers. Scholarship information and applications are available annually, during the spring prior to matriculation. Scholarship applicants must complete a separate application and supply all required supporting documentation for each individual scholarship they are applying for by the deadline. Award recipients are announced in July.

• Brandon Trusell Service COM Scholarship: This scholarship will be awarded to one incoming student who has demonstrated a commitment to service. The recipient will receive a tuition waiver of $5,000 ($2,500 per semester). This is a one-year award.
• Robert Bruce Told Scholarship: this scholarship will be awarded to an incoming student who grew up and graduated from high school in a rural community. Preference will be given to applicants who plan to return to a rural community to practice medicine. The recipient will receive a tuition waiver of $10,000 ($5,000 per semester) and the award is renewable for three additional years.
• RVU Challenge COM Scholarship: This scholarship will be awarded to one incoming student who demonstrates that they have had to overcome previous or on-going hardships to get to where they are today. The recipient will receive a tuition waiver of $5,000 ($2,500 per semester). This is a one-year award.
• RVU Healthcare Leaders Scholarship: this scholarship will be awarded to an incoming minority medical student. For purposes of this scholarship, a minority is defined as a student of Black/African-American, Native American, Asian/Pacific, or of Hispanic ethnic origin, as defined by the American Osteopathic Foundation. The recipient will receive a tuition waiver of $10,000 ($5,000 per semester) and the award is renewable for three additional years.
• RVU Hope Scholarship: this scholarship will be awarded to an incoming student who is the first person in his or her immediate family to attend college. The recipient will receive a tuition waiver of $10,000 ($5,000 per semester) and the award is renewable for three additional years.
• RVU Opportunity Scholarship: this scholarship will be awarded to an incoming student who grew up and graduated from high school in an inner-city community. (Inner city is defined as “the usually older, central part of a city, especially characterized by crowded neighborhoods in which low-income, often minority groups predominate.”) Preference will be given to applicants who plan to return to an inner-city community to practice medicine. The recipient will receive a tuition waiver of $10,000 ($5,000 per semester) and the award is renewable for three additional years.

RVU Alumni Scholarships for Incoming students

Applications are placed on the admitted student portal and admitted students are notified when these are available each year. Please contact Julie Rosenthal, Vice President of Enrollment Management and External Relations, at 720-875-2804 or jrosenthal@rvu.edu.

• Brandon Trusell Memorial Scholarship: This is a service scholarship that is awarded by the RVU Alumni Association to an incoming COM student at the Utah or Colorado locations. Applications are placed on the admitted student portal in the Spring each year.

Outside Scholarships

• Colorado Medical Society: The Colorado Medical Society Education Foundation offers the opportunity for interested pre-matriculating medical students in Colorado to apply for a Foundation scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to pre-matriculating medical students with financial need who demonstrate a commitment to future practice in either a medically underserved area and/or a rural community. To apply or learn more about this scholarship, click here: Colorado Medical Society Education Foundation
• Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation: Ensuring the future of Osteopathic Medicine in Colorado begins by supporting today’s osteopathic medical students. The Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation is proud to award up to five $10,000 scholarships to students entering their third year at an AOA accredited College of Osteopathic Medicine. These scholarships are renewed automatically for $10,000 each for the fourth year as long as the students are in good standing with their College of Osteopathic Medicine. Scholarships are for tuition unless the selected recipients receive a fellowship. In addition, the Walter S. Strode, D.O. Memorial Scholarship has been established. To apply or learn more about this scholarship, click here: Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation
• WICHE: Rocky Vista University accepts students for this program whose permanent residence is within one of the 3 Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) participating states. The states that participate in the WICHE Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) for RVU are Arizona, Montana, and Wyoming.For more information, visit WICHE’s website. If you are not certain of the residency requirements for your state, you can find that information at The College Board. To find the requirements for your state, click on your state on the U.S. map.
• National Western Stock Show Scholarship: The University and/or its Scholarship Committee shall review scholarship applications and select an appropriate candidate(s) based on the eligibility criteria. Please contact Student Financial Services at SFS@rvu.edu for further information.
  • Eligibility: To be eligible for a scholarship, the student:
    • Must be a college graduate who is currently enrolled at the University;
    • Must have participated in the annual January National Western Stock Show which can include livestock exhibition and/or judging, the NW internship program, the NW volunteer program, Westernaires, and sanctioned 4-H/FFA projects. This does not include participation in shows held at the National Western at times other than the actual January Stock Show dates for each specific year.
    • Must be enrolled in the University’s rural track primary care program with a commitment to rural practice post-graduation (see “WSSA Scholarship Recipient Agreement”).
    • Must maintain “good standing” during the award period.

• Health Profession Scholarship Program (HPSP): The Military Health Profession Scholarship Program is offered through the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. This scholarship program helps cover direct educational costs and provides a monthly stipend to each recipient. In return, there is a service commitment of one year of active duty service for each year of participation in the program, with a minimum commitment of three years.
  • Air Force Health Profession Scholarship Program
  • Army Health Profession Scholarship Program
  • Navy Health Profession Scholarship Program

• National Health Services Corp Programs: The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) offers a scholarship to students interested in pursuing a career as a primary care physician. This scholarship program covers tuition, fees, other reasonable educational costs, and provides a monthly living stipend. In return, the recipient must serve one year for each year of support at an approved site after completing a primary care residency. There is a minimum commitment of two years.

Other federal, state, and local scholarship programs may be available for qualified students.

• Alabama Osteopathic Medical Association: Applicants should be from Alabama, must have completed their first year of training at an accredited osteopathic medical school and intend to practice osteopathic medicine in Alabama after residency.
• American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Sherry R. Arnstein Minority Student Scholarship: AACOM recognizes one newly accepted and one continuing underrepresented minority student at AACOM’s member colleges of osteopathic medicine.
• American Association of University Women: Women in medicine who are ethnic minorities may apply for funding.
• American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians: The ACOFP offers several scholarships for students enrolled in an osteopathic medical school. Refer to the application for more information.
• American Indian Graduate Center: The Gerald Peet Fellowship gives priority to medical school students.
• American Medical Association Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship Program: Five different scholarships of up to $10,000 available to third-year students approaching their final year of medical school. Students interested in applying for the Physicians of Tomorrow award must do so through the Student Financial Services office.
• American Medical Women’s Association: AMWA offers travel awards, grants and tuition need-based scholarships.
• American Osteopathic Foundation: The AOF offers a variety of grant, scholarship, and award opportunities to osteopathic medical students, residents, physicians, researchers, and osteopathic centers/programs.
• Buckfire & Buckfire Medical School Diversity Scholarship: The Medical School Diversity Scholarship is $2,000.00 and will be awarded to a student who is currently attending an accredited medical school, who is either a member of an ethnic or racial minority or demonstrates commitment to issues of diversity within their academic career.
• Christian Medical and Dental Associations: Scholarships are available to assist with the tuition of medical students who are committed to a career in foreign or domestic medical missions.
• Denver Osteopathic Foundation: The Denver Osteopathic Foundation offers scholarships to third- and fourth-year osteopathic medical students from Colorado who intend to practice in Colorado.
• Indian Health Services Scholarship: American Indians or Alaska Natives can receive assistance in return for a service commitment after graduation.
• Motyka Dannin Osteopathic Educational Foundation: These forgivable loans are open to students who are Indiana residents in the first or second year in an osteopathic medical school who intend to return to Indiana to practice osteopathic medicine. Call 800-942-0501 or 317-926-3009 for more information. The application deadline is January 31st.
• National Association of Medical Minority Educators: NAMME is a national organization working to ensure racial and ethnic diversity in all of the health professions.
• National Hispanic Health Foundation: The NHHF established this scholarship to reward students for exceptional academic performance, leadership, and commitment to the Hispanic community. For 14 years, the NHHF Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarship Program has awarded $1,034,000 to 266 outstanding Hispanic health professional students for their exceptional academic performance, leadership, and commitment to caring for Hispanics.
• National Medical Fellowship: The NMF’s mission is to provide scholarships for underrepresented minorities in medicine. NMF programs fund need-based and merit scholarships during the first years of medical study and experience-based opportunities for more senior students.
• Northwest Osteopathic Medical Foundation: Scholarships are awarded annually, based on academic performance, to students from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Students must be committed to practicing osteopathic medicine in the Pacific Northwest.
• Oklahoma Educational Foundation of Osteopathic Medicine: This scholarship is for first-, second-, and third-year students from Oklahoma who will return and practice in Oklahoma.
• Osteopathic Foundation of West Michigan: Scholarships are given to students from West Michigan, planning to practice osteopathic medicine in West Michigan.
• Osteopathic Medical Foundation of Michiana: A forgivable loan program is available for first- through fourth-year osteopathic medical students who are interested in practicing medicine in the Michiana Indiana area (near South Bend) upon graduation.
• Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans: The purpose of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is to provide opportunities for continuing generations of able and accomplished New Americans to achieve leadership in their chosen fields. Candidates must demonstrate the relevance of graduate education to their long-term career goals and potential in enhancing their contributions to society.
• Student Osteopathic Medical Association: SOMA lists several scholarships available for osteopathic medical students.
• Utah Dixie Detachment Marine Corps Scholarship: This scholarship will be awarded to one student on the Southern Utah Campus who is either a Marine or FMF Navy Corpsman with an honorable discharge. The scholarship is in the amount of $1,000. The application deadline is March 13, 2019.