Alumni & Friends

Campaign

Magazine

Give

Alumni & Friends

Campaign

Iowa Magazine

Give to Iowa

Read stories of Hawkeyes making a difference in Iowa and around the world.

Get involved and join the University of Iowa community. Choose from a variety of programs, events, and groups—on campus and off—to fit your Hawkeye experience.

Your gift to the University of Iowa makes a difference. By giving to your Iowa passion, you help change the lives of our students, our community, and the world.

The University of Iowa Center for Advancement helps UI friends and alumni stay connected, get involved, and give back.

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.

Summer and Fall 2025 Semester Award Grant Cycle

January 27: Application opens
February 21: Application deadline (5 p.m.)
April 11: Grant recipients will be notified about funding requests for winter or spring semester.
April 21: Signed recipient agreement form due
April 29: Winter/Spring 2024 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.
May 19: Award transfers/payments for summer projects
August 25: Award transfers/payments for fall projects
December 2: 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.

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 Summer/Fall 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 Dec. 2, 2025.

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.

Join an Alumni Network

Make a Gift

Join our Email List

Iowa Magazine

Explore the latest stories from Iowa Magazine.

Read

Check out recent releases from Iowa Writers? Workshop graduates Kelly Dwyer, Katherine Nolte, and Regina Porter.

John and Mary Pappajohn: University of Iowa Visionary Supporters

A sampling of the Pappajohns leadership gifts at the University of Iowa include the naming of the Pappajohn Pavilion at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, the John Pappajohn Business Building, the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, and the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute in the John and Mary Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building. The world is a better place because of John and Mary Pappajohn. His knack for business, her passion for art, and their mutual belief in giving back have brought some big ideas to life: a scientific "super quest" for a healthier society, a four-acre public sculpture garden in Des Moines, and a jump start for countless new companies. Such ideas started taking shape long before the two became a couple. For John Pappajohn, it traced as far back as his kindergarten year in Mason City, Iowa. That's when his mother?a young Greek immigrant?enrolled in school, too. She did so to learn the language of her new country, but she also taught the future venture capitalist a lifelong lesson about the value of education. "It took me six years to get through college. I didn't have much money, and I had to attend school on and off, while I worked. I had grown up in an immigrant family, and I'd never traveled, but the University of Iowa taught me so much. By the time I graduated, I had $2,000 in the bank and no debt?and I had learned more about what was going on around me." - John Pappajohn "She was my inspiration for going to college and supporting educational causes," says John Pappajohn, who took turns attending the University of Iowa with his two brothers, while they all ran the family grocery store after their father's death. Like her husband, Mary Pappajohn believes in the power of education to change lives. She earned an art degree from the University of Minnesota and used this knowledge to help build the Pappajohns' personal art collection into one of the top 200 in the world. She says that, early on, "We didn't have furniture, but we did have art on the walls." This understanding of the transcendent power of art and education is what has fueled the Pappajohns' exceptional legacy of giving. They are among the most generous benefactors in the state of Iowa?and at the University of Iowa. "That is what money is for," he says. "Those of us who are lucky enough to be successful and make money owe it to society to give something back." John Pappajohn supports many efforts on the University of Iowa campus. You can support what is meaningful to you by making a gift. Watch: John Pappajohn speaks at the University of Iowa.

Alumni Band

Open to all former Hawkeye Marching Band members, the Alumni Band assists in the lifelong relationship between the university and band alumni.

We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Statement unless you have disabled them in your browser.

About Us

Careers

Update Your Information

Privacy Statement

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.

A Gallup world-class workplace for employee engagement.