Office of External & Competitive Scholarship Advisement
The Office of Student External and Competitive Scholarship Advisement at Rollins College helps our students and alumni prepare for a wide variety of highly competitive and prestigious graduate scholarships.
6 Awarded Fulbright Scholarships
Three Rollins students earn Fulbright research grants, the College’s highest number in a single year.
Top Producer of Fulbright Students
For the fourth time in six years, Rollins College is one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright Students among master’s institutions.
Welcome to the Majors
From Boren to Udall, explore the eight major scholarships that Rollins students consistently apply for each year.
About External & Competitive Scholarships
External and competitive scholarships are mostly funded by the government or private agencies, external to Rollins College. They salute academic achievement, leadership, and public service. Because outstanding undergraduates from across the country vie for these scholarships, competition is intense.
We strive to ensure that our applicants are well-rounded scholars who will successfully meet any challenges they will encounter in the application process. Specifically, we coordinate student applications for fellowships, scholarships, awards and prizes requiring university nomination, review, or endorsement.
Latest News
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Shannon Sullivan ’20 learned how to sail at Rollins. She also learned how to cook <em>tostones</em> from scratch and how to make a potato clock in a pinch. Sullivan wants us to know there’s far more value in all of this—from pilates to political science—than one might think, or than she thought.</p>
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“I started out with this narrow plan to study Spanish and excel academically,” says Sullivan. “But during my time at Rollins I learned to love learning.”</p>
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She loved learning so much that she threaded it all into a second major in <a href="https://www.rollins.edu/academics/areas-of-study/undergraduate/international-relations.html" target="_blank">international relations</a>, where she fused her passion for languages and other cultures. In fact, Sullivan became so well-rounded that she earned a prestigious <a href="https://360.rollins.edu/college-news/helmick-kirk-sullivan-named-fulbright-scholars" target="_blank">2020 Fulbright Scholarship</a>.</p>
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“Right about now I should be teaching English to a classroom of high-schoolers in Medellin, Colombia,” she says from her family’s home on the north side of Chicago. “The pandemic has made us realize that plans can easily be derailed.”</p>
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She laughs easily and speaks confidently for someone who not long ago would be highly stressed about having no firm plans beyond tomorrow morning. As it stands, she thinks she’ll be somewhere in Colombia by January, teaching English to students somewhere between 10 and 27 years old.</p>
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Sullivan takes the uncertainty in stride because at Rollins she learned about something else that can’t be quantified with a price or a GPA: herself.</p>
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My Rollins Gateway: Ready for AnythingAs an incoming student, Shannon Sullivan ’20 feared anything less than perfect grades and p...
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Center of It AllIn January, Rollins officially opened Kathleen W. Rollins Hall, the College’s new headquart...
Braga ’20, Helmick ’20, Kirk ’20, Sullivan ’20 Named Fulbright ScholarsIsabella Braga ’20, Kenzie Helmick ’20, Mirabella Kirk ’20, and Shannon Sullivan ’20 have e...
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Farahana Cajuste ’21 and Cristina Toppin ’21 have been selected to attend the prestigious Junior Summer Institute offered by the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) program, which will take place virtually this summer.</p>
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More than 700 high-performing college students around the country applied for the PPIA program, the goal of which is to help students achieve a master’s degree in public policy, public administration, international affairs, or a related field. Roughly one in six applicants are accepted into the program. To earn one of these rare spots, students have to be “culturally aware, socially sensitive, and committed to public service,” with a vision to make the world a better place—a description that couldn’t be more on the mark when characterizing both Cajuste and Toppin. </p>
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“I know what it’s like to be marginalized,” says Cajuste, “and I want to change that for others.”</p>
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Cajuste will spend her seven-week fellowship virtually with leaders in policy research and cultural economics at Carnegie Mellon University, while Toppin will focus on human rights and social inclusion at the University of Minnesota. Their credentials on paper provide only small tastes of what motivates them.</p>
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Cajuste is president of the Latin American Student Association as well as a member of the Black Student Union, the Caribbean Student Association, and the Muslim Student Union—even though she isn’t Muslim. In 2019, she earned a Millennium Fellowship for bringing various campus organizations into a collaborative force. She went door to door in New Orleans to hear firsthand about domestic issues in underserved neighborhoods. She’s interned with the Consulate of Haiti in Orlando and with the United Nations Association of Orlando, simplifying complex social economic issues to help people understand them. It’s no wonder that Cajuste was chosen as one of <em>Forbes</em>’ 30 Under 30 scholars in 2019.</p>
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Toppin’s own life has led her to advocate for racial and gender equality on three continents. In Namibia she met with female students researching ways to make taxi rides safer for women and incorporated the experience into a research project with <a href="https://www.rollins.edu/academics/areas-of-study/undergraduate/art-history.html" target="_blank">art history</a> professor MacKenzie Moon Ryan through <a href="https://www.rollins.edu/student-faculty-collaborative-scholarship-program/" target="_blank">Rollins’ Student-Faculty Collaborative Scholarship Program</a>. A few weeks later she was in Australia, where she developed briefs on social policies and joined a club for African students. Back at Rollins she organized a campus-wide panel to raise awareness for low-income students while also being active in Voices for Women, the Black Student Union, Latin American Student Association, and the Embark program, a cohort-based student development opportunity for students of underrepresented backgrounds.</p>
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Cajuste and Toppin aren’t just trying to fill out their resumes.</p>
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“For me,” says Toppin, “it’s personal.”</p>
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Standing up for others? “It’s part of who I am,” says Cajuste, “and where I’ve been.”</p>
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Cajuste ’21 and Toppin ’21 Earn Public Policy and International Affairs FellowshipsFarahana Cajuste ’21 and Cristina Toppin ’21 have both earned a spot in Public Policy and I...
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Wyatt Deihl ’21 has earned a 2020 Truman Scholarship, the highly selective, merit-based award for students seeking to enter graduate school in pursuit of a public service career.<br />
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A self-designed major in health, medicine, and society, Deihl is one of only 62 Truman Scholars, who were selected from more than 750 candidates nominated by 316 U.S. colleges and universities.<br />
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The recognition places Deihl in the elite company of noted Truman Scholars, including former Georgia House of Representatives Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.<br />
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The Truman Scholarship awards each recipient $30,000 toward graduate school and provides the opportunity to participate in professional development programs to help prepare them for careers in public service, including retreats to learn from members of Congress and other Truman Scholars.<br />
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“I am so proud of Wyatt for being awarded a Truman Scholarship,” says President Grant Cornwell. “He has a passion for the work in front of him, and Rollins equipped him well for this honor. Wyatt is a prime example of a global citizen and responsible leader.”<br />
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Deihl transferred to Rollins after receiving an associate’s degree from Indian River State College summa cum laude, making him the most decorated graduate in the school’s history. He was awarded the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Fellowship for exceptional transfer students, which provides $40,000 per year toward a bachelor’s degree.</p>
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At Rollins, Deihl has embraced an interest in public health by creating a custom major that merges public health with sociology. He is also pursuing a double minor in global health and sociology. He quickly became an advocate of promoting health and wellness, particularly in disenfranchised communities, both on and off campus.</p>
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After he graduates, Deihl plans to pursue a master’s degree in public health as well as a juris doctorate on his path to becoming a public interest attorney specializing in LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities. The budding statesman is also interested in an eventual run for public office.<br />
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Growing up in Okeechobee, Florida, Deihl is the first person in his family to finish high school and pursue higher education. The recession that began in 2007 left his family reeling, frequently moving, and sometimes homeless. He recalls a turning point, while living in a tent in fifth grade, when he vowed to attend college and interrupt a cycle of generational poverty.</p>
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“I see great value in harnessing the knowledge I have gained through my lived experiences to fight for justice for those who lack a voice,” says Deihl.</p>
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Jayashree Shivamoggi, director of Rollins’ <a href="https://www.rollins.edu/external-competitive-scholarship/" target="_blank">Office of External & Competitive Scholarship Advisement,</a> worked closely with Deihl in pursuit of the Truman Scholarship.<br />
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“Wyatt is extraordinary and always fighting for others in need,” says Shivamoggi. “He has an incredible grasp of struggles of the poor people in the rural South, and his knowledge of historical and contemporary issues with American health care is deep and relevant. He is sharp like the edge of a diamond, has a heart of gold, and is never hesitant to work tirelessly to give a voice to people who are struggling.”<br />
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Some of this work includes founding and running the Rollins Public Health Association, which creates CPR trainings, HIV awareness campaigns, and other initiatives to promote well-being on and off campus. Deihl served as campus director of the 2019 Millennium Fellowship—a prestigious leadership development program that challenges college students to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal— implementing community health initiatives around HIV in Florida. He has also interned with the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Florida and served as a fellow for the anti-tobacco Truth Initiative.</p>
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As an independent undergraduate researcher advised by anthropology professor Shan-Estelle Brown, Deihl is unearthing gender and racial discrepancies in the treatment of Floridians living with HIV—a topic that became a passion of his after taking Brown’s <em>Drugs, Sex, and HIV</em> course. He advocates for modernizing Florida’s HIV criminalization laws, which he believes have backfired from their original intentions.<br />
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“Many of these criminal statutes have stemmed from fear and stigma in regard to the spread of disease, and these laws tend to have unintended consequences,” says Deihl. “There is a need for informed policymakers with considerable public health knowledge to avoid the continuance of poorly written public health laws and policies.”<br />
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In addition to Brown, Deihl expresses gratitude to his many mentors, including Shivamoggi for providing ceaseless encouragement and support through the rigorous Truman Scholarship application process, and anthropology professor Nolan Kline, who enlisted Deihl as a research assistant on a National Science Foundation study exploring Latinx and gender minority experiences following the Pulse nightclub shooting.</p>
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“My biggest class had 12 people, so I was really able to make great relationships with my professors,” says Deihl. “That’s allowed me to excel—the fact that I’m not competing for resources.”<br />
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Last year’s Truman Scholar, Isaac James ’20, is currently working with refugees in Memphis, teaching English to adult refugees and serving as a tutor and life coach for middle and high school students.</p>
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Deihl ’21 Earns Truman ScholarshipFirst-generation college student Wyatt Deihl ’21 has been awarded the nation’s foremost sch...