Robert P. Karr Scholarship

Eligible students will meet at least two of the three following criteria, listed in priority of consideration:

• Come from racial/ethnic backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented in the environmental education and broader education fields
• Be the first generation in their family to have completed an undergraduate degree
• Demonstrate financial need

Please note that this award will be provided in lieu of any scholarship funds you have previously been granted from IslandWood, but will not impact your monthly graduate program stipend.

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must apply and be accepted to both IslandWood and to the University of Washington’s Master’s in Education Program.

If awarded the scholarship, recipients will commit to the following:

• Participate in the IslandWood Graduate Program in Education for Environment & Community
• Provide program feedback, including two surveys, one sent out immediately following completion of the graduate program, and another sent a year after the program
• Share their authentic experience of the graduate program, and the impact of the scholarship funding on their academic and professional pursuits, with the family of Robert P. Karr
• Participate in co-creating ongoing activities with other scholarship recipients and staff, with the aim of building a supportive community that can extend beyond the 10-month graduate program experience

Applications for the 2024-2025 cohort are now open. Please submit your application by May 1.

To be considered, please submit the Robert P. Karr scholarship application, even if you have already submitted the IslandWood financial aid application.

When you fill out the application, you will be asked to submit the following:

• A Student Aid Report from the FAFSA or WAFSA, or a short statement about your financial situation.
• A teaching & identity submission in response to the following prompt: “The foundation funding this scholarship focuses on supporting exceptional teacher candidates and IslandWood celebrates teaching in an expansive range of settings.  How does teaching align with your identity, life’s work, or future goals?” This can be a written statement (limit 500 words), video (limit 3 minutes), or art piece (explanatory text limit 250 words).

Karr Scholarship applications are open and will remain open until our final priority deadline on May 1. Applications will be reviewed and decisions made by mid-May. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision by June 1, 2024.