Scholarship and Fellowship Terms & Conditions

Participation in Rare Book School’s scholarship or fellowship programs implies acceptance of the following terms and conditions:

  1. RBS scholarships and fellowships apply only to courses administered by Rare Book School, based at the University of Virginia, and are not transferable to related programs (e.g., California Rare Book School, London Rare Books School, &c.).
  2. Most RBS scholarship/fellowship awards cover tuition (including deposit) for one in-person RBS course, or for either one 22-hour online course or two short online courses (the length of which are to be determined). In most cases, a single award may not be broken over multiple years; recipients who elect to redeem an award for a single short online course may not reserve remaining funds for a subsequent year. The recipient is responsible for any other expenses related to the acceptance of the scholarship and attendance at RBS. Some awards include additional funds (these are noted on the individual scholarship/fellowship pages).
  3. RBS awards scholarships and fellowships without reference to admission to any particular course. Admission to RBS courses is by competitive application; receiving an RBS scholarship/fellowship does not guarantee admission to any particular RBS course. Recipients will have credit that they can then use to pay for any course to which they are thereafter admitted.
  4. RBS scholarships and fellowships have no cash value.
  5. Scholarships are awarded and take effect in early January, and are redeemable for two calendar years, unless otherwise noted. Scholarship/fellowship recipients must claim their awards within two years (e.g., scholarships awarded in January 2022 must be claimed by 31 December 2023), unless otherwise noted.
  6. Recipients may only hold one active RBS scholarship or fellowship at any given time.
  7. The decision of all selection committees is final. Because of the large volume of applications, the committees cannot provide additional information about their decisions.
  8. All information provided in the scholarship/fellowship application is confidential. RBS will not share address or contact information with third parties; however, RBS may report some personal information, such as recipient name, year of award, and course taken (e.g., on the RBS website, on grant/donor reports, &c.). RBS may disclose other information, provided it cannot be used to identify an applicant.
  9. It is the responsibility of scholarship/fellowship recipients to notify RBS of any changes in contact information that may affect RBS’s ability to reach them during the award period. If, after a reasonable attempt, RBS is unable to contact the recipient, the recipient will forfeit the award, and may risk eligibility for future awards.
  10. In most cases, scholarship recipients are expected to submit a brief testimonial following completion of their RBS course or courses to rbs_scholarships@virginia.edu. Testimonials are shared with the Friends of Rare Book School, without whose generous support these awards would not be possible.
  11. If a scholarship/fellowship recipient (1) misrepresents information on the application or (2) withdraws from a course fewer than two weeks before the course begins, the recipient will forfeit the award and may risk eligibility for future awards.