The Erb Institute provides several forms of financial support to MBA/MS program students, with the intent of reducing net cost of the program, recognizing student contributions to the Erb Institute community and supporting the intellectual, personal and professional development of students. These grants have been made possible by generosity of individual donors, and the amount of money available for granting varies subject to receipt of gifts and returns on invested funds. Because Erb Institute scholarship funds are limited, students are kindly requested to seek other, additional sources of aid and awards.
Erb Institute Scholarships
Erb Funding, Class of 2012
Erb Funding, Class of 2013+
Coultrap Family International Project Fund Grants
Established by the Coultrap family in honor of Charlotte Coultrap-Bagg (MS/MBA ’11) and in memory of Paul W. Coultrap. (MBA ’41).
Purpose: Grants from the Fund are intended to support Erb Institute MS/MBA students via study abroad or other internationally based learning experiences. Grants may be used in connection with international academic projects including, but not limited to, Master’s Opuses, independent study and internships. Funding priority will be given to for-credit projects, and particularly for application to travel costs, as the main source of additional cost burden for international projects. Coultrap Fund grants will not be included in the usual funding limits applied to Erb Institute support for Master’s Opuses and internships; however, other funding-eligibility requirements and priorities for such projects will apply.
Coultrap Family International Project Fund Details (pdf).
Renewable Energy Scholars Award
Supported by the Koch Family, US Renewables Group, Peter Mertz and the Erb family.
Purpose: The Renewable Energy Scholars awards encourage Erb Institute MBA/MS students to invest time and effort exploring and developing early-stage ideas and insights in the renewable energy field. The fellowships focus on extracurricular action-based learning and professional development activities. The intention is to inspire students to look a little deeper and longer into interesting or intriguing ideas they have for products, services, business models, investments, policies and more.
Renewable Energy Scholars Award Details and Application (pdf).
Summer Internship Stipends
The Erb Institute seeks to develop leaders capable of contributing to many kinds of organizations, including non-profit, and hybrid organizations, social ventures and government agencies as well as private businesses. In order to reduce the economic disincentive represented by generally lower salaries offered by non-traditional MBA internship employers, the Institute offers its MBA/MS students supplementary stipends. Stipends are intended to bring total compensation in line with a benchmark “full-funded internship” which has been set at $10,000 for 2012. Qualifying internship employers include non-profits, government agencies and start-up social ventures, as defined in the Erb Internship Funding Guidelines.
Additional qualifying criteria are detailed in the funding guidelines. Stipend amounts are subject to funds availability and the number of MBA/MS stipend applicants in any given year. Students may be pre-approved for funding by submitting their Intent for Internship Funding Application by 9:00 AM on Monday, March 12. Pre-approval provides students with a preliminary determination of an employer and position’s eligibility for stipend support, and a guarantee that the student will receive a share of available stipend funds if they accept a pre-approved internship. Students who apply after March 12 are put into a secondary applicant pool and receive notification of their awards, if any, after May 14.
- Download your Erb Internship Funding Guidelines here.
- Download your Intent for Internship Funding Application here.
- Download your Post-Internship Reporting Form here.
Masters Opus Research Grants
Erb Institute MBA/MS students are eligible to apply for limited funding to subsidize expenses associated with conducting the sustainability-related research that is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Masters Opus at the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Applicants must fully articulate the scope of their planned research activities and demonstrate that the expenses to be funded are necessary to conduct this research. Deadlines for submission are June 1 and November 1 and awards are capped at $2,000 per student. Current students: Apply here
Masters Opus Impact Grants
The Institute offers Impact Grants to support MBA/MS students who go beyond the academic requirements of their opus work to encourage adoption of their ideas in the community of practice and to pursue related opportunities that offer career advancement. Grant amounts: up to $1,000 per member of the team, whether Erb MBA/MS or SNRE MS. Deadlines for submission are June 1 and November 1. Click here for details and application.
GSRA / GSI Appointments
The Erb Institute periodically funds Graduate Student Research Assistant or Graduate Student Instructor positions in response to faculty requests for assistance. Every effort is made to ensure that Erb MBA/MS students know about these positions and have the opportunity to apply.
Percy Service Awards
Since its inception, the Erb Institute MBA/MS Program has continuously improved owing substantially to the unselfish contributions put forth by countless students enrolled in the program. To recognize these efforts, the Institute bestows four annual service awards for the most extraordinary student contributions. (Three awards were offered prior to 2008). Winners of these awards are selected by their fellow students and earn $2,500 scholarships along with public recognition.
- 2011 Winners: James D. Shea, Lauren D. Start, Allison Shapiro and Graham Brown
- 2010 Winners: Paul Davis, Brian Moss, Sarah Shapiro, Nate Springer
- 2009 Winners: Russell Baruffi, Anna Coldham, Katie O’Hare, Ryan Whisnant
- 2008 Winners: Russell Baruffi, Aaron James, Jackie Pitera, Emily Reyna
- 2007 Winners: Michele Diener, Josh Nothwang, Brian Swett
- 2006 Winners: Alex Keros, Karen Putterman, Doug Wein
- 2005 Winners: Marshall Chase, Chris Guenther, Sarah Winkeller
- 2004 Winners: Jon Forrester, Bryan Magnus, Sara Nosanchuk
Conference Fees and Related Travel
The Erb Institute has given significant consideration to this issue over the years and we have concluded that the best forms of direct financial support for students are third-year scholarships, non-profit internship subsidies, small research grants and service awards. Therefore, the Erb Institute does not award any funding related to general conference attendance.
Please note that SNRE provides some funding support for conference attendance. Current students: Click here to apply
There is also a funding source within Rackham that students can draw on if they are presenting academic work at conferences. Current students: Click here to apply
