Scholarships

University of Utah Merit Scholarships

The University of Utah awards Early Action and Merit Scholarships to incoming freshman who apply by certain deadlines for the Academic Year. All of this information is found on the Office of Scholarship & Financial Aid's website. Your University of Utah admissions application is your scholarship application! University of Utah Merit Scholarship deadline is December 1 for the following Fall entry. Admissions applications must be submitted by December 1 in order to be considered for all University wide scholarships and financial aid. For questions, contact the Office of Financial Aid at (801) 581-6211.

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College of Fine Arts Scholarships

As a School of Dance student, you will qualify for many scholarships through the University of Utah College of Fine Arts (CFA). CFA scholarship applications typically open on December 1. Recipients of each scholarship are typically notified in May. Please find the online application and deadline for each CFA scholarship here.

Other Scholarship Opportunities

Within AcademicWorks (see below), there are dozens of scholarships in which students may be eligible to apply for. Please read scholarship descriptions and criteria in AcademicWorks and apply for anything you are qualified for. Deadlines vary.

School of Dance Scholarships

To apply for School of Dance departmental scholarships for the 2025-26 Academic Year for both incoming and returning students, you must complete the University of Utah General Application as well as the School of Dance application through AcademicWorks. School of Dance Scholarship deadline is February 28, 2025. No scholarship applications will be considered after this date. You can apply for School of Dance scholarships by completing the following steps:

  • Apply for admission to the University of Utah. Within 24 hours of applying for the University, dancers will be assigned a U-Number (uNID). If you need help finding your uNID or setting up your password, click here. Your default password will be your six-digit birthday in the format: mmddyy.

  • Visit AcademicWorks. Click "Sign In" and enter your uNID along with your password.

  • Complete the University of Utah General Application first. When you first login to AcademicWorks, there will be a yellow warning bar near the top that says, "You won't be able to apply or be automatically matched to any opportunities until you complete your general application."

  • Apply for "School of Dance Scholarships" by searching "dance" in the AcademicWorks search bar. 

Due to limited funds available, it is beyond the School of Dance’s ability to support all students and requests for scholarship support. Being awarded a scholarship in one year is not a guarantee that a scholarship will be renewed in another year nor at the same dollar amount.

Contemporary dancers dancing in a circle

School of Dance Endowed Scholarships

School of Dance scholarships are made possible by the generous, ongoing donations from faculty, staff, students, and community members. The School of Dance has nearly two dozen endowed scholarships. Endowment funds are significant gifts to the School of Dance. Typically, they are designed to be sustainable over the long-term by investing the principal in the University’s Endowment Pool and using the quarterly income distribution to fund School of Dance scholarships. We want to recognize and honor the endowed scholarship funds in the School of Dance.

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  • Anne Riordan, Professor Emeriti, taught in the Department of Modern Dance from 1972 - 1997. She was an artistic giant. A transformative teacher in both non-major and major classes, Anne took students on a magical, exhilarating journey of discovery and in doing so, deeply impacted their lives. Her course, Dance: A Creative Process, which she taught for many years, was legendary. Students begged to be able to enroll. Working with students from every walk of life (including from most of the athletic teams), Anne demanded honesty, commitment and rigorous, full participation – and she got it. When Anne’s name comes up in arts circles around the community, one thought predominates — "Dance is for everyone."  That was her mantra, her motto and her life. Anne stated, “I wanted to make a difference in people's lives, and it seems they have made a difference in mine. All I did in life was want to share dance; I wanted to share something that was so dear to me.”

    A dance major at the University of Utah at the exciting time when Utah’s modern dance companies were just forming, Anne moved to New York to pursue a career in dance. Unfortunately, her career was cut short when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her mid-20s. She returned to Salt Lake City and earned a degree in special education and made a career of taking the joy of dance to diverse populations, pioneering methods and practices for people with both mental and physical disabilities and integrating movement exploration into all aspects of learning.

    Anne taught dance and designed courses at the University of Utah for more than thirty-five years to dance majors and non-majors. She founded two dance companies, Sunrise Dance Company for physically and mentally challenged adults, and Sunrise Wheels for wheelchair bound dancers. With these two companies, Anne choreographed 48 dances, which her companies performed throughout the US. Her groundbreaking work is the subject of six documentary films and several major publications, and her work in special education became a national model.

    Anne is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Dance Association Plaudit Award, a Presidential Scholar Award, the Utah Dance Organization’s Lifetime Contribution to the Art of Dance Award, the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Utah, the Utah Professor of the Year Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and the prestigious Madeleine Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities.

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Interested in helping fund a School of Dance scholarship? Give online.