Senior Thesis Grants

Honors College students can receive up to $1,500 in grant funds to support the development of a thesis project. Grants are available for research, creative and applied thesis projects. Thesis grants count toward the $6,000 SCHC research funding limit. For example, a student receiving $5,000 in Honors College research funding would have a $1,000 balance to apply toward a senior thesis grant.

Foley Thesis Project Scholarship

A limited number of Foley Thesis Project Scholarships are available annually to support creative thesis projects. Students may receive an award of up to $1,000. Students can apply for the Foley Scholarship using the Senior Thesis Research Grant submission form. To ensure access to thesis support for as many students as possible, we cannot stack grant and scholarship awards.

Guidelines

Thesis grant funds can be used to purchase various goods and services related to thesis research, including lab supplies and equipment, participant incentives, licenses for survey or interview platforms, transcription/translation services, and limited travel to conduct research. The grant and Foley scholarship funds also support supplies and equipment needed for creative or applied projects. When available, students may be redirected to free or low-cost options on campus.

In most cases, the grant is a direct payment to students, who will then use the money to purchase approved goods or services. Students must maintain receipts/records of grant-related expenditures and submit these records to the SCHC Thesis Director before the end of the academic year in which funding was received. Any unused grant funds must be returned to the Honors College before the end of the academic year in which the funding was received or before the student’s graduation, whichever occurs first.

Students applying for a thesis grant/Foley scholarship agree to follow the following guidelines:

• The grant application must be approved before purchases begin, as the Honors College will not reimburse students for prior expenditures.
• All equipment purchases become the property of the South Carolina Honors College.
• Requests for food purchases will not be considered.
• All applications must include a detailed list of items and projected costs, price verification (e.g., invoice, link to web-based pricing guide), and an explanation of how the expenditures will enhance the thesis. Please note the following considerations for travel and incentive requests:
  • Travel. Travel requests should include a printout of estimated mileage using Google Maps or similar. Airline cost estimates should be supported by a printed itinerary from the airline website or travel aggregator (e.g., expedia.com, kayak.com). Any request for travel costs should include a letter of support from the thesis director explaining the purpose and use of travel for the senior thesis. Travel support will be capped at $500.
  • Incentives. Requests for incentives should detail your plan for recruiting participants, your target number of participants, and the amount/type of incentive you plan to offer each participant, along with a description of the activity and expected time commitment. The total incentive allocation for survey completion will be capped at $250. Students are responsible for maintaining a recipient log and returning this with relevant receipts at the end of the academic year in which funding was received.
• Students working on a group or joint thesis project should submit a single application. The Honors College will consider a higher funding limit for these projects when possible.
• Any work supported by a Senior Thesis grant and subsequently presented or published should cite the support as: "This work was supported in part by the South Carolina Honors College Senior Thesis Grant." Students receiving a Foley Scholarship should include a similar acknowledgment: "The South Carolina Honors College Foley Thesis Project Scholarship partly supported this work."

Application Timeline

We manage three application cycles each year, with closing dates in mid-February, mid-September, and mid-November. Award notifications are typically made within two weeks of the closing date. However, receipt of funds following the award may take up to four weeks. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Students must be enrolled in SCHC 499 or an approved thesis course equivalent to be considered for thesis grant/scholarship funds. Preference will be given to students who have not received prior funding to support the thesis project (e.g., SCHC Research Grant, Magellan Grant or SCHC Thesis Grant/Foley Scholarship).