Leaders Wanted: UVA Darden, Darden School Foundation Offer Array of Scholarship Opportunities

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business and the UVA Darden School Foundation have announced scholarships available to students applying to join the Full-Time MBA and Executive MBA classes of 2024.

Most recently in July, the School announced the establishment of the Breakthrough Scholars program, a Darden School Foundation competitive scholarship initiative designed to foster a new generation of diverse leadership in private equity, venture capital, hedge funds and other areas of asset management. In fall 2020, the School launched AccessDarden, a need-based scholarship program intended to help attract talented students from all walks of life and socioeconomic backgrounds.

AccessDarden and the Breakthrough Scholars program are the latest School and Foundation efforts in a larger push toward inclusive excellence. The Foundation expects to announce more details on a new scholarship initiative to support inclusive excellence later this year.

Through the Darden Annual Fund and a wide array of donor-supported scholarships, scholarship funding is both generous and competitive and all who are admitted to Darden School’s Full-Time MBA and Executive MBA program each year are considered. In addition, every member of the Full-Time MBA program receives a Darden Worldwide Scholarship covering all or most of the program fee for a Darden Worldwide Course.

Here, the School spotlights a few of the scholarships available now to Class of 2024 applicants.

Darden Distinguished Scholars Program

The Darden Distinguished Scholars Program includes eight prestigious scholarship competitions. Most recently, Oculus Fellowships were launched in fall 2020 as a new competitive scholarship awarded by the Darden School to recognize outstanding academic ability and leadership potential. Named for the Oculus — the circular opening at the apex of the Dome Room in UVA’s Rotunda — the fellowships represent the illumination that outstanding students and their ideas bring to the University. Awardees receive full tuition and fees to Darden’s full-time MBA program.

Darden merit scholarships are the second component of the Darden Distinguished Scholars Program. The Darden School and Darden School Foundation have an extensive portfolio of highly selective awards. The Darden Office of Admissions nominates individuals to the School and Foundation scholarship committees upon review of applicants’ credentials. The scholarships range from partial to full tuition and fee awards and are intended to recognize top talent and help the School build a talented and diverse class.

Scholarships for Inclusive Excellence

Scholarships awarded through the Darden School Foundation for women, under-represented minorities, LGTBQ students and other specific groups are a part of efforts to ensure the Darden classroom and education experience reflect the diverse world in which students will serve as responsible leaders.

Darden seeks to live its value as an inclusive community, united by honor, that enables its global and diverse members to collaborate and excel.

Scholarships for Individuals With Specific Professional Backgrounds and Interests

A Darden MBA coupled with military experience provides a competitive advantage in the business world. Darden is dedicated to the education of the whole person with the goal of enhancing the wide range of transferable skills already finely honed by the military for the business world: leadership, discipline, decision-making, teamwork and ethical behavior.

To prove this commitment, members of the Darden community have created several scholarships specifically for members of the United States Armed Forces.

The Batten Scholars Program, sponsored and administered by Darden’s Batten Institute, supports a collection of scholarships for students in the Full-Time MBA, Executive MBA and new Part-Time MBA who exhibit an entrepreneurial spirit, strong leadership skills and a drive for innovation, as well as recognizable background characteristics and goals that meet the entrepreneurship and innovation objectives of the Batten Institute. Batten Scholars awards for Full-Time MBA students are for full tuition while those for Executive MBA and Part-Time MBA students are smaller in size.

Whether your professional background is with the military, entrepreneurship, engineering, manufacturing, investing or journalism, a wealth of career-aligned scholarships are available to Darden students.

Regional Scholarships

Darden’s education experience has been ranked No. 1 in the United States by The Economist for nine years in a row thanks in large part to its top-ranked faculty and the diverse perspectives students bring in and outside the classroom. Whether a student is from outside the United States and brings a global perspective or is from a specific region of the United States, the Darden School and Foundation use scholarships to ensure its education experience incorporates the voices of students from all areas of the world.

For example, the Kington Scholarship was established in 2018 by Mark (MBA ’88) and Ann Kington to support students from the Appalachian Region within the states of Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. The Hund-Mejean Family scholarship was established in 2013 by Martina Hund-Mejean (MBA ’88) and her husband, Bruno Mejean, to provide financial support for international students proficient in German, or as a second preference for those proficient in at least one official language of the European Union in addition to English.

Learn more about scholarships available to the Darden Full-Time MBA and Executive MBA classes of 2024 on the School’s Scholarships webpages.