Undergraduate Education

An undergraduate liberal arts education from Berkeley—the world's best research institution—should be the richest possible intellectual experience in which students become conversant in the disciplines, think flexibly and creatively, solve problems, and make decisions.

While state funding allows us to deliver the basic curriculum, increasingly we look to private support to help us initiate opportunities that engage students directly with the faculty in the process of discovery and that give the liberal-arts curriculum both depth and coherence.

There are several ways that you can make a difference in the education of undergraduates in the College. Gifts may be designated for endowment or current use support. A named endowment may be established with a gift of at least $25,000. Opportunities include:

• Undergraduate Education Enhancement Fund
  Gifts of any size made to the Undergraduate Education Enhancement Fund Gifts of any size made to the Undergraduate Education Enhancement Fund help the Dean to launch new initiatives and enhance existing programs. For example, each gift of $2,000 will fund one Freshman or Sophomore Seminar http://fss.berkeley.edu, giving 15 students the opportunity to explore a topic of mutual interest with one of Berkeley's remarkable faculty members.

• L&S Undergraduate Research Grants
  Research grants enable students to undertake ambitious plans. Often a grant can mean the difference between doing original research and doing a review of others' work. For example, $40,000 annually will enable L&S to encourage this kind of capstone experience by making grants to 30 to 40 students.

• L&S Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships
  For many students—and certainly for the many Berkeley students who must work—a research stipend is the only way they can carve out the time necessary for research. For example, $40,000 annually will make it possible for 20 students to devote two summer months to the pursuit of an independent research project.

• L&S Travel Grants for Undergraduate Research
  Undergraduates in L&S may apply for travel grants to conduct fieldwork or archival research, or to present their research at a national or regional conference. These grants will help some students to get their research started, and others to bring it to its logical conclusion in a public presentation. For example, $15,000 annually will enable the Dean to award travel grants to as many as 45 students.

Make a secure gift online now to Undergraduate Education.

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For further information, please contact:

College Relations
College of Letters & Science
University of California, Berkeley
201 Campbell Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-2920
510-643-1964
510-643-7819 (fax)
Email giving@LS.berkeley.edu