This year, Case Western Reserve University is partnering with nine historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to offer a new graduate scholarship that will cover at least 30% of tuition for many students.

“At [CWRU], we are striving to build a more diverse and inclusive community, where humanity, science and technology meet to create a just and thriving world,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Ben Vinson III. “With our new North Star Award program, we’re seeking graduate and professional students from such high-quality partnering institutions who uphold those same guiding principles.”

Current partnering institutions include Xavier University of Louisiana, Dillard University, Fisk University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Howard University, Jackson State University, North Carolina Central University, Tougaloo College and Tuskegee University.

“We are working to expand the number of schools in the consortium,” said Vinson via email. “We are also looking to develop research partnerships, teaching partnerships and other collaborations that will be of mutual value to faculty and students at all of our institutions.”

The North Star Award is open to all graduate-seeking students who have graduated and attained a bachelor’s degree from one of the nine institutions stated above. The scholarship makes use of CWRU’s existing graduate student scholarship frameworks. There is no application fee and selected scholars will automatically be given a 30% tuition award from the Office of the Provost. The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences is offering as much as 50% off tuition.

Currently, CWRU is working to encourage students from different disciplines to participate in programs developed by the School of Graduate Studies, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, the Office for Inclusion and all of CWRU’s schools and the College of Arts and Sciences The programming may include various topics, such as peer-to-peer mentoring and professional mentoring.

The CWRU School of Law, for example, has agreements with Hampton University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Tuskegee University, University of Alaska Anchorage and Xavier University of Louisiana. It offers graduate students unique incentives to apply and enroll at the School of Law, such as substantial scholarships and alumni mentorship opportunities. The School of Law’s new agreements will not only support HBCUs, but also schools primarily enrolling underrepresented minorities, including Latinx, Native American and Pacific Islander students.

“Xavier University of Louisiana, like other HBCUs, was founded on a commitment to excellence and as an act of what we would now call antiracism,” said Xavier’s Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, Anna McCall. “As we near our centennial year of struggle and success, we are proud to work together with Case Western Reserve University, one of our nation’s premier institutions. Our relationship is a significant commitment to increasing graduate and professional school opportunities for our students and helping our nation fulfill its promise.

Applications are found online and deadlines for the North Star Award vary by department.