Academic Supports
THE STUDENT OUTREACH AND RETENTION CENTER WORKS TO BUILD STUDENTS TOWARDS ACADEMIC SUCCESS THROUGH COLLABORATIONS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND CLUBS ON CAMPUS.PROGRAMS THAT WE OFFER
LARC Sponsorship
Need help paying for a LARC Tutorial? SOAR is here to help! SOAR offers LARC Sponsorships to students in need. See below for more details:
Guidelines for LARC sponsorship:
- LARC sponsorships are limited, and SOAR may not be able to sponsor all requests received.
- Sponsorship requests are reviewed in the order received, starting on week 1, and selected students are notified between week 2 through week 5, until sponsorship spots are filled.
- Requests received after week 5 of every quarter will not be reviewed.
- Selected students must agree to attend 50% of the LARC tutorials provided. Failure to attend the tutorials will result in rescinding of the LARC sponsorship.
- Please only submit one request per LARC course per quarter.
- Multiple courses will NOT be sponsored as we want to support as many students as possible.
- A survey from the SOAR center will be emailed to you at the end of the quarter. Please complete this to help us understand your experience and how this tutorial benefited you.
Applications for Fall quarter sponsorships will open on September 25, 2025. Any questions or concerns, please email soaring@uci.edu.
Book Grant (APPLICATION CLOSED)
One of SOAR’s core values is access. Often, one of the barriers
that students face in higher education is affordability. This grant is aimed at decreasing the
financial burden that students face with purchasing book materials. Eleven scholarships
($200 per individual) will be awarded per cycle. All undergraduates are encouraged to
apply.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Be an enrolled undergraduate student at UCI for the academic year.
- Minimum of a 2.0 GPA.
- Currently involved or engaged in efforts in the SOAR Center throughout one’s
undergraduate career. - Preference for students who demonstrate need, such as Expected Family
Contribution (EFC), does not meet the Cost of Attendance (CoA), and/or recipients of government funds (Pell Grant, Cal Grant, etc.). - The award will be disbursed to your UCI student account by the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. Scholarships may not exceed a student’s cost of
attendance. This scholarship may reduce or replace your loans or unused
work/study funds to allow for the scholarship to be applied. If you have questions about how the funds may impact your financial aid package, please contact your financial aid counselor at finaid@uci.edu or call (949) 824-8262. - By submitting this application, I hereby give permission to the UCI SOAR Center to review my academic transcript record to verify next quarter enrollment. It is my understanding that this information will not be made public.
For questions or concerns, please email soaring@uci.edu
SOAR Scholarship (APPLICATION CLOSED)
underserved student communities. Our Center aims to create substantial change and stand with students facing continuous systemic inequities and/or anti-Blackness within the larger UC Irvine community.
SOAR will allocate funding to students in need. Students may apply for a maximum of $500
per scholarship. Students can apply for this scholarship multiple times during their time at
UCI. Funds will be allocated on a case-by-case basis with review by the SOAR scholarship
funding committee.
Preference for covering housing application fees, book and technology fees, and any other
educational costs will be given higher priority. Undergraduate students from all majors are
encouraged to apply. Students must thoroughly complete the application for consideration.
Please thoroughly read the eligibility requirements.
Eligibility Requirements:
Be an enrolled student as an undergraduate at UCI during the quarter you are
applying for the scholarship.
- Minimum 2.0 GPA.
- Committed, engaged, or involved in community service addressing issues of
systemic inequities and/or including anti-Blackness, racism, or educational inequities
within the UC Irvine community. - Be either a Umoja Pilot Program scholar, an active member involved with the SOAR
Center, and/or the Center for Black Cultures, Resources, and Research. - Preference for students who demonstrate need, such as Expected Family
Contribution (EFC), do not meet the Cost of Attendance (CoA), and/or are recipients
of government funds (Pell Grant, Cal Grant, etc.). - Students may apply for a maximum of $500 per scholarship application cycle.
- The award will be disbursed to your UCI student account by the Office of
Financial Aid & Scholarships. Scholarships may not exceed a student’s cost of
attendance. This scholarship may reduce or replace your loans or unused
work/study funds to allow for the scholarship to be applied. If you have questions
about how the funds may impact your financial aid package, please contact your
financial aid counselor at finaid@uci.edu or call (949) 824-8262. - By submitting this application, I hereby permit the UCI SOAR Center to
review my academic transcript record to verify next quarter enrollment. It is my
understanding that this information will not be made public.
Students’ professional and academic goals must align with Umoja practices:- Engage in conscious dialogue, discourse, and deliberate learning.
- A willingness to share your experiences authentically with an ethic of love.
- Share what you have learned with your community to develop communal building.
- Cultivate spaces to foster cultural pride and belonging informed by historical experiences of the African diaspora.
- Participate in community mentorship.
Please Note:
*Active involvement with the SOAR Center can include being a member of a registered
campus organization (RCO) that was a part of the SOARing for Education Affiliation
program during the 2024-2025 academic year or any other program under the SOAR
Center.*
*Active involvement within the Umoja Pilot Program, Transfer Student Center (TSC), or the
Center for Black Cultures, Resources, and Research means participating in programs held
during the 2023 – 2024 and/or 2024 – 2025 Academic Year. *
*First-year transfer and incoming freshman student applicants will be asked to
submit a copy of their academic transcript. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.*
IRF Scholarship (APPLICATION CLOSED)
The Immigrant Resilience Fellowship (IRF) is a fellowship program that aims to strengthen
academic wellness and support students in improving their G.P.A. throughout the academic
year. The program recruits a cohort of undergraduate students and matches them with peer
mentors. Recipients of the award receive $3,000 for the year and will participate in a student-run
retention program offered by the Student Outreach and Retention (SOAR) Center in partnership with the DREAM Center and the Office of Financial Aid. The program is open to any student and
offers quarterly peer mentor consultations, workshops and social events led by the SOAR
Fellows. Additionally, IRF participants are required to meet with their academic counselor,
professor, or TA during the academic year. IRF participants will receive quarterly LARC
scholarships sponsored by the SOAR Center in order to further support academic and student
retention.
Applications for 2025-2026 are due on July 13, 2025, 11:59pm. Please thoroughly read the eligibility requirements.
Eligibility Requirements:
- You are eligible to receive this award on the condition you meet financial needs that are
not covered by FAFSA and/or other funding sources - You must have filled out the 2025-2026 FAFSA or the CA DREAM Act Application
- Must meet UCI Financial Aid and Scholarships Office eligibility requirements to receive
this scholarship award - Must maintain full-time undergraduate enrollment for the 2025-26 academic year
- Must maintain a minimum G.P.A. of 1.5 for the academic year.
- Recipients of this scholarship may affect your financial aid package as students may not
be “over awarded” for a particular academic year. Other sources of aid, such as loans
may need to be revised to allow for this scholarship award. - By submitting this application, I hereby give permission to the UCI SOAR Center to
review my academic transcript record to verify next quarter enrollment. It is my
understanding that this information will not be made public.
