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Home Student Philanthropy and Grants Opportunities Student Impact Grant

Student Impact Grant

Student Impact Grants provide funding for a variety of University of Iowa undergraduate and graduate student activities outside the classroom, such as research, travel, and service projects. The goal is to enable students to pursue opportunities that might not otherwise be possible without financial assistance.

The President's Office has generously allocated $7,000 per semester to help enhance the student experience through these grants. The designated funds come from generous philanthropic gifts made by alumni and friends who have chosen to provide unrestricted support to the university.

Grants are awarded twice a year. Applications are typically accepted for the summer/fall semester beginning in January and for the winter/spring semester beginning in September.

Read the stories of previous recipients.

The grants are made possible by a partnership between the Office of the President and Student Advancement Network (SAN).

GRANT GUIDELINES

Award Application Process

Applications will be considered for funding based on the timeline below. An online form will be available for students and student groups to use when the application period opens. A maximum of $7,000 in total grants will be awarded. Grant amounts will range from $100-$1,000 awards.

Winter 2025 and Spring 2026 Semester Award Grant Cycle

  • September 2: Application opens
  • September 26: Application deadline (5 p.m.)
  • November 20: Grant recipients will be notified about funding requests for winter or spring semester.
  • December 3: Summer/Fall 2025 grant recipient presentations detailing how the funds were used and how the grant enhanced the recipient’s Iowa experience. This event is open to the public.
  • December 4: Signed recipient agreement form due
  • December 22: Award transfers/payments for summer projects
  • January 20: Award transfers/payments for fall projects
  • April 28: Winter 2025/Spring 2026 grant recipient presentations detailing how the funds were used and how the grant enhanced the recipient's Iowa experience. This event is open to the public.

Student Eligibility Requirements

  • Applicants must be enrolled full time as a University of Iowa undergraduate or graduate student for the fall 2025 semester and be in good standing as defined in the University of Iowa Code of Student Life.
  • Student groups or organizations must be recognized by the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership or by a University of Iowa department.
  • If your program is funded in full by other programs or funding methods your program is not eligible.
  • Program/experience must abide by all university guidelines. Grant funding does not permit activities that conflict with these guidelines.
  • Program/experience must abide by all university research guidelines. Grant funding does not permit activities that conflict with Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines. Funding does not provide IRB permission for the project.
  • Funding requests must be shown to improve or enhance the student experience and may not be used to reimburse research subjects. Recipients will share about this outcome during a biannual Student Impact Grant Presentation event.
  • Once a student receives a grant, they are not eligible for another University of Iowa Center for Advancement student grant within the next three years.
  • Grants are not renewable.
  • Recipients must present during the Winter/Spring grant recipient presentation detailing how the funds were used and how your Iowa experience was enhanced because of this award. Presentations will be held on April 28, 2026.
Apply Now

Review Process

Members of the University of Iowa Student Advancement Network will review all submissions and make a recommendation. A University of Iowa Center for Advancement employee will oversee the scoring and review process. After review, recommendations will be sent to the Office of the President, which will make the final decision on all grant awards.

Awardees will then be notified of their selection to receive a grant, and payment will be provided by the Office of the President through a transfer to the student's U-Bill or student organization's account. The University of Iowa Office of Student Financial Aid will be consulted to ensure that funding does not affect other financial aid that a student may receive.

If you have questions, please contact Hannah McClintock at hannah.mcclintock@foriowa.org.

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Anything But a Crash and Burn

Former University of Iowa student-athletes Blake and Stephanie (Swanson) Rasing have had success in competition, the classroom, and their respective careers. As alumni, they're paying it forward and supporting Iowa's soccer and wrestling programs. It was a wet, rainy September day in 2007 when Blake Rasing (12BBA) was driving his motorcycle up to Hillcrest Hall. That's when he crashed. "I was walking down the hill afterwards?with a few burns on my leg?and that's when I met Stephanie for the first time," says Blake, of his wife, Stephanie (Swanson) Rasing (11BSE). "She didn't even bat an eye. She laughed and walked away." Just a few hours later, though, Stephanie had an incident of her own. "We had goalkeeper practice before the rest of soccer team," says Stephanie. "We were messing around and taking shots. I slid and ran my right knee into the goal post. I gashed it up and ended up going to the hospital." Soon, both Blake and Stephanie found themselves meeting again at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics while waiting for medications. It wasn't the start of a romance?that took time?but it was one of many conversations that led to a lasting relationship. "Most people get tattoos of their significant other, but I have a nice scar on my knee to remember the day we met," says Stephanie. While meeting each other in Iowa City shaped the course of their lives, it wasn't the only highlight from their time at the University of Iowa. Blake and Stephanie were successful student-athletes. Blake was part of the 2010 national championship wrestling team and won the 2011 Big Ten title at heavyweight, while Stephanie was a four-year letterwinner and two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar as part of the Iowa soccer program. Their time at Iowa also prepared them for careers in the Chicago area. Blake is a senior manager at Grant Thornton, the sixth largest U.S. accounting and advisory organization, while Stephanie is a program manager at Hendrickson International, which designs and manufactures suspension systems and components for trucks and trailers. "Because Iowa has a smaller, Big Ten engineering school, I had a lot of great opportunities," says Stephanie. "And as student-athletes, we both knew how to put in the work to be successful. Our experiences as student-athletes?working with teammates from a variety of backgrounds on common goals?really set us up for success." That's why the Rasings have given back to the University of Iowa, including to their respective sports. They recently supported the Carver Circle campaign, which is raising funds for a new wrestling training complex adjacent to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. "Our love for the University of Iowa is the only thing we agree on in our household," says Blake, who credits Tom Brands (92BS) and Terry Brands (92BGS) for his success on the mat. "We talk about the University of Iowa just about every day. It's a common goal for us to help the university as much as we can because of what the university gave to us. As a former wrestler, I wanted to support Carver Circle to keep our program going and keep it strong." They also supported the new operations facility at the Iowa Soccer Complex, which opened in fall 2021. Stephanie wanted to honor a former teammate, Kim Olsen White (10BA), who passed away in 2020 after a battle with adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. The locker room in the new facility is named in White's honor. "I had great teammates at Iowa, and when they decided to name the locker room after Kim, I knew I wanted to be part of that," says Stephanie. "Resiliency is an important trait as a student-athlete, and Kim was resilient as a student-athlete and during her battle with cancer. We knew the soccer facility was bigger than us. We wanted to keep her memory alive and leave a lasting impact on the program."

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