Martin Scholar Program

Program Summary

The Martin Scholars Program is one of UNC Charlotte’s leading merit scholarship programs, established in 2016 through the generosity of UNC Charlotte alumni Demond T. (’97) and Twakia “Kia” (’98) Martin. The Martin Scholars Program is housed in the Honors College in order to support high-achieving students with the highest level of financial need and provides the recipients with the following:

Ability to pursue academic excellence and personal development without the burden of how to pay for school
Award amounts equal to their unmet financial need up to the cost of attendance (total value of scholarship, on average, is $35,000 for a four-year student, including a study abroad stipend)
Opportunities for professional development through specialized programing and financial assistance in studying abroad or completing an internship
Increased support and advising from Honors College staff and the Martin Faculty Fellow
All Martin Scholars are members of an honors program, allowing them to benefit from small classes with dedicated faculty, priority registration, and honors programming

ADMISSION & ELIGIBILITY

Open to full-time incoming freshmen, transfer students, and continuing students.

Pell-eligible with an Student Aid Index (SAI) of $3,000 or less as determined by the FAFSA
Be a member of or intend to join an honors program
Must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident
Must be a resident of North Carolina
Preference given to incoming freshmen and transfer students with minimum 3.7 cumulative GPA (unweighted for high school)
Continuing students at UNC Charlotte nominated by honors faculty/staff must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA

UTOP (University Transition Opportunities Program):

Incoming freshman Martin Scholars are required to attend UTOP during the summer prior to their first semester at UNC Charlotte. UTOP typically starts at the beginning of July and continues through the first week of August. Demond and Kia Martin felt UTOP was transformational when they attended and want all Martin Scholars to benefit from that experience. The Honors College will cover the participant fee, meal plan, and any additional cost not covered by grants or scholarships.

HOW TO APPLY:

The Martin Scholarship application is made available to qualified students through the Honors College Application.

To apply for the Martin Scholars Program:

Complete the UNC Charlotte Admission Application by the early action deadline of November 1, 2026
Complete the Honors College Admission Application by the priority deadline of December 1, 2026
Check the box in the Honors College application indicating interest in the Martin Scholar Program application and submit honors essay 2 by December 1, 2026
Complete the FAFSA by January 1, 2027

Required Application Materials

Prepare the following materials to apply to the Martin Scholars Program:

1. List of Activities

Please list and describe your extracurricular activities, community service, summer enrichment, employment, and other accomplishments in the section below. If applicable, indicate your leadership responsibilities for each activity. This section is also an opportunity to list any recognition and awards you have received during high school.

You may share up to 10 total activities and awards. List your activities and awards in order of importance to you, with the first being the most important, the second being the second most important, and so on.

Number each item 1-10
Give the organization’s full name (not an acronym)
Indicate during which grades you participated
Include the start and end dates, how many hours per week, how many weeks per year
Indicate any leadership positions held

2. Two Essays

The purpose of these essays is to help us get to know you as a person and understand how you think. You should submit polished writing that demonstrates authenticity, creativity, and analytical reflection. The best essays will give the review committee a clear sense of the unique intellectual and creative contributions you are poised to make to the UNC Charlotte community.

Essay 1

The Honors College expects that applicants’ responses to the prompt are entirely their own and reflect their personal experiences, ideas, and language. While it can be a helpful tool, artificial intelligence (AI) should not be used in the production of this essay.
It is acceptable for you to use an essay you have submitted for another UNC Charlotte application if you feel it adequately addresses the prompt.
Plain text only. Formatting such as bold, italics, or underlined text will be removed upon pasting.
Be sure to specifically address the prompt provided in no less than 400 words and no more than 500 words.
To avoid losing your work due to session timeouts, write and save your essay in a separate word processor (like Google Docs or MS Word) before pasting it here.
Review your text in the box after pasting to ensure no formatting errors occurred during the transfer.

Honors Essay 1 Prompt:
Honors and merit scholars are intellectually curious learners. They ask questions, seek deeper understanding, and remain open to changing their perspectives. Tell us about an “aha” moment you had related to an idea or concept you were learning, either in a classroom or through independent exploration, that changed your thinking. Describe this concept or idea and how your thinking about it changed. How has this affected the way you approach learning today?

Essay 2

We value writing that is specific and true over writing that is polished and general; the strongest essays demonstrate authenticity, creativity, and analytical reflection.
The Honors College expects that applicants’ responses to the prompt are entirely their own and reflect their personal experiences, ideas, and language. While it can be a helpful tool, artificial intelligence (AI) should not be used in the production of this essay.
It is acceptable for you to use an essay you have submitted for another UNC Charlotte application if you feel it adequately addresses the prompt.
Plain text only. Formatting such as bold, italics, or underlined text will be removed upon pasting.
Be sure to specifically address the prompt provided in no less than 500 words and no more than 700 words.
To avoid losing your work due to session timeouts, write and save your essay in a separate word processor (like Google Docs or MS Word) before pasting it here.
Review your text in the box after pasting to ensure no formatting errors occurred during the transfer.

Honors Essay 2 Prompt:
People don’t come with user’s manuals; we have to figure each other out the hard way, through experience. What’s it like to work with you? Give your future colleagues a head start: write the manual for working with you on a hard problem. For example, what can they count on you for, where do you tend to struggle, and what should they do when you’re wrong? For each area you share, be sure to ground it in one real moment from your life.

Note: Finalists should expect to be asked follow up questions about this essay during their interview.

3. Two Academic Letters of Recommendation

An academic reference is defined as a current or former teacher, or professor, who was your instructor for at least one academic course. Family members, friends, current/former employers or co-workers, leaders of faith-based or community organizations, etc. should not be used as academic references.

We suggest that you select and approach your recommenders now. Teachers have busy schedules and writing detailed letters of recommendation is a time-consuming process.

Once you have completed the Honors College Application, your recommenders will receive an email with a link and must upload their letters no later than December 5th.

TIMELINE

Deadline	Action Required
November 1	Early Action deadline to apply to UNC Charlotte to be considered for the Martin Scholars Program
December 1	Deadline to complete the Honors College Application
December 1	Deadline to submit the Martin Scholarship application
December 5	Letters of Recommendation due (via upload from recommenders)
January 1	Deadline for applicants to complete and submit FAFSA
February	Finalists and all other applicants are notified of their status via email
Mid-Late February	Virtual interviews take place for finalists
Late February- Early March	Martin Scholars Program offers are extended and all other candidates are notified of their status