The Reilly Scholarship Program for
Arts & Letters/Engineering Students

In a world increasingly challenged by new developments in technology and science, it is particularly important that those most intimately engaged in the creation and implementation of technology have the opportunity to reflect as broadly as possible on the world their technical work will transform.

The University of Notre Dame's Five Year Dual-Degree Program in Arts and Letters / Engineering (AL/ENG) is a distinctive one in American higher education. Established in the 1960s, the program enables engineering students to combine professional training in a field of engineering with a richer experience of humanistic, artistic, and social scientific perspectives than normally would be possible within the confines of a four year engineering degree program. To achieve its goals, the AL/ENG Program requires that students who elect to pursue it complete five full academic years of study. However those who complete the Program receive, in turn, two degrees, a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in arts and letters.

In 1985 an alumnus of the AL/ENG Program, Mr. John D. Reilly (BA 1963, BS Engineering 1964) presented the University with an endowment in honor of his father to support special scholarships to be awarded to students enrolled in the AL/ENG Program. The relatively high costs of a Notre Dame education make the commitment to five, rather than four, years of academic study a difficult one for students who must rely on financial aid to cover the expense of their college education. Students at Notre Dame enrolled in accredited five-year programs (e.g., Architecture and AL/ENG) have the same entitlement to undergraduate financial aid from the University during their fifth year, as they did during their first four years. Much of that aid, however, is available only in the form of additional loans and/or campus employment. By contrast, the Reilly Scholarship Program is in a position to make available scholarship dollars in place of non-scholarship aid for qualifying AL/ENG students, not only during their fifth and final year, but during earlier years as well. In recent years as many as twenty-two AL/ENG students annually have received Reilly Scholarship support.

The focus of the Reilly Scholarship Program continues to be on students preparing to enter their fifth, and final, year in the AL/ENG Program. From each rising fifth year class several members are designated Reilly Scholars in honor of noteworthy academic and extra-curricular achievement throughout their careers as AL/ENG students. Along with outstanding students representing other University programs, Reilly Scholars receive public recognition of their awards at Commencement. The selection of Reilly Scholars is made in the spring of the senior year. They are based on students' academic record and a personal interview conducted by a small committee late in the spring semester. But whether or not a fifth year AL/ENG student is selected to become a Reilly Scholar, each member of the class remains eligible to receive Reilly scholarship support in accordance with the University's financial aid policies.

Seniors who wish to be eligible for financial aid in the fifth year must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the CSS PROFILE Application by February 28th of their senior year. Decisions about Reilly Scholarship awards will be made in late June and will be based on the student's financial need. (It is recommended that all fourth year AL/ENG students submit the financial aid applications even if they have not previously qualified for University financial aid.)

Students seriously interested in participating in the AL/ENG Program must begin no later than their sophomore year to prepare for this opportunity by carefully planning their required and elective coursework, and choosing majors in Engineering and in Arts and Letters. To enroll in the program, students should fill out the necessary form at the Reilly Center in 309 O'Shaughnessy Hall. The form will then be taken to Assistant Dean Cathy Pieronek in the College of Engineering, and to Assistant Dean Ava Preacher in the College of Arts and Letters for their signatures. The student is then responsible for taking these completed forms to the Registrar. After enrollment in the program, regular consultations with Deans Pieronek and Preacher, as well as the student's faculty advisors in their Engineering and Arts & Letters majors is strongly advised.

To encourage early enrollment in AL/ENG, the Reilly Scholarship Program offers need based scholarships to currently enrolled AL/ENG students in the junior and senior years. Priority for the Reilly Scholarship will be given in the order of 5th year students, seniors and juniors. The amount of the Reilly Scholarship will be based on the financial need of the student and the resources available in the Reilly Scholarship Program. To establish eligibility for consideration, newly enrolled students are asked to schedule appointments with the Director of the University's Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values, who is responsible for overseeing the Scholarship Program.

CONTACT INFORMATION

The Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values
309 O’Shaughnessy Hall
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame IN 46556

574.631.5015
reilly.31@nd.edu