Seven Students Earn Prestigious National Scholarships – SUNY Brockport
New Honors College initiative positions students for success by identifying opportunities and providing support in the application process.
SUNY Brockport’s Honors College launched a new initiative to assist students applying for external scholarships. In just its first year, seven students earned external awards that provided significant funding to study and conduct research abroad, to pursue graduate study in prestigious PhD programs, and more.
Austin Busch (Director of the Honors College) and Afeez Hazzan (Associate Professor) spent countless hours researching external scholarship opportunities available to students and compiling a comprehensive list on the University’s website that students could use to find the perfect fit for their needs.
Troy Smith earned a scholarship from the Department of Energy to pursue his PhD.
“We had to apply to funding agencies to get SUNY Brockport students permission to apply for many of these scholarships,” Hazzan said. “Once we compiled all the information, the next step was to promote it to our students.”
The Honors College held several information sessions open to all SUNY Brockport students interested in learning more about the application process. Busch and Hazzan also explained the benefits of applying for prestigious national scholarships, beyond the financial assistance they offered. They scheduled one-on-one meetings with students who took the next step to apply and worked with them closely until submission to strategize the complex application processes.
“We would answer all of their questions, then develop a plan to get them to apply,” Hazzan said. “Do they need us to proofread their essay? Do they need letters of recommendation? Do they need access to their college transcript? As much help as the student needed, we provided.”
“As much help as the student needed, we provided.”
Afeez Hazzan
While securing the scholarship was the goal, the Honors College stressed to each student how impressive it was to simply apply for these highly competitive scholarships. About a dozen students went through the entire application process in the 2024-25 academic year, with seven ultimately selected to receive a scholarship.
“Dr. Hazzan gave me a lot of support to apply,” Troy Smith said. “He looked over my PhD essay and kept checking in on me throughout the process to make sure everything was on track.”
With an entire year of experience and multiple students earning external funding, the Honors College hopes even more students will reach out and take the next step toward achieving their goals.
Explore the our scholarship database to find the perfect opportunity—and hear directly from peers about their experience working with the Honors College.
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