Banneker/Key Scholars
The Banneker/Key Scholarship gets its name from two very prominent figures in American history, Benjamin Banneker and Francis Scott Key, both of whom resided in Maryland. This exceptional scholarship opportunity is offered to only a select group of applicants who have demonstrated significant academic leadership and accomplishment in high school.
All freshman applicants to the University of Maryland who meet the early action deadline of November 1 and are invited to the Honors College are considered for nomination to the Banneker/Key Scholarship. No additional application materials are required. The Banneker/Key Scholarship Selection Committee members carefully review the entire application of each Banneker/Key Scholarship nominee. Semifinalists for the scholarship are invited to interview as part of the final selection process. Each fall, we welcome about 150 new Banneker/Key Scholars to campus.
In selecting Banneker/Key Scholars, the Committee seeks to identify potential academic leaders, who as individuals and as a group, will enrich and benefit from the campus learning environment.
1. Overview
The Banneker/Key is the University of Maryland’s most prestigious scholarship. There are two levels of funding: full and partial.
- The full Banneker/Key provides full tuition, room, board, and a book allowance. (Since Fall 2020, the room and board amount will be dependent on where a student is living, whether at home with family or on- or off-campus not with family. Please review the policy for details.)
- The partial Banneker/Key provides $8,000 for in-state students and $12,000 towards tuition for out-of-state students annually.
Both levels of the scholarship include an additional book allowance each year. On campus, we make no distinction between full and partial Banneker/Key Scholars, except in the confidential records of the Office of Undergraduate Admission and Office of Student Financial Aid.
2. Special Events & Activities
One of the highlight events for first-year Banneker/Key Scholars is the annual President’s reception. This is a great opportunity for students to meet President Pines, deans, and faculty from across campus, as well as other Banneker/Key Scholars. Planning for the Fall 2024 event is underway.
The student-initiated and student-run Banneker/Key Community Council (BKCC) hosts occasional academic, social and recruiting events for the Banneker/Key community. If you are interested in getting involved as a student leader in the BKCC, please contact bkcc@umd.edu.
3. On-Campus Housing and Dining
Entering Banneker/Key Scholars are strongly encouraged to live in the Honors residence halls at the beginning of their college careers; after submitting the campus housing contract to Resident Life, Banneker/Key Scholars are automatically assigned to Honors housing unless the student requests other housing. For questions concerning housing and dining plans, please visit the Department of Resident Life Housing Commitment Policy, Department of Resident Life and UMD Dining Services. If available, students may choose a more expensive housing option or meal plan and pay the difference in expense. See the Banneker/Key policy for specific info. Any portion of a full Banneker/Key scholarship not used will be credited to the student’s account, and the student will receive a refund. The quickest way to receive the refund is via direct deposit.
4. Book Allowance
All Banneker/Key Scholars receive a book allowance each year. (Check the Scholarship Program Policy for the 2024-25 year amount.) One-half of the book allowance is credited to the student’s financial aid account at the beginning of each term. If the student has a credit in their account at the beginning of the term, then a check for the credit amount will be mailed to the student’s home address or the student can sign-up for direct deposit to a personal bank account. This allows students to purchase books from any vendor at any time.
5. Internship, Cooperative Education, and Study Abroad Programs
There are many opportunities for Banneker/Key Scholars to participate in exceptional research, internships and cooperative education experiences on- and off-campus. These programs provide opportunities for scholars to test classroom learning in the world of work, explore career possibilities and enhance personal and professional development prior to graduation, as well as serve the community through volunteer experiences. For further information, visit the Career Center.
Check out Maryland’s vibrant Study Abroad Programs. Banneker Key students who plan to participate in cooperative education or study abroad should contact their Honors advisor, study abroad advisor, and the Office of Student Financial Aid the semester before travel begins to ensure proper allocation of the scholarship. In many cases, the Banneker Key Scholarship can be applied toward the costs of studying abroad, but you must request approval from the Financial Aid Office first. See the scholarship policy for more info.
6. Academic Requirements
Banneker/Key Scholars must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better each semester and complete a minimum of 30 credits per year. Please see the Banneker/Key Scholarship Policy Statement for details. Credits earned during the winter or summer terms will count towards the credit requirement for the year; but the cost of winter and summer courses are not covered by the scholarship. The academic year begins in the fall and ends with the close of the summer term. For example, credits earned in Summer 2024 will count toward the 2023-24 academic year.
Students who anticipate that they may fall below the minimum GPA requirements or the minimum credit level for the scholarship are encouraged to contact the Banneker/Key advisor right away. Students who fall below a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 are permitted a one-time/one-semester grace period to allow them to re-qualify for their scholarship. Students who find that they need to request an exception due to extenuating circumstances can do so in writing to the Scholarship Appeal Committee at sfa-scholarships@umd.edu and contact us with questions.
7. Rules for Accepting Multiple Scholarships
Full Banneker/Key Scholars who are also awarded other scholarships may be eligible to receive their Banneker/Key Scholarship in conjunction with outside funds up to the amount of the University of Maryland’s Cost of Attendance. Partial Banneker/Key Scholars are able to accept all outside scholarships up to the University of Maryland’s Cost of Attendance. Banneker/Key Scholars must report all additional scholarships to the Office of Student Financial Aid as soon as possible.
8. Preparing for National Awards and Scholarships
Want to travel or study after you graduate? Want to win a nationally/internationally prestigious award to attend graduate school after you graduate from Maryland? Banneker/Key Scholars are very competitive candidates for national awards and scholarships. However, successful applications for awards such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Truman and Goldwater require early preparation and planning, even beginning in the freshman year. Visit the National Scholarships Office. Make time during your first year on campus to meet your National Scholarships Office advisor and learn about opportunities that will be a good match for your interests.
9. For More Information about Financial Matters
For more information about the award and benefits of the Banneker/Key Scholarship, please visit the Banneker/Key Scholarship Policy Statement. This document answers many frequently asked questions about the Banneker/Key Scholarship.
It is possible that a portion of your Banneker/Key Scholarship could be taxable. Remember to download a copy of your 1098-T IRS form at the beginning of each year. This form will show you exactly what part of your scholarship has been reported to the IRS as taxable income. If you have questions, please contact the Office of the Bursar at 301-314-9000.
10. Still Have Questions?
Please feel free to be in touch!
Contact us at:
Jenny Lang, Associate Director, Honors College
jenlang@umd.edu
301-405-1220
Please make sure you review the Banneker/Key scholarship policy.
The Banneker/Key Scholarship has successfully helped recruit and support University of Maryland’s top academic superstars. Without the Banneker/Key Scholarship, many of these students would not have chosen Maryland. Your support for the merit-based Banneker/Key Scholarship or for need-based scholarships at Maryland are both critical to helping University of Maryland recruit and retain our most academically talented students.
Banneker/Key Scholarship Fund
The Banneker/Key Scholarship Fund helps offer new and maintain existing Banneker/Key Scholarships in the current academic year. Your support for this most prestigious merit scholarship at Maryland is critical to recruiting students with the greatest potential for academic leadership at Maryland and beyond. It is Banneker/Key Scholars who are especially likely to be academic leaders, national scholarship winners and top candidates for admission to the very best graduate and professional schools after they graduate.
Keep Me Maryland Fund
Maryland families are feeling the strain of the economy and appeals for financial aid continue to increase. From students throughout the campus community, we’re hearing the call, “Keep Me Maryland. This is a great way to support current Maryland students with financial need for whom even a few hundred dollars can make the difference in their ability to stay at Maryland and finish their degrees.
The Banneker Key Community Council (BKCC) is a student-run organization that seeks to foster community among Banneker Key students and to serve as an outlet to help students reach out to Banneker Key alumni through social, professional and service-oriented programming.
Executive Board for 2024-25
- President: Bryant Rivera Cortez
- Vice President: Amber Liu
- Treasurer: Tracy Tan
- Secretary: Ash Morales
- Professional Development Chair: Jaclyn Jacobs
- Historian: Anh Mi Huyn Le
- Sophomore Representatives: Srihitha Akula and Dania Akil
- Freshman Representatives: Emma Finn, Morgan Grant, and Samara Rahman
Contact:
Email: bkcc@umd.edu
Tolulope Ajayi ’24 earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and was a member of the University Honors program. During her time at UMD, Tolulope had internships with WJLA-TV, the Capital News Service, and NBC Universal. She worked for the Diamondback, ultimately serving as the Deputy Engagement Editor. Tolulope was the Commencement Speaker for the University of Maryland Commencement Ceremony in May 2024. Now Tolulope is the Weekend Anchor/Producer for KOLD 13 News in Tucson, Arizona.
Kevin Tu ’23 earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics, his Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences: Neurobiology and Physiology, and his Honors Citation in the University Honors program. Active on campus, he was a member of many organizations, including the Office of Sustainability Green Labs Program, Lean on Me, The Every Child Project, the University Senate, and the Student Government Association. He earned a Churchill Scholarship and is currently pursuing research on the breast cancer microenvironment and the modeling of treatment response in Cambridge, England. Kevin was the featured alumni speaker at the Honors College Convocation in August 2022. 
Elizabeth Carlson ’22 earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a history minor. Elizabeth participated in the Gemstone Honors Program, as well as Engineering Honors. In addition to leadership positions with the UMD chapters of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Engineers Without Borders, she also participated in Club Swimming at UMD. She is now an automation and controls engineer working at M.C. Dean. During her time there, she has worked on large-scale projects including the Maryland Purple Line light rail project, the DC Metro’s Silver Line Expansion, and campus expansions at Fort Meade, MD.
Kyeisha Laurence graduated in 2021 with a degree in Biological Sciences in May 2021 with a specialization in cell biology & genetics. She was a finalist for UMD’s prestigious University Medal. She went on to spend a year at NIH, was admitted to 15 highly rated med schools, and is currently pursuing her MD at Harvard Medical School. Kyeisha is the Co-President of the Harvard Chapter of the Student National Medical Association, as well as the Director of Media Marketing for the MV3 Foundation, an organization that empowers Black undergraduate scholars pursuing careers in health and biomedical sciences through professional development and academic mentoringKyeisha was the featured alumni speaker at the Honors College Convocation in August 2023. Follow her on her website.
Kayla Foster ’21 completed the Gemstone program and majored in Public Health Sciences with a Sustainability Sciences minor. Kayla’s academic focus, multiple research lab experiences, and social outreach efforts during her four years at UMD concerned public health, justice, and wellness through their full dimensions of social and structural contexts. During her senior year, Kayla won the Kirwan Prize for outstanding student leadership. Kayla played an integral role in training students in socially responsible leadership; she played major roles in teaching, outreach, diversity education, and recreation and wellness efforts across campus; and she has served as the president of the UMD chapter of the Petey Greene Program, a prison education organization. Kayla now works for the Center for Justice Innovation in New York, while pursuing her Masters in Public Administration at the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Kayla was the featured alumni speaker at the Honors College Convocation in August 2024.
Nataliya Stepanova ’21 participated in the University Honors program, and earned degrees in Mathematics and in Computer Science, as well as a minor in Linguistics. She won a Marshall Scholarship, which allowed her to pursue her interests in natural language processing in the Ph.D. program at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in Fall 2021. Nataliya grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, and was always interested in puzzles. In fact, she started a puzzle club in high school! The one puzzle she couldn’t solve was how to put together two subjects that long interested her: math and language. Nataliya credits a University Honors seminar she took during her freshman year, “Language and Mine,” for helping her to put these pieces together, launching her on a path that has included research at two world-class language science laboratories, an internship in the State Department, and her own research program of developing social media technology capable of distinguishing between information and misinformation. Nataliya now works as a software engineer at Amazon, specifically working on Alexa Text-to-Speech.
Tanay Wakhare is a recipient of the University Medal, the highest honor the University of Maryland bestows upon an undergraduate student. During his time at UMD, he received the Banneker/Key Scholarship, and received the Goldwater and Churchill Scholarships. He graduated from UMD in May 2020 with degrees in computer science and mathematics. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in advanced computer science at the University of Cambridge as a Churchill Scholar and then will go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work on a doctorate in theoretical computer science.
Katelyn Turner ’18 government and politics and philosophy with a minor in music performance, received a Fulbright Grant to pursue research on gender-based violence and women’s labor market participation in Mauritius. Since she graduated, Turner has earned her master’s degree from the University of Oxford, and now plans to return to the United States, to enroll in a J.D./Ph.D. program in law and sociology, focusing on human rights.
In 2018, Stamps Banneker/Key Scholar Christopher Bambic was named one of the University of Maryland’s two Winston Churchill Scholars. Christopher was also the recipient of a National Science Foundation Undergraduate Student Fellowship as well as the University Medal. Christopher earned his Honors Citation from University Honors, and received the Goldwater Scholarship in 2017. In May 2018, he graduated with his B.S. double degree in astronomy and physics. After pursuing a master’s degree in astronomy at the University of Cambridge, Christopher will begin his Ph.D. research in astrophysical sciences at Princeton University.
Banneker/Key Scholar Yousuf Khan was also awarded the Winston Churchill Scholarship. A graduate of Integrated Life Sciences, Yousuf earned his B.S. in biological sciences in May 2018. Yousuf is working towards a master’s degree in pathology at the University of Cambridge and later plans to pursue his Ph.D.
Elfadil Osman ’17, a biological sciences major and Gemstone honors student, received a 2017 Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Osman is only the second student in university history to be awarded this scholarship. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. “Elfadil is an exceptional young man who epitomizes the value of an honors education at a public research university,” said Susan Dwyer, Osman’s Gemstone team mentor and executive director of the Honors College at UMD. “He is an exciting scientist and a reflective human being fully attuned to the ethical dimensions of his work. I have enjoyed being regularly on the receiving end of Elfadil’s probing questions for the past three years.” Read more about Osman and the Gates Camridge Scholarship.
Fang Cao ’15 was selected as a 2015 Rhodes Scholar to pursue a graduate degree in medical anthropology at the University of Oxford. Cao graduated from Integrated Life Sciences and earned a BS in biological sciences with a specialization in physiology and neurobiology. He won the Spirit of Maryland award in 2014. He is also the first University of Maryland student to be named both a Truman and Goldwater Scholar.Mackenzie Burnett ’15 was selected for Forbes’ 2017 30 Under 30 list. Burnett earned her BA in Government and Politics and International Relations and completed the University Honors Program. Burnett and fellow alumnus Dan Gillespie founded Redspread, a collaborative software deployment tool. Their start-up was acquired by CoreOS, a platform for simplifying container management, and MacKenzie is now head of product for the company. She is also the Executive Director of Interact ATX, a non-profit that helps connect young technologists and thinkers.