The University Leadership Network (ULN) is a nationally recognized incentive-based scholarship program. ULN’s mission is to encourage and support students to graduate in four years and become leaders through professional and experiential learning opportunities that advance their education, communities, and lives.
Participation in ULN spans a student’s four years at UT. The financial support and comprehensive four-year plan allow students to streamline their educational experience, helping them to minimize student loan debt and graduate career-ready and poised to become leaders in their community.
Scholarship
ULN students receive a scholarship of up to $20,000 (up to $5,000 per year over your four years at UT) based on participation in the program’s four-year plan. In partnership with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, ULN awards scholarship funds to students at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters.
ULN scholarship eligibility is based on a student’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The ULN scholarship is in addition to any other grants or scholarships a student might receive, so a student’s ULN scholarship amount might be adjusted if their total financial aid exceeds the university’s cost of attendance. In keeping with ULN’s goal of minimizing student loan debt, if a student obtains additional resources and the ULN award impacts the amount of financial aid for which they are eligible, student loans are reduced first.
Four-Year Plan
ULN’s four-year plan guides students’ journey both inside and outside the classroom. Throughout their four years at UT, ULN students must complete 30 credit hours per year (including transfer hours) and maintain a 2.0 to 4.0 cumulative GPA.
ELEVATE
ELEVATE (Empowering Leaders with Exemplary Values, Attitudes, and Transformative Education) is an opportunity for ULN students to develop their personal definition of leadership and to increase awareness of leadership opportunities in ULN and across campus while earning a digital badge. This leadership initiative aims to encourage, support, and recognize leaders through opportunities that advance their education, communities, and lives.
Academic Support
Each year, students in the University Leadership Network are assigned a dedicated ULN Coordinator who specializes in supporting students for that specific year. By working exclusively with students from a particular year, these coordinators can offer personalized support tailored to the challenges and experiences typical of that stage. Whether it’s course planning, financial aid assistance, coordinating student activities, or researching experiential learning opportunities, our ULN Coordinators provide personalized support to ensure active participation.
ULN Coordinators
- Eboney Mitchell, Texas ’25/’26 Coordinator
- Jamie Saucedo, TX ’27 Coordinator
- Cathie Jean Varlack, Texas ’28 Coordinator
- Gloria Peña-Spener, Experiential Learning Coordinator
Additionally, all first-year ULN students also belong to one of the college success programs listed below. ULN works directly with the college success programs to ensure students receive robust support and programming to help them develop academically and professionally.
- Foundation Scholars (FSP), College of Liberal Arts
- McCombs Success Scholars (MSS), McCombs School of Business
- Moody College Success Scholars, Moody College of Communication
- Ramshorn Scholars, Cockrell School of Engineering
- Texas Education Scholars (TES), College of Education
- Texas Interdisciplinary Program (TIP), College of Natural Sciences
- PODS
- First-Year Interest Groups (FIGs)
- First-Gen Longhorns
- UT for Me
- Fine Arts Mentoring + Enrichment (F.A.M.E), College of Fine Arts
Experiential Learning and Career Readiness
Developing marketable skills through experiential learning is a key element of the ULN program. Experiential learning happens both in and out of the classroom and helps students develop transferable skills and learn how to navigate a professional work environment. Examples of experiential learning opportunities include conducting undergraduate research and participating in an on- or off-campus internship. These opportunities will help students be career ready, with three years of robust experiences at the time of graduation.
To maintain their scholarship, ULN students are required to complete 10 hours of experiential learning per week during the fall and spring semesters of their second, third, and fourth years in the program. Employers who host ULN students are ULN Partners, and ULN’s dedicated Experiential Learning Coordinator works directly with ULN Partners to create meaningful experiential learning opportunities on campus, in Austin, throughout Texas, and around the world.
Program Results
ULN was founded in 2013 and celebrated its first graduating class in 2017. It was predicted that only 33% of ULN’s Class of 2017 would graduate in four years, but more than half of ULN students who started the program in 2013 graduated within four years. ULN’s four-year graduation rate has increased every year since, proving that combining significant financial support with consistent leadership training is making a difference in ULN students’ lives.
