Beginning with the class of 2027, more students will see a Wichita State University education as a possibility thanks to $218,000 in new scholarship opportunities available through the university's annual scholarship competitions.

Open to all incoming majors, Wichita State's Distinguished Scholarship Invitational (DSI) awards some of the largest annual undergraduate scholarships in the region. 

• Harry Gore Memorial Scholarship: This award has recently been increased and includes three $80,000 scholarships over four years. 
• Richard D. Smith Scholarship: One $80,000 award over four years
• Mike and Mary James Scholarship
• Mark and Stacy Parkinson Scholarship

In addition to the above awards, thousands of dollars in additional scholarships will be awarded to DSI finalists and semifinalists.

Along with DSI, Wichita State also hosts prominent competitions for students pursuing business degrees. Two new scholarships have been added to the Allen, Gibbs & Houlik (AGH) Scholarship Competition through the Barton School of Business.

• Ross Tidemann Scholarship: One $50,000 over four years
• Harry Najim Scholarship – One $40,000 over four years (open to students graduating from a Kansas high school)
• Clay Barton Scholarship: One $50,000 award over four years
• Fran Jabara Scholarship: Two $36,400 Fran Jabara Scholarships over four years (open to entrepreneurship majors)

The Wallace Invitational Scholarships in Engineering (WISE) competition is held each fall for eligible high school seniors interested in studying engineering or computing at Wichita State. Ten $30,500 Wallace Scholarships will be awarded to the winners of the 2026 Wallace Invitational.

For a prospective student, scholarship competitions can become a sliding-doors moment: the point when Wichita State shifts from being one option among many to a future they can envision and afford.

Prospective students who participate in the competitions will have the opportunity to meet faculty, alumni, donors and former scholarship recipients. The philanthropic support behind scholarships helps remove financial barriers, giving students the freedom to focus on their academic goals and participate in clubs or student organizations. 

“Wichita State University was so high on my list when considering colleges because of the incredible scholarship opportunities it provides for students,” Chloe Strecker, 2024 Gore Scholar, said. “Going into the Distinguished Scholarship Invitational, I didn’t think I would make it very far, much less be named a Gore Scholar. Through DSI, I was blessed with a large scholarship to cover my tuition, plus it allowed me to meet so many like-minded students who are not only involved and driven, but who are also now scholars across campus.”

This year, DSI will award $850,000 to incoming freshmen, providing hundreds of opportunities for talented students to imagine themselves at Wichita State and reflecting a growing commitment from donors who believe financial circumstances should not determine the limits of a student’s potential.  

“One of the most rewarding parts of this work is hearing stories about how Wichita State shaped someone’s life, and now they want to pay it forward,” Telly McGaha, CEO and president of Wichita State Foundation and Alumni Engagement. “That gives me tremendous confidence in the value people see in Wichita State.”

This year’s DSI is Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Rhatigan Student Center. The AGH and WISE competitions will take place Friday, Nov. 20. Eligible students are encouraged to participate in multiple competitions to maximize their award opportunities.

Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 24,000 students between its main campus and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry- and defense-funded engineering R&D and No. 9 overall for engineering R&D.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

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