We are no longer accepting applications for the 2023 programs. If you have questions about this, please email preorient@unca.edu
Scholarships are available for registered students participating in the Wilderness Experience and Community Connection programs through the Karpinos Scholarship Fund. Students are encourage to apply by the of the day June 23rd. Students may apply for either the needs-based or service-based scholarship. Scholarships may be full or partial.
Karpinos Need-Based Scholarship Application
This application is for students who wish to participate in Pre-Orientation but find the registration fee prohibitive. Please be thoughtful and complete in your responses as this is a competitive scholarship.
We will ask Financial Aid for a need report on those who apply for the Need-Based application. We will be reviewing the level of anticipated unmet financial need as a factor in determining these scholarship recipients.
Karpinos Service-Based Scholarship Application
This application is for students who have shown exemplary community service in their home communities. Please be thoughtful and complete in your responses as this is a competitive scholarship.
Scholarship awards impact your Financial Aid package. If you are scheduled to receive Financial Aid in the upcoming academic year, check with the Financial Aid Office to determine the impact this scholarship could have on your package.
To complete the scholarship application and registration process:
- Register for Wilderness Experience or Community Connection.
- When at the payment page, instead of entering your credit card information, select “Other” and indicate “Karpinos Scholarship Application” in the notes.
- Follow up by notifying preorient@unca.edu that you are interested in the scholarship.
- Complete the Karpinos Scholarship Application. Your registration and space in a Pre-Orientation program will not be confirmed until we receive your Karpinos Scholarship Application.
About the Karpinos Endowment
James Karpinos was an active outdoor, recreational, academic, service-led UNC Asheville student who loved community and travel. As an exemplary student leader on campus, James had a passion for pre-orientation programs and was a leader for the Wilderness Experience program year after year. After his sudden passing in 2008 in the spring of his senior year, his family requested donation be made in his name to UNC Asheville. The outpouring created the opportunity to develop the Karpinos Endowment, to which the family wished to see students in CSI and Wilderness enjoy the programs with reduced financial overhead. Karpinos Scholarships have been dispersed every year since 2009, and August 2022 marks the 24th year Pre-Orientation has had the joy to extend these experiences to our newest Asheville students.