Explore Your Interests. Build Community. Develop Career Readiness.
What is Future Forward?
Future Forward is a year-long scholarship program for first-year students to explore their career goals and develop career readiness skills. The program engages students in meaningful career exploration, fosters connection with other DePaul students and staff, and helps prepare students for their next step.
Why Should I Join Future Forward?
Future Forward’s unique program structure is designed to be flexible to benefit busy students who have different career interests. It is designed for all first-year students, whether you know what career path you are interested in, or you're still exploring.
The program combines:
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Career exploration-based modules that cover topics like skills and strengths, identifying and sharing your professional brand, resume tips, creating professional connections, professionalism, understanding transferable skills, work-life balance, and more
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Interactive workshops and career experiences that challenge you to explore your interests and goals in a hands-on approach
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Community building through optional program game nights, Meet-Your-Career-Community events, trips to museums around Chicago (all hosted by the program's student Peer Mentors)
In addition to learning outcomes, by completing all program requirements, students will receive a $3,000 Future Forward Tuition Scholarship (disbursed in $1,000/quarter increments) their sophomore year.
How Much Time Do Future Forward Requirements Take?
Future Forward’s requirements include: completing 9 modules and 3 interactive experiences (a resume review, a LinkedIn profile review, and a "Career Experience"). Let's break this down!
- There are 3 modules released each term and 1 interactive experience each term.
- Each module takes about 30 minutes to work through
- Each interactive experience takes an hour (on average)
- This means, earning your $3,000 scholarship will take about 2.5 hours each term (less than an hour per month). And you can complete these requirements whenever it works with your schedule, because materials are asynchronous and the interactive experiences are offered at a variety of times for you to select which works best with your schedule!
- 2.5 hours per term = 7.5 hours for the full year. That's like a job that pays $400/hour!
How Can I Join Future Forward?
To be eligible for the program, students must apply to DePaul for admission by the November 15 early application deadline and submit their FAFSA by February 1. The selected student cohort is chosen by the admissions team, and award offers will be sent out via email in February. Questions? Please contact the Office of Admission (312)362-8000 or
admission@depaul.edu.
I Received a Program Offer. What's Next?
If you've received an offer, we're thrilled that you're here! There is nothing incoming students need to prepare or complete before the school year begins. Keep a close eye on your @depaul.edu email address. We will be reaching out by the end of August to share introductory program information for all incoming first-year Future Forward students. If you have questions in the mean time, feel free to reach out to us at
FutureForward@depaul.edu.
I Completed Future Forward. When Do I Receive My Scholarship?
If you completed all program requirements during your first year at DePaul, you will receive an email from Program Manager Mary Pauline Sheridan-Rabideau confirming your program completion. Then, your name will be passed along to the Office of Financial Aid. The Office of Financial Aid will automatically deduct the $3,000 from your tuition during your sophomore year (in $1,000 increments each term: fall, winter, spring). If you have questions about your scholarship, please reach out to the Office of Financial Aid!