Broadening the Voices of Our Industry's Future

Architectural Lighting Certificate program applicants may receive a Student Financial Award of $1500 per course.

We believe that innovative new solutions to both longstanding and new issues in lighting require a broader diversity of backgrounds and perspectives in the lighting workforce. Through our Architectural Lighting Certificate program, we hope to be a part of the solution by providing a means by which individuals with unique learning, career, and life experiences can advance their education and qualifications for fully engaging in the future of the lighting industry.

The CU Boulder Architectural Engineering program is proud of its long history of providing talented graduates into the architectural lighting industry, through its engineering degree programs as well as the more recent undergraduate lighting design certificate program for environmental design students. However, we also recognize that our university, like our industry, may not reflect the growing diversity that is present in our society. In describing the lighting industry in LEDs Magazine in September of 2020, Tina Halfpenny (Executive Director / CEO of the Design Lights Consortium) commented on this:

Namely, we are in dire need of more diversity in our ranks. . . Over the years, lighting conferences have traditionally been – and continue to be – primarily gatherings of white men, both as attendees and panelists. . . As an employer, I am well aware of how many lighting professionals share the same colleges and universities, the same career paths, even the same geographies.

To facilitate the broadening of the voices that inform our industry’s future, students applying for admission into the Architectural Lighting Certificate program for the 2024-2025 academic year may apply for a Student Financial Award of $1500 per course, funded by industry partners and supporting individuals, which will be applied directly to the student’s tuition costs after enrollment in each course. Since each course costs $2250, the student will be responsible for $750 per course.

APPLY FOR A STUDENT FINANCIAL AWARD: 

• Interested students must complete the Award Application Form in addition to their application to the Certificate program. Award applications are only considered after the student has been accepted into the Architectural Lighting Certificate program.
• Several awards are available for 2024-2025; preference will be given to applicants from underrepresented groups for whom the costs of the program would be burdensome. This includes individuals from historically underrepresented and underserved groups in the lighting industry, such as Indigenous people, people of color, women, veterans, LGBTQ+ and individuals with disabilities.
• Individuals who submit award applications by July 30 will be informed of their status no later than August 12; candidates whose applications are received after that will only be considered if funds are still available.
• While many applicants for the Architectural Lighting Certificate are already working in the lighting industry, recent college graduates with degrees in related fields and/or from minority-serving institutions who wish to advance their education and qualifications in lighting are also encouraged to apply for admission to the program and for a Student Financial Award.

Student Financial Award Application

We are pleased to acknowledge the following sponsors who have generously provided funding for these awards: BEGA North America, Teal Brogden, Associated Lighting Representatives