Receiving Credit for Your Work

There are multiple ways to get credit for your work:

• 291/491 directed research and creative activities credits: You can sign up for course credit for conducting independent research or creative activities with a faculty mentor. The deadline to register for 291/491 credits is the end of week five in both fall and spring. You are strongly encouraged to register for credit since 1) you will have a record of your involvement on your transcript (which helps with jobs as well as graduate and professional school applications) and 2) these units can count for major and/or capstone requirements. More info is available here.
• Summer research stipends: CUE runs a summer research program, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). Students in the program receive a $4,000 stipend for doing research or creative activities, plus free room and board. There are also additional summer research programs, some at Chapman and others at other institutions, that provide stipends for research. See our summer research section below.
• Payment for research: Some faculty may have funding to pay you an hourly wage for participating in research or creative activities. This is less common than receiving 291/491 credit, though we encourage you to ask your prospective mentors.