CUDE and ICUDE Scholarships
Applications are being accepted June 1 – August 15, 2025 for scholarships to attend Credit Union Development Education (DE) training! Click here to access the application criteria and form for the CUDE Scholarship.
In 2025, the Foundation added an International Credit Union Development Education (ICUDE) scholarship opportunity. This scholarship provides up to $4,500 in support to attend an International DE program for credit union staff and volunteers with a demonstrated record of community impact through the Carolinas CUDE Network or their credit union. Click here to access the application criteria and form for the ICUDE Scholarship. Applications are due August 15, 2025.
This scholarship opportunity is provided by the Credit Union Development Educators in North Carolina and South Carolina in partnership with the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation and the Carolinas Credit Union League.
What is CUDE?
CUDE is a program of the National Credit Union Foundation. Through transformative education, immersive events and collaboration, DE builds awareness of the development issues that prevent people from achieving financial freedom—and how credit unions are uniquely positioned to address them.
More than 3,000 people from over 35 countries have graduated from the U.S. DE program since its launch in 1982. For more information about the CUDE program and to check upcoming training dates, please click here.
In addition to CUDE, World Council also offers an International CUDE (ICUDE) designation. Credit union advocates earn this designation by completing CUDE and following up with a series of projects and trainings to enhance awareness of international Development Issues and challenges. Click here to learn more about ICUDE and the criteria for earning the designation.
What is ICUDE?
The Global Credit Union Development Education (Global DE) program, managed by the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, is designed to provide credit union employees and volunteers with a greater understanding of the international credit union system and opportunities for continued engagement. The International Credit Union Development Educator Designation (ICUDE) is available to DE Program Alumni who meet a certain level of international experience and is offered in partnership with the International DE Programs.
How are the scholarships funded?
The Carolinas CUDEs created the Principles & Philosophy Conference in 2010 in order to provide credit union staff with an in-depth look at the credit union business model, the Eight Cooperative Principles and the role of credit unions in the financial system. Presented in partnership with the Carolinas Credit Union League and the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation each year, the conference has grown into a vital educational event for the benefit of credit union staff and volunteers.
Earnings from the conference each year sweep into the DE Scholarship Fund at the Foundation. This fund provides scholarship opportunities to attend both the National Credit Union Foundation’s CUDE program and International DE Programs.
For more information
If you have any questions, please contact Jeff Hardin, the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation’s director of collaborative programs, at 336-601-1764.