If you have questions about your Fellowship Disbursement for Academic Year 2022-2023, please read the Frequently Asked Questions document. Contact Graduate School Staff (Ms. Karen Gruen at gruenk@missouri.edu or Dr. Lissa Behm-Morawitz at behmmorawitze@missouri.edu) if you have further questions.
Departments/programs may nominate new graduate students for merit-based Graduate School fellowships. To be eligible for consideration, students must be admitted to a graduate program with a specific graduate degree objective. To remain eligible in subsequent years, students must be enrolled in graduate academic course work and be making good progress in their program. Typically, students with fellowships also hold graduate assistantships in their academic home.
Departments/programs provide fellowship students with a graduate assistantship during the fellowship period. The fellowship stipend does not replace the financial responsibility of the department/program in covering the costs of at least the minimum university stipend for the level of assistantship and the tuition waiver. In rare cases, a qualifying scholarship or fellowship may be provided by the department/program instead of a graduate assistantship.
For MU faculty and staff, please review the Graduate Fellowship Guidelines to learn more about the competition and nomination process. Nominations for 2023-2024 are due February 8, 2023.
Note: Students cannot apply for these fellowships; departments/programs are responsible for submitting nominations to be considered in the fellowship competition.
Every fellowship recipient must have full-time status as a graduate student during the period of appointment. A variety of competitive fellowships are available, including fellowships for newly admitted students who participated in a McNair Program as an undergraduate student; in the Missouri College Advising Corps Program; and in Teach for America, Americorps, and/or VISTA.
A fellowship may be renewed if:
Receiving the Stipend
In the early 1950s, the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri authorized the Curators Grant-In-Aid (GIA) Scholarship specifically for international students. Since the inception of the award, thousands of international students demonstrating good academic standing and financial need have been helped to successfully complete their programs of study.
Get More InformationThe Gamma Alpha Gamma and Raymond White Dissertation Year Fellowships are intended to help defray dissertation research expenses in the same academic year that students defend their dissertation. The award amount is equivalent to the minimum stipend for a .25 assistantship.
Doctoral students may self-nominate for these fellowships. Each nomination will be considered for both awards, although a student can only receive one award.
MU doctoral students in good standing may apply. To receive a fellowship, students must have passed their comprehensive exams by the last day of the 8-week summer session of the current year’s summer semester. Students must also be committed to completing all requirements for graduation, including the successful defense of a dissertation, in the year of the fellowship.
Deadline: Last day of the first current year’s 4-week summer session; upcoming deadline for the 2019-2020 academic year is July 2, 2020.
To apply, submit a completed nomination packet.
The nomination packet consists of:
Application letter from the student – limited to two pages – addressing the following questions:
Student’s Individual Development Plan (IDP) for the dissertation year (Note: It is not required that students complete all the categories in the MU Graduate School IDP, however at minimum the open-ended self-reflection questions, Scholarly Development, Research and Innovation, and Career Development sections must be completed). The IDP is intended to help the student with their academic and professional goal planning.
Student’s curriculum vita
Letter of recommendation from student’s faculty advisor– limited to two pages – that addresses:
A simple verification letter from either the program’s Director of Graduate Studies, the Department Chair/Director, or a grant PI:
All application components for the Dissertation Year Fellowships should be submitted as a single PDF document to mugradfellowshipnom@missouri.edu.