Fellowships and Grants

A. Graduate Student Support at UCI

Financial support is available to most graduate students at UCI.  Types of support include, but are not limited to, fee fellowships, nonresident supplemental tuition fellowships, stipend support, student loans, merit-based fellowships, diversity fellowships, and academic student employment performing teaching and/or research assistance. This section will discuss the various fellowship opportunities afforded to UCI graduate students.  For information concerning employment, please refer to Section IV on Academic Appointments and Graduate Student Employment.

B. Fellowships
  1. Types of Block Allocation Fellowship Support

UCI’s fellowship funds are administered by the Graduate Division in close cooperation with the academic units.  The Graduate Dean makes annual block allocations of fellowship funds to the academic units, via the respective academic dean; funds are then distributed to the academic units who have discretion over awarding fellowships to their graduate students. Fellowship awards may be in the form of payment of fees/tuition and/or nonresident supplemental tuition, and/or a stipend.

a. Fee/Tuition Fellowships

Fee/tuition fellowships pay all or a part of a student’s assessed fees/tuition, exclusive of nonresident supplemental tuition.

B. Nonresident Supplemental Tuition (NRST) Fellowships

  1. Ph.D. students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States may be awarded nonresident supplemental tuition (NRST) fellowship support on the basis of outstanding scholarship for a maximum of one year (three quarters). Students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States are expected to establish California residency prior to their second year of study.
  2. International Ph.D. students who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship and academic progress may receive nonresident supplemental tuition fellowship support. Following advancement to candidacy, international doctoral students will not be assessed NRST for a period of up to three consecutive calendar years.  Any such student who continues to be enrolled or who re-enrolls after three years will be charged the full NRST that is in effect at that time. Quarters on Leave of Absence or Filing Fee count toward the allowable three calendar years. 

C. Stipend Fellowships

Stipends may be provided in any amount; it is suggested that stipends should be at least equivalent to the salary a student would earn as a TA or GSR/GSAR if the student will not be receiving support via employment.

D. Dissertation Fellowships

Dissertation Fellowships provide support to outstanding continuing graduate students in order to facilitate timely completion of a high quality dissertation.  Awards are made directly by the academic unit or by the Graduate Dean.  These awards are intended to relieve the Fellow from service obligations for full-time attention to dissertation completion; therefore employment may be either limited or prohibited while receiving a dissertation fellowship. Awards may be for one quarter, two quarters, or three quarters and are not renewable past one year.

  1. Dissertation fellowship stipends should be at least equivalent to the salary a student would earn as a TA or GSR/GSAR; in addition, these fellowships will cover regular student fee/tuition costs, exclusive of nonresident supplemental tuition.
  2. Dissertation fellows may not hold any employment appointment during the fellowship period, depending on the restrictions of the award.
  3. Nominees must already have formally advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. Successful completion of the Ph.D. is expected no later than three quarters after the fellowship tenure; certain dissertation fellowships may require completion within one quarter after the fellowship award period.

2. Special Fellowships

The Graduate Division offers a number of different fellowships that are merit-based and are generally for continuing graduate students with special qualifications.  Funding is provided through internal Graduate Division resources or endowments and is awarded via a competitive process to students who meet specific criteria for the respective award. Awards normally pay all or part of student fees/tuition, and/or a stipend. Awards in these categories may in some cases be in addition to departmental support.  A list of these fellowships is found on the Graduate Division website.  Nomination/application instructions and eligibility criteria vary.

3. Extramural Fellowship Information and Advising

The Graduate Division receives information about extramural fellowship and grant opportunities, and provides assistance to students who wish to apply for support from federal agencies, foundations, and other non-University sources.  From time to time special notices of fellowship competitions administered by the Graduate Division will be distributed via e-mail.  Each year, the Graduate Division offers workshops for graduate students interested in various extramural fellowship programs. Visit the Graduate Division website for more information.

The Graduate Division also subscribes to an electronic grant database: Pivot.  Pivot combines the most comprehensive, editorially maintained database of funding opportunities worth an estimated $66 billion with a unique database of 3 million pre-populated scholar profiles. Information on extramural awards is available on the Graduate Division website.

C. Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Policies

This section describes campus policies and procedures related to graduate student fellowships or scholarship awards that are administered by the University.  These may include both University (intramural) and extramural fellowships depending upon the type of award.

  1. Definition of Intramural Fellowship

An intramural fellowship is defined as a University funded award that is offered to a graduate student formally admitted for graduate study in a Doctoral or Master’s program.  University funded fellowships or scholarships are awarded primarily on the basis of outstanding scholarly achievement and promise.  Awards are offered by the academic units to enable graduate students to pursue study leading to an advanced degree without requiring any service obligations. Fellowships are not to be used in lieu of employment compensation for services performed by the student to the University. An intramural fellowship award may include a stipend, student fees/tuition, summer research support, payment of nonresident supplemental tuition (NRST), or a combination thereof.  Additional support may be provided to a student through on-campus employment offered by the department or via extramural support.  (See Section IV, Academic Appointments and Graduate Student Employment.)

2. Definition of Extramural Fellowship

An extramural fellowship is defined as an award that is funded by sources external to the university and intended to financially support a graduate student formally admitted for graduate study in a Doctoral or Master’s program.  Extramurally funded fellowships, grants, or scholarships are awarded primarily on the basis of outstanding scholarly achievement and promise.  Awards are typically funded by federal or state agencies, benefactors of UCI, or other entities separate from UCI.  Institutional awards, commonly in the form of federal grants, are awarded to a specific academic unit for student support.  Traineeship appointments and fellowship recipients are decided at the academic unit level.  Examples are the Department of Education GAANN, NIH/PHS training grants and NSF Research Traineeships.

UCI serves in a custodial role and usually administers the funding including payment to the student.  An extramural award may include a stipend, student fees/tuition, summer research support, payment of NRST, or a combination thereof.  If consistent with the external agency’s guidelines, additional support may be provided by the student’s department via intramural or university fellowship or employment.

  1. Responsibility

Campus policies and procedures related to University administered fellowships or scholarships are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate Council and the Graduate Dean.  Nominees for these awards are evaluated on the basis of criteria established by the Graduate Council in consultation with the Graduate Dean.  Individual academic units are authorized to make awards directly to students from their annual block fellowship allocation and other sources.  However, final responsibility for University administered fellowships (intramural and extramural) and for the establishment and monitoring of policies and procedures related to their administration rests with the Graduate Division.

4. Criteria for Awards

A. Admission to Graduate Study

Fellowship nominations and award letters for students applying for graduate admission must be preceded by formal admission by the academic program and the Graduate Division.  Under certain conditions, the admission letter may contain a fellowship offer.  The student’s academic unit can provide further information.

B. Full Time Graduate Student Status

Award recipients must register (enroll and pay fees/tuition) at UCI by the established deadline each academic quarter, and devote full time (12 quarter units) to graduate study and/or research in the field for which the award is made.  Fellowship support will not be given to students with part-time status. Please note, graduate programs can request an exception to this policy if the program does not require students to enroll in 12 quarter units to be considered a full-time student.

C. Leave of Absence

A graduate student may not retain a fellowship while on leave of absence. Deferment of fellowship offers to a different quarter than that quarter originally offered may not be allowed.

D. Non-degree or Filing Fee Status

Graduate students in non-degree status are not eligible for fellowship support.  Similarly, graduate students may not receive fellowship support while on Filing Fee status, except during the summer.

  1. Responsibility of Successful Nominees

Newly entering students who receive an award must:

a. Accept or decline the award offer by April 15 in accordance with CGS guidelines (see 6 below) or notify their academic unit if they cannot meet this deadline.

Both newly entering and continuing students who receive an award must:

b. Students who are U.S. citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to the designated processor (as indicated in the application) whether or not they believe they qualify.

c. Students who are non-U.S. citizens are required to complete and submit tax-related information via the GLACIER System.

d. Register at UCI each quarter and devote full-time (12 quarter units) to graduate study and/or research during the tenure of the award (Please note, graduate programs can request an exception to this policy if the program does not require students to enroll in 12 quarter units to be considered a full-time student.); and

e. Earn a letter grade of B, S, or above in all courses completed during each of the three most recent quarters of enrollment.

f. Earn no more than two Incomplete (I) grades during each of the three most recent quarters of enrollment.

g. Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher during each of the three most recent quarters of enrollment.

h. Make satisfactory academic progress toward the degree objective.

6. Council of Graduate Schools in the United States Resolution

As a member of the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States, UCI subscribes to the Council’s resolution concerning graduate fellowships which states:

“Acceptance of an offer of financial support* (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor.  In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties.  Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution.  In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15.  However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made.  Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer.  It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution or a link to the URL should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer.”

*This Resolution applies to offers of financial support only, not offers of admission.

7. Conditions of Awards

a. Limitation of Fellowship Stipends

The Graduate Dean, in consultation with the Graduate Council and the student’s home department, determines the appropriate level of intramural fellowship stipends to be awarded from University fellowship funds. 

b. Supplementation Policy

With prior approval of the Graduate Dean, graduate student fellowships or traineeship stipends administered by the University may be supplemented subject to the following provisions:

  1. Continued full-time satisfactory progress toward the degree objective is required. Any traineeship must be related to the student’s academic program.
  2. All limitations, rules, and stipulations of the particular fellowship or traineeship by the outside agency or sponsor must be honored.
  3. If employment is in applicable teaching title codes, any appointment is subject to the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement between the University of California and the UAW.
  4. Students receiving Dissertation Fellowships and some Diversity Fellowships are subject to limitations or prohibition on employment. Any such restrictions will be noted in the award letter terms and conditions.
  5. For students eligible for both a University funded fellowship and an extramural fellowship, the University funded portion of the award will be limited to an amount which, together with the extramural award, brings the total amount to the maximum University funded fellowship award. If the extramural award provides for payment of fees and/or tuition, the extramural award takes precedence over University funded fellowships and remission for those expenses.
  6. There is no specified limitation on extramural fellowship awards. The Graduate Dean will review the level of extramural fellowships awarded and consult with the Graduate Council in those cases where the award may appear excessive.
  7. However, limitations on accepting employment or other support while receiving support from an extramural fellowship award may exist. Please refer to the respective extramural award conditions and guidelines.
D. Research Support

In evaluating research support vis-à-vis fellowship support, note that campus policy requires the remission of all fees/tuition and nonresident supplemental tuition, if applicable, for GSRs/GSARs appointed at least 25% time for the entire quarter.  Remission expenses are to be debited to the salary funding source.  Under most circumstances, fellowships may not be used to pay fees and/or tuition when a remission-eligible appointment exists.  See Section IV.B.3. GSR and GSAR Appointment Benefits.

Continue to the next Chapter: IV. ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS AND GRADUATE STUDENT EMPLOYMENT