Funding from the Graduate School

The Graduate Degree Accelerator, formerly known as the Dean’s Award, is a mechanism to assist doctoral students in overcoming obstacles that may be hindering their progress toward degree completion.

This prestigious, highly competitive award was established to recruit exceptionally qualified students to our doctoral programs. Nominations for this award are presented to the Graduate School by individual departments or interdisciplinary programs in late January.

The award consists of a $10,000 supplemental award added annually to graduate assistantships provided by academic units. The supplement is for four years. During that time The Graduate School will pay mandatory student fees, provide travel support of $1,000 per year, offer regular programming that emphasizes professional / leadership development, and host regular meetings with senior university leadership.

Presidential Fellows recipients must register for a minimum of twelve (12) graduate credit hours for the Fall and Spring semesters and nine (9) graduate credit hours if registered during the Summer semester. Additionally, Fellows are expected to engage in research under the guidance of their faculty mentor and take advanced-level courses.

Each new Presidential Fellow is required to prepare and submit an Individual Development Plan and a Mentor-Mentee Compact before the Fall semester of their second year.

The Graduate School Doctoral Fellows Award has replaced the GREAT Fellowship. The Graduate School Doctoral Fellows Award welcomes nominations from any program on campus. Nominations for this award are presented to the Graduate School by individual departments in early February.

The award consists of a $7,000 supplemental award added annually to graduate assistantships provided by academic units. Fellows will receive four years of support and must hold a departmental or extramurally-funded assistantship for the duration of the award. Fellows can serve as GTAs in any year of the award.

Graduate School Doctoral Fellows recipients must register for a minimum of twelve (12) graduate credit hours for the Fall and Spring semesters and nine (9) graduate credit hours if registered during the Summer semester. Additionally, they are expected to engage in research under the guidance of the faculty mentor and take advanced-level courses.

Each new Graduate School Doctoral Fellow Award recipient is required to prepare and submit an Individual Development Plan and a Mentor-Mentee Compact before the Fall semester of their second year.

The Graduate School Master’s Fellow Award has replaced the GAIN Fellowship. The Graduate School Master’s Fellow Award welcomes nominations from any program on campus. Nominations for this award are presented to the Graduate School by individual departments in early February.

The award will consist of a $4,000 supplemental award added annually to graduate assistantships provided by academic units. Fellows will receive two years of support and must hold a departmental or extramurally-funded assistantship for the duration of the award. Fellows can serve as GTAs in any year of the fellowship.

Graduate School Master’s Fellow Award recipients must register for a minimum of twelve (12) graduate credit hours for the Fall and Spring semesters and nine (9) graduate credit hours if registered during the Summer semester. Additionally, they are expected to engage in research under the guidance of the faculty mentor and take advanced-level courses.

Each new Graduate School Master’s Fellow recipient is also required to prepare and submit an Individual Development Plan and a Mentor-Mentee Compact before the Fall semester of their second year.

The SEC Emerging Scholars and Graduate School Dissertation Completion Awards have been merged into a single competition. Both are completion awards designed to facilitate doctoral degree completion within the year. The SEC Emerging Scholars program has an additional professional development component and an increased stipend. All eligible students will first be considered for the SEC award. Those not selected will join the larger pool for the DCA competition.

SEC Emerging Scholars

The SEC Emerging Scholars award is an initiative of the SEC provosts to recognize outstanding students and prepare them for careers in higher education. The SEC Emerging Scholars award has no departmental work obligation, but all recipients are expected to attend the SEC Emerging Scholars Career Preparation Workshop, usually held in September. Nominees should expect to graduate in the academic year of the award. Recipients will be required to register for 12 graduate credit hours, fall and spring semesters, and should have no teaching responsibilities during the award period.

Awards are for a $35,000, 40% – time assistantship for a maximum of 10 months beginning August 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024.

Graduate School Dissertation Completion Award

The Dissertation Completion Award (DCA) is designed to support doctoral students who are writing their dissertations and expect to graduate in the academic year of the award. These awards enable students to concentrate on research and writing to ensure timely degree completion. Recipients will be required to register for 12 graduate credit hours, fall and spring semesters, and should have no teaching responsibilities during the award period.

Awards are for a $22,276, 40% – time assistantship for a maximum of 10 months beginning August 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024.

The Graduate School administers many scholarships and fellowships, each with a different area of emphasis. Additionally, more may be available from your  academic department as well as from external private, non-profit, and government organizations.

The Graduate School provides competitive travel funding for students presenting their research at conferences and professional meetings. Funds are awarded on a rolling basis.

The Graduate School is pleased to offer competitive grants for doctoral students from any discipline to conduct research related to their dissertations. Funds may be requested for supplies, software, data collection or analysis activities, and other operating costs associated with conducting the research. Funds may also be used for specialized training opportunities that will enhance specific dissertation research activities. Funds may not be used for stipend or salary.

The Summer Doctoral Research Assistantship is designed to provide summer funding to doctoral candidates in the fine arts, humanities, and selected social science and professional programs administered by the Graduate School, so the students may focus exclusively on their dissertation research and writing. This award supports doctoral candidates who do not have other sources of financial support during the summer to enable them to move more quickly toward completion of their degrees.

The Graduate School is pleased to offer the Communication of Research and Scholarship Grant to support graduate students who wish to communicate the results of their scholarship to non-academic audiences. The outreach and communication activities supported by this grant will both engage new populations with the research and scholarship done by UGA graduate students and provide opportunities for our students to develop and practice skills that will serve them in a range of careers. Activities may include, but are not limited to, school demonstrations, public presentations, game or video development, podcast recording, or creation of a smart phone application. The funds may be used for equipment, supplies, and other operating costs associated with your outreach or communication activities. Funds may not be used for stipend or salary.

The Graduate School awards a limited number of out-of-state tuition waivers to degree-seeking domestic students who are classified as non-residents for the state of Georgia through the Board of Regents’ Research and Comprehensive University tuition waiver program.  The Regents’ Research Out-Of-State Tuition (ROOST) awards are based on applicants’ academic performance and the recommendations from their graduate coordinators. The waiver lasts for one academic year and is renewed each term of that academic year, contingent upon recipients earning at least a 3.00 graduate grade point average based on twelve hours of graduate course work in the fall and spring semesters and nine hours of graduate level coursework during the summer. These awards waive only the non-resident portion of the student’s tuition. Students interested in being nominated for this award should contact the graduate coordinator of their major department. Being nominated does not guarantee receipt of a waiver. Students must have a 3.5 GPA to be nominated the following year. If student has an assistantship at the time of candidacy and later needs the out-of-state tuition waiver, the student must submit the Application for Waiver of Graduate Out-of-State tuition form in Grad Status before the start of the term in which the waiver is needed.

ROOST waivers previously awarded by the Graduate School to international students will now be awarded by the Office of Global Engagement. For more information on this award, please contact Robin Catmur-Smith in the Office of Global Engagement at (rcatmur@uga.edu)

Doctoral students who are admitted to candidacy will automatically be granted an out-of-state tuition waiver by Graduate School staff if they do not have an assistantship waiver. The waiver will be effective the semester following the semester in which the student is admitted to candidacy (must be admitted prior to the last day of classes). If student has an assistantship at the time of candidacy and later needs the out-of-state tuition waiver, the student must submit the Application for Waiver of Graduate Out-of-State tuition form in Grad Status before the start of the term in which the waiver is needed.

Master’s students who are required to submit a thesis to the Graduate School are eligible for an out-of-state waiver after all courses on the program of study have received a grade with the exception of 7000 (research) & 7300 (thesis writing). A program of study form must be on file in the Graduate School. All students in this category must submit the Application for Waiver of Graduate Out-of-State Tuition to the Graduate School by the last day of classes for the semester prior to the eligible semester.