University Graduate Fellowships
UGF APPLICATION PERIOD
September 17 - October 3, 2025 at 11:59PM CDT
UGF Categories & Eligibility
First-Year Fellowship
Prospective students are qualified for the First-Year Fellowship if they are starting their first year in a Ph.D. program. Students who have completed a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree from KU are eligible only if they are starting a new Ph.D. program. Nominees may be either domestic or international students.
Dissertation-Year Fellowship
Current students are qualified for the Dissertation-Year Fellowship if they are starting their final year of study in a Ph.D. program and are preparing to defend a dissertation during the fellowship year. Nominees may be either international or domestic students.
Award Details
The University Graduate Fellowship (UGF) provides a $27,850 stipend for one year and sponsorship of tuition, course, and technology fees in accordance with the GRA benefits policy during the fall and spring semesters. Tuition support averages $9,500, bringing the total fellowship package to over $37,000. The fellowship is disbursed as a 9-month GRA appointment at 0.50 FTE. No summer appointment/tuition funds are available through this fellowship.
Departments and programs are required to provide support at the same level as the University Graduate Fellowship, ideally, or at a level comparable to 3G appointments in the unit for the following four (4) subsequent years of the student's program.
Departments awarded support must identify the fellowship student(s) no later than April 17, 2026.
Note: Starting from the 2025-2026 award cycle, all departments awarded a UGF will be required to participate in a mentoring training program provided by the Office of Graduate Studies. Details about this program will be provided at the time of the award notification. For questions regarding the mentoring program, please reach out to Nicole Reiz at nreiz@ku.edu.
Departmental Application
Please review the following considerations as you prepare to submit your department/program application:
- Department/programs can apply to one or more of the fellowship categories.
- Applications are accepted via the online application form linked at the bottom of this page.
- We highly recommend reviewing the application and drafting responses, as you will not be able to save the information as you go.
Note: The nomination for this award matches the nomination process for the Bernadette Gray-Little Doctoral Fellowship. Departments submitting a UGF First-Year application may also choose to opt in for consideration for the Bernadette Gray-Little Doctoral Fellowship.
The application will ask for the following information:
1) Briefly describe the department's funding strategies for doctoral students (maximum of 500 words). When responding, consider these questions:
- How does the department offer multi-year funding packages?
- The first-year fellowships are required to be the first year of a multi-year funding package. How will the department support graduate students recruited with the UGF in subsequent years at KU?
- Fellows are appointed as Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs). How does the department utilize GRA positions?
- What strategies are used to increase external funding for doctoral education?
- What challenges does the department face in offering funding to doctoral students, and how has the department modified its fundraising strategies to address these?
- How is the department addressing graduate student debt?
- How is the department making doctoral education a priority in its fundraising goals?
2) Briefly describe how the department uses data to inform decisions about doctoral education (maximum of 500 words). When responding, consider these questions:
- What performance standards are in place for doctoral students, and what impact have they had on departmental decision-making about doctoral education?
- How does the department regularly review doctoral students' progress toward a degree?
- How does the department use outcomes assessments in the doctoral dissertation defense?
- What resources are used to review data on the department's doctoral programs (e.g., Tableau data, AIMS, peer information, etc.)?
3) Briefly describe the department's goals and how they are focused on merit, mentoring, and placement (maximum of 500 words). When responding, consider these questions:
- How has the department used the doctoral program profile (DPP), graduate program data in Tableau, or other data reports to shape its doctoral program?
- Does the department have a formal graduate student mentoring program?
- How does the department collect and track student placement data?
- Does the department track job market data to set admission targets for its doctoral program?
4) Does your department have a graduate handbook? If your department does not have a graduate handbook, then please explain how degree requirements are communicated to students, or discuss your plans to develop a graduate handbook in the future. Please include the timeline for the completion and implementation of your student handbook. (maximum of 500 words)
5) Requests for stipends above the level outlined in the Award Details section are allowed, but must be explicitly requested and justified in the proposal. If you are requesting an additional stipend, list the requested stipend and explain why the increase in stipend is justified.
6) Departments that received any category of 2025-2026 First-Year Fellowships:
(1) Explain how the first-year award impacted the department's doctoral student recruiting capabilities.
(2) Briefly describe how the department communicated UGF expectations to the fellow, what the department is doing to ensure the fellow's timely completion of the program, and the current status of the fellow in the program (maximum of 500 words).
7) Departments that received 2025-2026 Dissertation-Year Fellowships: Explain how the dissertation-year award aided in the fellow's completion of the program (maximum of 500 words).
Selection Criteria
Departments/programs may be awarded one fellowship in each category for a total of two fellowships.
The applications will be reviewed by the Executive Council of Graduate Faculty, with each of the following items given equal weight:
- Doctoral education funding model
- Academic program standards
- Program goals
Departments with previous awards will also be evaluated on the success of previous fellowships.
Timeline
Applications open in September.
Applications will be reviewed by the Executive Council of Graduate Faculty in October.
Decisions regarding the fellowship applications will be sent to departments/programs mid-November.
Departments and programs awarded a UGF will select their fellow between December and April.
Fellow's information must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies by late April.
Applications open in September.
Applications will be reviewed by the Executive Council of Graduate Faculty in October.
Decisions regarding the fellowship applications will be sent to departments/programs mid-November.
Departments and programs awarded a UGF will select their fellow between December and April.
Fellow's information must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies by late April.