Funding your Graduate Education

Types of Funding

  • Fellowships
    • Program fellowships
    • Grad Studies Fellowships (Internal Fellowships)
    • External Fellowships
    • Native American Opportunity Plan
  • Academic Student Employment
    • Teaching Assistant (TA)
    • Associate In_
    • Reader
    • Graduate Student Researcher (GSR)
    • Tutor
  • Student Loans

Fellowships

A fellowship in this context is the equivalent of a scholarship. You usually do not have to pay back this award, but there are some eligibility requirements. At minimum, you must be enrolled full-time and maintain a 3.0 GPA.

  • Program Fellowships

  • All applicants are considered for programmatic fellowships at the time they are considered for admission.

    The dollar amount of fellowship awards vary each year, based on a number of factors including the number of applicants and the funding allocation our program receives. The highest fellowship our program awards includes resident tuition & fees, plus a small stipend. We do not offer non-resident supplemental tuition (NRST) fellowships at this time.

    Applicants are scored for admission and fellowship consideration using this rubric. 

    If you are awarded a fellowship, you will be notified directly via the online application system. Prospective awardees are not required to accept fellowship offers prior to April 15th. 

  • Internal fellowships

  • Internal fellowships are administrated through Graduate Studies. The value of fellowships vary from $1,000 to as much as $50,000 per year. Prospective graduate students apply for internal fellowships via the application for admission. You can see a description of fellowship awards here. You must meet the program's application deadline to be considered for these fellowships.

    Continuing students apply via the Annual Internal Fellowship Competition for Continuing Graduate Students. The application deadline for continuing students is January 15.

    You can see information on the types of fellowships and eligibility requirements here.

  • External fellowships

  • External fellowships are scholarships that originate from off-campus. You can see more information on how to find opportunities here.

Native American Opportunity Plan

UC's Native American Opportunity Plan ensures that in-state systemwide Tuition and Student Services Fees are covered for California residents who are also enrolled in any federally recognized Native American, American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. This plan applies to undergraduate and graduate students. 

Students with greater financial need can qualify for even more grant support to help pay for other expenses,  such as housing, books, transportation, etc). You can see more information and eligibility requirements here.

Native American students from non-federally recognized tribes may qualify for other scholarships. The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria recently announced a scholarship fund that will cover UC tuition and mandatory fees for all eligible California Native American students. You can see more information here.

Academic Student Employment

Learn more here

Travel Awards

  • Graduate Studies Travel Award 

  • Graduate Studies accepts applications for graduate travel to meetings or nationally or internationally recognized professional societies twice annually. See more information here.

  • Graduate Student Association (GSA)

  • Travel awards are used to help graduate students at UC Davis attend conferences or professional development opportunities. Applications are accepted twice a year. See more information here.

Student Loans

To use student loans, you should submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). For questions about your FAFSA, please contact UC Davis Financial Aid.

  • Note that Pell Grants are for undergraduate students only.

Tips

Please see a list of 10 financial support tips here.