Presidential Graduate Fellowships
Description of Fellowship
The Presidential Graduate Fellowship program is the premier fellowship program sponsored by the Graduate College. It provides outstanding financial support that includes stipend, tuition, mandatory fees, and a generous health insurance allowance. Graduate programs nominate their top candidates from among their doctoral applicant pool each year. Approximately 30 exceptional scholars, the Presidential Graduate Fellows, matriculate annually to begin their graduate studies and receive continued support for five years while they make good progress towards their degree.
- A department may nominate a maximum of 6 students during the Spring 2010 admissions/recruitment cycle.
- All nominations must be submitted online with required documents uploaded as PDF files.
- Nominations are closed for 2009 and will reopen for the 2010-11 academic year in January 2010.
A Fellow's first, fourth and final years are free from department/program assistantships. The fourth year is designed for dissertation data collection, while the final fellowship year is requested for completion of the dissertation. Summers are service free all five years.
- Fellows are typically appointed as teaching or research assistants by their departments/programs during the second and third years of the Fellowship award periods.
- At the time of nomination, a department may propose an alternative plan for the student's fellowship years based on the unique needs of its doctoral program requirements.
Nomination and Selection Criteria
Nomination for a Presidential Graduate Fellow must be submitted by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) of the department/program to which the prospective student is applying. The program's nomination must include:
- A nomination letter from the DGS describing the nominee's exceptional qualifications and preparation for doctoral study. This letter should also comment on the standing of the nominee within the pool of applicants for doctoral study nationally. The DGS must also identify one or more faculty members who are able to serve as mentors for the nominee.
- The completed official Application for Admission to the Graduate College. Preliminary unofficial UI applications are not acceptable.
- GRE scores, if required by the department (or GMAT, if appropriate). For international students, TOEFL scores must be submitted also.
- The Recommendation On Graduate Application form showing that the nominee has been admitted by the department.
- A Statement of Purpose written by the nominee.
- Transcripts from all higher education institutions the student has attended.
- Copies of all letters of recommendation that accompanied the admission application.
A Graduate College committee will review applications on a rolling basis beginning in mid-January. The committee will consider all submitted materials in its assessment of each nominee's potential for outstanding academic achievement. The Graduate College does not use arbitrary test score cutoffs in its assessment. Each department should nominate its very best applicants from its admissions pool. Off-cycle nominations will not be accepted, although students starting at Iowa in the spring semester may be nominated during the regular review cycle.
International students can be nominated for Presidential Graduate Fellowships, but these students must have demonstrated extremely strong English language skills in addition to outstanding skills in their discipline. Before nominating an international student, faculty from the nominating department/program must speak with the student to ascertain his/her English language oral skills. The DGS should provide this information in the nominating letter.
Students with a master's degree may be nominated if they a) are from a different institution; b) received a terminal degree (e.g. MFA) from the University of Iowa or another institution; or c) received their master's degree from the University of Iowa in a discipline other than the one in which the student seeks to earn a doctoral degree.
Departments and programs are encouraged to nominate qualified minority students for these awards. If a nominee from an underrepresented group is not selected as a Presidential Graduate Fellow, then the nomination will be considered for a Dean's Graduate Fellowship.
The department will be notified once the Graduate College selects a nominee for a Presidential Graduate Fellowship. The DGS (or another departmental representative) should then personally contact the student as soon as possible by phone or email and then followed by an official letter copied to the Graduate College. [Sample letter]
After the student has accepted the fellowship offer, the Graduate College will send a confirmation letter to the student from the Dean.
Although students are not required to accept or decline the award until April 15, they should be encouraged to inform the department of their decision as soon as possible so that additional awards can be extended to other nominees in a timely manner.
Stipends for Presidential Graduate Fellows
In addition to the stipends indicated below, Presidential Graduate Fellows receive funds for tuition, mandatory UI fees, and a health insurance allowance ( single student coverage). This scholarship support is automatically adjusted to cover increases in tuition and fees.
| First year: | Academic year (AY) $18,000 fellowship | + summer $5,500 |
| Second year: | AY departmental research/teaching assistantship (RA/TA) stipend | + summer $5,500 |
| Third year: | AY departmental RA/TA stipend | + summer $5,500 |
| Fourth year: | AY $18,000 fellowship | + summer $5,500 |
| Final year: | AY $19,500 fellowship | + summer $5,500 |
The Fellow must be registered during the summer period in order to receive a summer stipend. The amount of the RA/TA stipend for the second and third years is determined by the department/program.
Recipients of the Presidential Graduate Fellowship may not hold other university paid appointments (TA, RA, instructor) during fellowship years, except in unique situations where it is demonstrated that these appointments contribute substantially to the student's professional development and progress toward the degree. Such appointments must be approved by the Graduate College.
Fellowship Renewal
All Presidential Graduate Fellowship renewals are contingent upon demonstration of strong progress toward degree objectives. Departments or programs must review the progress of each Fellow annually and certify to the Graduate College that the Fellow is making strong progress. If a Fellow is not in good academic standing and/or the department/program indicates that the Fellow is not making strong progress towards the degree, the Fellow will not be certified for continuation in the Presidential Graduate Fellowship Program.
Please call or email if you have additional questions:
- Associate Dean Dan Berkowitz (335-2136; dan-berkowitz@uiowa.edu)
- Kathy Klein (335-3492; kathy-klein@uiowa.edu)
Download a PDF copy of this page.
Begin submitting a nomination for the Presidential Graduate Fellowship.
