Financial Assistance

Most academic departments offer teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and/or administrative assistantships. These assistantships involve a biweekly or monthly stipend in exchange for supervised work that both provides professional experience to the student and supports the university in carrying out its mission. Most assistantships also include full or partial tuition scholarships, health insurance, and payment of college/department fees. Prospective and current graduate students should contact the Graduate Program Director for their current/future program to request information regarding the process to follow in order to be considered for an assistantship. Outside of the academic departments, assistantships are sometimes advertised on the UA Student Jobs website. 

Additional details regarding assistantship eligibility and enrollment requirements may be found in the Registration and Assistantships section of this catalog. Information regarding the processes for administrative management of assistantships may be found on the Graduate School website.

Graduate School fellowships are designed for exceptional applicants or current students. Unless otherwise noted, Graduate School fellowships carry a service-free $20,000 stipend for the academic year (fall and spring) plus a full-time tuition scholarship for up to 15 graduate hours* for the academic year (fall and spring). The fellowship also includes single-coverage health insurance coverage and payment of college/departmental fees. Students do not apply for these fellowships directly but are instead nominated by the academic department. As the nomination process varies from program to program, prospective and current graduate students interested in a fellowship should contact the Graduate Program Director for their current/future program for more information. 

Fellowships and scholarships will affect a student's allowable federal financial aid. Students who receive federal financial aid should consult with the UA Office of Student Financial Aid before accepting any of the fellowships listed below.

Additional details regarding fellowship policies may be found in the Registration and Assistantships section of this catalog.

The Graduate School awards and administers fellowships in the following categories:

Graduate Council Fellowship

Graduate Council Fellowships are designated for both new and current graduate students. Graduate Council Fellowships are for one year except in the following categories:

1. David A. Francko Fellowship. Up to five years of funding at $25,000/year. 
2. Capstone Graduate Council Fellowship: Fellowship funding in years one, three, and five and departmental assistantship funding in years two and four (doctoral nominees) or two years of fellowship support (master's nominees).

McNair Graduate Fellowship

The University of Alabama awards McNair Graduate Fellowships to both new and current graduate students. New Master’s students receive two years of funding (one year of fellowship funding followed by one year of departmental assistantship funding). New Doctoral students receive two years of funding (two years of fellowship funding followed by two years of departmental assistantship funding). Current UA students receiving one year of funding. Exceptional nominees can be considered for a Capstone Graduate Council Fellowship that provides up to five years of funding.

Eligibility: Students any race, national origin, ethnicity or gender who face social, economics, educational, or other challenging life circumstances; whose parents did not complete a four-year college or university degree; have a physical or mental impairment; are from a disadvantage background (including but not limited to students who were or currently are unhoused; were or currently are in the foster care system; were or are eligible for Federal Pell Grants; grew up in a U.S. rural area), or other similar circumstances.

National Alumni Association Fellowship

National Alumni Association Fellowships are designated for both new and current graduate students who are designated as Alabama residents by The University of Alabama. 

Joint Faculty Development Program Fellowship

The University of Alabama Graduate School has joint programs with Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Oakwood University, and Stillman College for practicing faculty members at these institutions who do not have terminal degrees in their fields of instruction. Faculty members must be nominated for the fellowship by their home institution. Faculty who participate in this program receive support from both their home institution (to be negotiated with each institution’s vice president for academic affairs) and The University of Alabama Graduate School. The Joint Faculty Development Program provides support for up to two years of full-time graduate study. This allows the faculty members participating in this program to complete most of their required coursework. Contact Graduate School to enquire about this fellowship. 

Deadlines

Round 1 (current University of Alabama students): early December

Round 2: early January

Round 3: early February

Round 4: early March

The Joint Faculty Development Program Fellowship is not subject to these deadlines.

Eligibility

Round One: In the semester in which the student receives fellowship support a nominee who is a current master’s student must be in their final year. A nominee who is a current doctoral student must have advanced to candidacy by May 15 of the same calendar year.

Rounds two, three, and four: Nominees must be admitted for a new program in the summer/fall of the upcoming academic year.

Ideally, nominees should have graduate GPAs above 3.5 on coursework. However, quantitative qualifications alone are insufficient to determine eligibility for these fellowships. The Joint Faculty Development Program Fellowship is not subject to these criteria.

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars Program

The SREB Doctoral Scholars Program supports newly admitted graduate students who are seeking the PhD and planning a career in college teaching. Recipients must meet the SREB eligibility criteria. The SREB provides a $20,000 annual stipend to awardees for up to three years. While the stipend is being paid, the Graduate School will provide a full tuition scholarship for up to 15 graduate hours* for the academic year (fall and spring). The student’s home department is required to continue to support the student for at least an additional two years through an assistantship or equivalent. SREB also supports students in the final year of their doctoral program.

The Alumni Heritage Graduate Scholarship is aimed at recruiting children and grandchildren of graduates of The University of Alabama. This is a one-time non-renewable $500 scholarship for graduate students who are classified by The University of Alabama as Alabama residents and who are children or grandchildren of a University of Alabama graduate. A parent or grandparent must be a degree holder (undergraduate, graduate, or law degree) from The University of Alabama. The qualifying parent or grandparent must be a dues-paying member of the National Alumni Association for three of the past five years. The student must be admitted to a graduate degree program at UA and may be enrolled part-time or full-time. The scholarship can only be awarded in the first semester of enrollment as a graduate student. Contact Graduate School to enquire about this scholarship.

Graduate Student Conference and Research Fund

Graduate School provides supplemental funding for graduate student research projects and for graduate student travel to present research results at conferences. Students may submit a maximum of one Conference request and one Research request year (a “year” is defined as fall/spring/summer). Students may initiate requests to the Graduate School by logging in to the Graduate School Student Portal. The request must include a budget, information about departmental cost sharing, and, if travel is involved, a confirmation that the student will be personally presenting their own work. After the student initiates the request, it will be endorsed by the faculty advisor, department chair, and Graduate School.

Conference Awards are reserved for graduate students who have been accepted to present personally their own research (or creative activity) at a national or international meeting of their discipline’s major academic/professional organization. For Research Awards, priority will be given to thesis, pre-dissertation, and dissertation research.

The Graduate School can only provide as much funding as can be matched at least 1:1 by departmental student support funds. During the approval process, the department will indicate the amount they can provide, and the Graduate School will provide the 1:1 match up to the maximum of the following amount:

• Conference travel: $500 within North America; $800 if beyond North America
• Research funding: $300 within North America; $600 if beyond North America

Deadlines for priority consideration:

• Fall proposal: Late August*
• Spring proposals: Late January*
• Summer proposals: Later April*

Contact Graduate School to enquire about the Conference and Research Fund.

*Although every attempt should be made to submit all research and travel proposals by the deadlines for each term, we recognize that last-minute research opportunities present themselves and that student plans may not be complete by these deadlines. The Graduate School will gladly consider requests submitted after the deadline, pending the availability of funding. After the three major deadlines, requests will be reviewed at the end of each month.

Departmental Scholarships and Grants

Many departments and divisions offer special scholarships for graduate students. Contact the Graduate Program Director for the current/future program for more information. 

UA Online

UA Online offers scholarship opportunities for distance students. Please see the UA Online website for details. 

Students enrolled in degree programs in the Graduate School are also eligible to apply for federally supported financial aid. Further information can be obtained from the Office of Student Financial Aid.

*Graduate School tuition scholarships only cover regular (distance or on-campus) graduate level classes and mandatory college/course fees. Graduate School tuition scholarships do not cover Law School classes or programs with special tuition rates (for example, the Executive MBA program). Graduate School tuition scholarships also do not cover any individual campus fees, books or other ancillary costs.