Penn State graduate students are tomorrow's leaders in education, business, science, engineering, the arts, and other professions. At Penn State, doctoral students collaborate with faculty on research while serving as instructors and mentors to undergraduate students. Advancements in promising areas of knowledge that are the future of the colleges, the University, and the nation begin with graduate students.
- Graduate fellowships provide indispensable financial support that assists Penn State in its efforts to recruit competitive students, nationally and internationally, and allows those students to focus even more intensively on their studies.
- Graduate research awards assist graduate students as they develop research projects that have the potential to transform their fields.
Distinguished Graduate Fellowships: $400,000*
Awarded to outstanding research doctorate (Ph.D.) applicants across the University, these fellowships are among the most competitive forms of support available to Penn State’s graduate students.
Graduate Fellowships: $400,000*
Competition for quality graduate students is intense, and high-quality students are increasingly discerning in their choices of graduate institutions. In this environment, gifts for graduate fellowships help Penn State to recruit and retain the highest-achieving, creative, and innovative advanced-degree candidates. Covering tuition and/or basic living expenses, including health care benefits, endowments for fellowships ensure that graduate students remain focused on their studies rather than the cost of education.
Graduate Scholarships: $250,000*
These funds can enhance an emerging scholar’s Penn State experience and future career by supplementing other financial awards, enabling individual scholarly projects, supporting travel for research and professional conferences, and recognizing achievements that have special meaning to the donor and to the greater world.
Graduate Research Awards: $50,000*
Research is an integral part of graduate education. With their combination of energy, curiosity, and ambition, graduate students ask probing questions, pursue in-depth levels of investigation that often produce critical insights, and generate new innovations. These gift funds provide monetary support to graduate students for expenses related to conducting research that is considered part of their graduate program requirements.
Graduate Awards: $20,000*
Graduate awards are designed to provide recognition to students for a singular accomplishment. Gifts for graduate awards afford Penn State’s Graduate School, through the support of donors, the opportunity to recognize excellence among our graduate students.