Graduate Fellowships
Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis in recognition of a student's demonstrated scholarship, scholastic and creative promise, and/or financial need. Many fellowships are made available through the generosity of donors.
There is no service or work requirement associated with fellowship awards. A student holding a fellowship or a traineeship must be a full-time student during the period of appointment. Summer fellowships require a minimum enrollment of 1-credit hour.
New UNL Graduate Students May Qualify for Fellowships
Complete your Application for Admission as early as possible — many departments are reviewing applications by mid-January and making nominations for some fellowships by mid-February. For further information regarding fellowships that might be available to you, contact your academic department.
Learn MoreQuestions? Contact Caroline Knuth, Office of Graduate Studies
Othmer Fellowships
Othmer Fellowships are intended to assist in recruiting exceptional scholars who are seeking a terminal degree (i.e., Ph.D., Ed.D, D.M.A, M.F.A.).
Selection Criteria
- Newly admitted doctoral or M.F.A. student
- Exceptional scholar with excellent letters of recommendation and a minimum GPA of 3.5 in previous degree
- Student must be offered a department assistantship that is (1) at least equal to the highest amount offered by the department to first-year students and (2) renewable for up to three years
Award
In addition to the departmental assistantship: fellowships of $4,000 or $8,000 per year can be granted, renewable for up to three years given continued excellent progress toward the degree.
Consideration
Academic departments select recipients from their pools of newly admitted students.
Chancellor's Fellowships
Chancellor's Fellowships are intented to assist in recruiting superior graduate students by adding fellowship funds to an assistantship.
Selection Criteria
- Newly admitted doctoral or master's student
- Excellent academic record with excellent letters of recommendation and minimum 3.0 GPA in previous degree
- Student must be offered a full department assistantship that is (1) at the typical level for first-year master's or doctoral students in the department and (2) renewable for up to two years
Award
In addition to the departmental assistantship: $4,000 fellowship per year, automatically renewable for a second year given excellent progress toward the degree.
Consideration
Academic departments select recipients from their pools of newly admitted students.
Other Awards
The Presidential Fellowship is awarded to advanced doctoral or MFA students. The fellowship is $24,000. This award also includes tuition, fees, and the University's portion of the student health insurance for one academic year.
The Fling Fellowship is awarded to advanced masters or doctoral students. Masters students must be within one year of graduation and doctoral students must be within two years of graduation. The fellowship is $20,000. This award also includes tuition, fees, and the University's portion of the student health insurance for one academic year.
The Dean's Fellowship is awarded to advanced masters or doctoral students. The fellowship is $5,000.
Assistantships
A graduate assistantship provides financial support for a graduate student for a set period of time during which the student is expected to pursue activities towards the advanced degree. Most regular assistantships include tuition remission during the semester of appointment and some include tuition remission for the summer (summer enrollment is not required for assistantships). Assistantships are not considered financial aid, but the tuition remission benefit is considered aid.
Learn More about AssistantshipsTravel Grants
The Graduate Student Travel Award will provide support for student travel to present at professional conferences as well as student travel for work directly related to dissertation/thesis projects. The award will assist advanced Nebraska graduate students in sharing their scholarly and creative work beyond our state lines. Students must be registered for a least one credit hour during the summer term in which a student plans to travel.
Learn More about Travel Grants