Graduate Fellowships

Graduate fellowships are prestigious financial assistance opportunities available to graduate students.

A graduate fellowship is a form of financial assistance awarded on a competitive basis. Recipients typically receive a tuition waiver and a monthly stipend (amount varies by program). Although duties vary, most fellowships offer some portion of time that is non-service in nature, allowing you to focus more attention on your graduate studies.

Doctoral Fellowships

At UL Lafayette, our University Doctoral Fellowships presently offer a stipend of $22,000 for the academic year as well as a waiver of tuition and most fees. These fellowships are available to students pursuing a Ph.D. degree and fund three or four years of study, depending upon whether you enter with or without the master’s degree in hand.

University Doctoral Fellowship Eligibility

In order to be considered for the University Doctoral Fellowship, you must meet the following eligibility criteria. You must:

Have a 3.5 GPA on undergraduate work, or a 3.7 GPA if graduate hours have been pursued
Be a first-time doctoral applicant pursuing a Ph.D. degree in the fall semester OR
Be a current doctoral student whose first semester of Ph.D. study was in the immediately preceding spring or summer semester. If you meet this qualification, you may be eligible for the fellowship beginning in your first fall semester.

How to Apply for the University Doctoral Fellowship

All University Doctoral Fellowships are awarded for the Fall semester. The fellowship application deadline for the 2025-2026 academic year has passed. A new fellowship application for 2026-2027 will open in Fall 2025.

Contact the Graduate Coordinator directly to determine fellowship availability in individual Ph.D. programs.

Application Requirements

You must meet the above requirements to be considered for the University Doctoral Fellowship.

Feb. 1

Application Deadline

Your application and any required application materials must be completed and submitted by February 1st.

Application Form

You must complete the Doctoral Fellowship application form and upload it to your application portal.

More University Funding Opportunities

As a UL Lafayette graduate student, you may be eligible for one of the following internal fellowships as well.

Robert Elliot May Graduate Resident Tuition Fellowships

This program provides in-state resident tuition to new non-resident (out-of-state and international) graduate students.

To be eligible, you must be a new student admitted to a master's or doctoral program in regular admission status.

As a recipient, you must:

Maintain continuous full-time enrollment (excluding summer sessions),
Remain in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress toward the degree sought.

Should you accept an assistantship or other tuition-waiver benefit, you will forfeit this fellowship.

If you're interested in learning more about this resident tuition fellowship opportunity, contact the Graduate School or the Graduate Coordinator of the program to which you've applied.

Teacher Tuition Incentive Program

This program supports K-12 educators and administrators in Louisiana pursuing graduate studies.

To be eligible, you must be:

•    Employed, full-time, in a K-12 school system (public or private) in Louisiana
•    Admitted to any doctoral, Master’s, or graduate certificate program or as a Master’s +30 graduate student
•    Enrolled in graduate-level courses in any college/ discipline applicable to your degree.

Learn more about this funding for graduate-student-teacher-educators.

Other External Fellowships

Applicants and current graduate students are encouraged to apply for external fellowships funded by non-university partners that select recipients through a national or international competition. Typically, external fellowships are supported by government agencies, corporations, and foundations.

In addition to offering distinction and prestige for the recipient, these fellowships provide generous financial support, mentorship, and networking opportunities.

There are many external fellowship opportunities, including: