Access to Excellence Fellowship
The 2026 competition is open! (Updated 12/18/25)
Programs are encouraged to nominate an eligible individual for the both the Access and the University Fellowship, if eligible.
New for the 2026 competition:
*The purpose and eligibility criteria have been clarified to be in compliance with the University of Illinois System guidelines.
*The Student Statement on Alignment with Goals of the Fellowship is no longer required. (Updated 12/18/25)
*The retention round remains suspended.
*Regardless of size, programs are limited to two (2) nominations per graduate program of which one can be external to UIC and one can be internal, i.e., the applicant will have received the bachelor's degree from UIC by the start of the fellowship in August. Both nominations could be internal; both cannot be external.
New for the 2025 competition:
*Stipend levels have been raised to $33,000.
*The Graduate College will no longer offer summer "top-offs" for the recruitment fellowships in years 2&3.
*The retention round is suspended.
*To encourage our strong students to stay at UIC for their graduate studies, for the Spring 2025 competition, we would like half of the fellows to be UIC students/alumni.
*Each graduate program is limited to TWO nominations regardless of program size.
(UIC Box) Spring 2025 recipients
Overview
The purpose of the Access to Excellence Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago is to support outstanding graduate students based on academic merit and research engagement, in compliance with the University of Illinois System guidelines.
Details
Eligibility
Nominees must hold U.S. citizenship/permanent residency or Illinois RISE Act eligibility and demonstrate academic excellence, research engagement, and educational context factors. The two explicit criteria are: (1) First Generation (neither parent has a bachelor’s degree) OR (2) Pell/MAP eligible as undergraduate (self-reported financial need).
We continue to encourage our strong undergraduate students to stay at UIC for their graduate studies. For the Spring 2026 competition, we would like half of the fellows to be UIC students/alumni.
Applicants who deferred admission to a UIC graduate program slated for matriculation in Fall 2025 are eligible if they meet the explicit criteria of the fellowship.
In their nominating letter, the Director of Graduate Studies should verify academic merit, research potential, and eligibility factors and, if applicable, explain why the candidate would be outstanding for the Pipeline Faculty Program.
For this competition, UIC’s terminal master’s programs are: Architecture (MArch; MS); Architecture in Health Design (MS); Art (MFA); Biomedical Visualization (MS); City Design (MCD); Civic Analytics (MS); Design Criticism (MA); Graphic and Industrial Design (MDes); Environmental & Urban Geography (MA); French and Francophone Studies (MA); Health Professions Education (MPHE); Latin American & Latino Studies (MA); Museum and Exhibition Studies (MA); Occupational Therapy (MS); Spanish (MAT). Students in professional programs and/or programs not under the auspices of the Graduate College are ineligible. (For possible errors, contact Benn Williams.)
Regardless of FTE, an individual with an Academic Professional (AP or BA), a Civil Service (CS), or an Extra Help (HP) position at the time of appointment is ineligible. Recipients of the recruitment fellowship as well as of the PIF are ineligible for the retention round.
Selection Criteria
Selection criteria for all Access Fellowships (AFs) will be based on academic achievement and promise.
Applicants must be nominated by their departments.
PIF
Outstanding student applicants for University and Access recruitment fellowships will be considered for the PIpeline to Faculty (PIF) Program.
Terms
The AF competition is for recruitment. It is a two-year package for master’s students and a four-year package for doctoral students.
Both master’s and PhD students who receive the Access for Excellence Fellowships will be awarded $33,000 in the first year of the fellowship, or $2,750 per month in the first year of the fellowship. PhD recipients are eligible for an additional year of support when they begin their dissertation research (after completing their preliminary examination, but not before their fourth year or after their fifth year of study), providing they meet the following criteria: (1) The student must be making good progress in the program; (2) The student must have received a minimum of two years of support from their department. The Graduate College must be informed by April 1 of the year before the renewal year that students have passed their preliminary examination and plan to renew–and are not past the student’s fifth year.
In the second year (for a master’s recipient) and the second and third years (for a doctoral recipient), the student’s academic program must provide, minimally, a nine-month, 50% FTE appointment as fellow, teaching assistant, and/or research assistant. Academic/research/faculty hourly positions are not permissible in conjunction with any fellowship. Stipends must be equivalent to those provided to other students in the same department. If the nominating graduate program has a mechanism to financially support students during year one, the Access Fellowship could be deferred one year.
During the years of the fellowship fully funded by the Graduate College, recipients may accept part-time employment. The Graduate College discourages on-campus employment in GA- (assistantship) and HG- (grad hourly) class positions exceeding 50% FTE for fellows. (Academic/research/faculty hourly positions are not permissible in conjunction with any fellowship.) Recipients may not hold the Access Fellowships simultaneously with other Graduate College fellowships, nor any external funding where it is prohibited by that external funding agency. Other awards may be held simultaneously; however, they must be approved by the Graduate College. It is the student’s responsibility to know and understand the regulations of the Access Fellowship and those of any other award (see Policies below).
Access Fellowship recipients also receive a full tuition and partial fee waiver from the Graduate College. The waiver covers all tuition (including differential, if any) service fee, health service fee, academic facilities maintenance fund assessment, library and information technology assessment, and part of the cost of coverage for Fall and Spring Semester towards CampusCare, if applicable. All other fees are the responsibility of the student.
Students supported by these fellowships are required to register for 9 or more hours each semester (fall-spring) unless expressly authorized by the Dean of the Graduate College to carry a reduced course load. The Graduate College does not require fellows register for the summer session–unless directly related to one’s defense; individual departments may require summer registration. Effective Fall 2021, fellows who register in the summer must enroll in 3-5 hours to be eligible for a summer tuition waiver. Fellows should check with the department regarding its summer registration policy.
Students may not receive more than two years of Access Fellowship funding from the Graduate College.
Fellowships, Student Loans, and Taxation
The stipend portion of the award may be taxable income; however, per guidelines set by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), the University is not responsible for withholding or reporting income taxes on fellowship payments.
Fellows do not receive a Form W-2 on their fellowship income nor does the University report the fellowship payment as taxable income to either the state or federal government. However, the University is required to report fellowships to the IRS for informational purposes only on Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement. Taxability of the fellowship payment is a matter between the Fellow and the IRS.
More information on taxation of fellowships can be found in IRS Publication 970: Tax Benefits for Education (PDF), or by calling 1-800-829-3676.
Students who are obtaining federal loans from Financial Aid: Obtaining a fellowship WILL significantly affect your financial aid eligibility. Check with the Office of Student Financial Aid on eligibility requirements and for further information.
Nomination procedures
The Application for Graduate Appointment is no longer required. Follow the requirements for the correct competition.
Programs are limited to TWO nominations regardless of program size: one “internal” (UIC undergraduate degree) and one “external” (to UIC). Both can be internal; both cannot be external.
To be considered for nomination, applicants/students need to submit the following documents to the nominating department/program’s Director of Graduate Studies well in advance of the deadlines. Carefully follow the maximum word and page limits, where noted.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
| Recruitment Nominations |
|---|
| Transmittal and Statement of Financial Support Form |
| DGS Nomination Letter (if applicable, explain why candidate would be outstanding for the Pipeline to an Inclusive Faculty Program) |
| Personal Statement (document used for admission to your program; if PIF eligible AND if not addressed in the personal statement, attach applicant’s career goals (1p.)) |
| Three Letters of Recommendation (LORs used for admission into your graduate program) |
| CV (maximum 3 pages) |
| Transcripts of Post-secondary Degrees (copies of official) |
HTML
Click the link below for the Transmittal and Statement of Financial Support Form
selection procedure
Winners are selected by a Graduate College awards committee, which is composed of elected and appointed faculty from across UIC’s disciplinary colleges.
Submission Instructions
The Director of Graduate Studies reviews the application package that was electronically submitted to the program by the student. The DGS completes the Transmittal Form (fillable PDF), adding it as the cover page. Save the forms/documents listed above as one single PDF per nominee using the following naming convention: AF_YearofCompetition_ProgramName_NomineeLastNameFirstInitial.pdf
Do not use spaces in the pdf name.
Here is an example of Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable’s recruitment application from History: AF_2026_Hist_PointeDuSableJ.pdf.
The PDF file must be emailed to the Graduate College using the relevant secure Box folder.
Recruitment competition:
- Arts & Humanities and Behavioral & Social Sciences: AF_Recr.6x5ltgzw1ae1qk0k@u.box.com
- Engineering, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences & Life and Health Sciences: AF_Recr.jilg698qsjllfy6q@u.box.com
*NOTE: The department/program has to review all student requests prior to submitting the documents to the Graduate College by the deadline.
frequently asked questions
Currently unavailable. Please address questions to Benn Williams, Fellowships and Awards Coordinator, bwilli7@uic.edu.
Deadlines
Access Fellowship Deadline: 4 pm CT on February 2, 2026