University Fellowship
The 2026 competition is now open!
New for the 2026 competition:
*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.
Programs are encouraged to nominate an eligible individual for the both the Access and the University Fellowship, if eligible.
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.
*To encourage our strong underrepresented students to stay at UIC for their graduate studies, we would like half of the fellows to be UIC students/alumni.
*Each graduate program is limited to TWO nominations regardless of program size.
Overview
University Fellowships seek to recruit outstanding students newly admitted to terminal master’s (see list below) and PhD programs under the auspices of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois Chicago. (Programs with questions about this eligibility change should contact Benn Williams.)
Students should direct questions about eligibility to their Director of Graduate Studies after reading the entire webpage. Applicants will be reviewed by the Graduate Awards Committee and evaluated for academic excellence on the basis of post-secondary record, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and other criteria as deemed appropriate by the committee, including the recommendation from the nominating program/department.
All applicants must be nominated by their departments, which collect and submit each nomination as a PDF to Box.
Details
eligibility factors
Applicants must be accepted into a doctoral degree or a terminal master’s program in the Graduate College. There are no citizenship restrictions.
University Fellowships seek to recruit outstanding students newly admitted to terminal master’s (see list below) and PhD programs under the auspices of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois Chicago.(Programs with questions about this eligibility change should contact Benn Williams.)
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). (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.
terms
The UF is a two-year package for a master’s student and a four-year package for a doctoral student.
Recipients of the University Fellowship 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 nor 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. Stipends must be equivalent to those provided to other students in the same department.
If a doctoral graduate program has a mechanism for financial support for students during year one, the University Fellowship could be deferred one year.
During the years of the fellowship fully funded by the Graduate College, recipients may accept part-time on-campus employment in GA- (assistantship) and HG- (grad hourly) class positions–not in academic/research/faculty hourly positions. The Graduate College discourages, but does not forbid, employment exceeding 50% FTE for fellows. Recipients may not hold the Access Fellowship simultaneously with the University Fellowship, nor any external award where it is prohibited by that external funding agency. Other awards may be held simultaneously; however, they must be approved by the Graduate College on a case-by-case basis. It is the student’s responsibility to know and understand the regulations of the University Fellowship and those of any other award (see Policies below).
University 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 unless expressly authorized by the Dean of the Graduate College to carry a reduced course load. Fellows are not required to register for the summer session by the Graduate College; however, individual departments may require summer registration. Fellows who register in the summer must enroll 3-5 hours to be eligible for a summer tuition waiver. Fellows should check with their department to regarding its summer registration policy.
loans
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 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.
how to nominate
The Application for Graduate Appointment is no longer required. Follow the requirements below.
Programs are limited to two (2) nominations regardless of program size. New in 2026: Programs may nominate one “internal” (UIC undergraduate degree) and one “external” (to UIC) applicant. 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 limits, where noted.
required documents
The UF application process has been streamlined. Several forms are no longer required.
- University Fellowship Transmittal Form and Financial Support Form (one document – see link below)
- Nomination letter from the Director of Graduate Studies on letterhead
- Personal statement (use the document used for admission into your graduate program; if the student is eligible for the PIF, append the applicant’s career goals in one page)
- CV or résumé (optional but recommended; 3pp. maximum)
- Three letters of recommendation (LORs used for admission into your graduate program)
- Transcripts of post-secondary degrees (copies of official)
- TOEFL or IELTS scores (international applicants only)
Pipeline to Faculty
Outstanding student applicants for University and Access recruitment fellowships will be considered for the PIpeline to Faculty (PIF) Program.
criteria
Selection criteria for the University Fellowship (UF) are academic achievement and promise.
Winners are selected by the Awards Committee, which is composed of elected and appointed UIC faculty from across the disciplinary colleges.
submissions
The Director of Graduate Studies assembles the application package. The DGS completes the Transmittal Form (fillable form), adding it as the cover page. Save the forms/documents listed above as one single PDF per nominee using the following naming convention: UF_YearofCompetition_DepartmentAbbreviation_NomineeLastNameFirstInitial.pdf. Do not use spaces in the pdf name.
Here is an example of Chuck Baudelaire’s application from History: UF_2026_Hist_BaudelaireC.pdf.
The PDF file must be emailed to the Graduate College using the relevant secure Box folder below. Some users may need to copy the email address to their email client. **Effective Fall 2023, we have updated the disciplinary divisions wherein we have classified more programs as interdisciplinary and therefore a student in programs such as disability studies, nursing, or public health can choose a review panel more attuned to their specific project. To use these three examples, perhaps “behavioral and social sciences” would be a more appropriate division than the usual “life and health sciences.” In such cases, it is the student’s responsibility to communicate their disciplinary division preference to their program’s submitter.**
Arts & Humanities: UF_Arts.nf2ji2ig5ehjengd@u.box.com
Behavioral & Social Sciences: UF_Beha.ij9dikdg3lxmy3fz@u.box.com
Engineering, Mathematics, & Physical Sciences: UF_Eng_.vh295ckkfoaiuj8g@u.box.com
Life and Health Sciences: UF_Life.5nq46tv3aqv5to4b@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. Potential nominees should consult with their program to determine its internal deadline. Winners will be announced circa March 1st.
frequently asked questions
Currently unavailable. Please direct questions to Benn Williams, Fellowships and Awards Coordinator in the Graduate College (bwilli7@uic.edu).
DEADLINE
DEADLINE: 4pm, FEBRUARY 2, 2026