Office of Minority Affairs Welcome A Message from the Dean Events Financing Graduate Education

Almost all students admitted to a Ph.D. Program in one of the 31 Arts and Sciences Programs within GSAS will receive a multi-year fellowship.  This includes tuition, health insurance, and an annual stipend.  The fellowships usually require a certain amount of teaching or other obligations.  Other GSAS programs and other schools at Columbia have different funding availability and students need to contact the school(s) directly for details.

Students in Masters programs at Columbia are not funded.  Generally, students must either find outside funding or secure loans for MA programs.  Students who are not awarded fellowships typically fund their education via financial aid awards, a package consisting of Stafford loans, work study, and /or other low interest loan programs.  Applicants are urged to compete for all national, regional, and foundation fellowships in addition to those available at Columbia.

Be sure to research all forms of financial assistance available to underrepresented students.  You should begin to gather information about a year and a half before you wish to begin graduate study, given that many of the fellowship deadlines precede graduate school application deadlines.  Two of the major fellowships for minority students are the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship for Minorities and The National Science Foundation Minority Graduate Fellowships.  The application deadlines for both are in November. 

For further information on selected funding sources, go to the GSAS Financial Aid Office web page.

National Scholarship Programs: