Fellowships and Scholarships: Outside Funding Opportunities

Explore Outside Funding Opportunities

The U.S. government and other organizations offer a wide range of awards for students with diverse academic interests and career goals. Included on this page are scholarships and fellowships that provide students with:

• Funding for undergraduate or postgraduate studies
• Service work, research, and study abroad opportunities
• An employment placement upon graduation
• Language instruction
• Summer enrichment

Applications for these programs typically require basic biographical information, a resume, transcripts, essays, and letters of recommendation. Some may ask for financial information or a research proposal. We provide support to students throughout the entire application process, from the initial stages of identifying appropriate opportunities to comprehensive application feedback and interview preparation.

Some of these awards involve an institutional review and endorsement process, which means that you will be submitting your application to us, and we will submit it to the program on your behalf. Thus, some of the programs on this page have a Simmons Deadline listed along with a National Deadline. For the programs to do not require an institutional review and endorsement process, you will only see one Application Deadline listed. Even though there is no formal requirement for our involvement in your application process, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the support that we offer. We encourage students to begin exploring scholarship and fellowship options early on in their undergraduate career. Often, the application process itself helps students to clarify, refine, and articulate their personal and professional goals and motivations, positioning them with a greater competitive edge when applying to graduate schools and entering the job market.

For individual guidance, email [email protected] to schedule an appointment.

Undergraduate Opportunities

• Boren Scholarship: The Boren Scholarship is an undergraduate language study award that funds study abroad in world regions critical to U.S. national security. It includes a service requirement: employment with the federal government for at least one year upon graduation.
• Fulbright U.K. Summer Institutes: Students who participate in the Fulbright U.K. Summer Institutes enroll in an intensive, credit-bearing course at a university in the U.K. The universities and course topics vary from year to year. The topics are connected to the location, and student learning takes place in the classroom as well as on field trips.
• Gilman Scholarship: The Gilman Scholarship provides funding for study abroad to Pell-eligible undergraduates.
• Goldwater Scholarship: The Goldwater Scholarship provides undergraduate funding for future leaders in natural science, math, and engineering research. Simmons Deadline: Please notify us of your intent to apply by so we can approve your pre-application. Once it is approved, please submit your completed application to us.
• National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarship Program: The NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program provides funding and professional experience to students who are committed to careers in biomedical, behavioral, or social science-related research. Upon graduation, scholarship recipients work full-time at the NIH.
• Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Summer Enrichment Program: The Rangel Summer Enrichment Program is designed to provide undergraduate students with a deeper appreciation of current issues and trends in international affairs, a greater understanding of career opportunities in international affairs, and the enhanced knowledge and skills to pursue such careers. Students live at Howard University, attend classes, and participate in a variety of programs with foreign affairs professionals. This program encourages the application of members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service, women, and those with financial need.
• Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU): A program of the National Science Foundation, Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) provides students with research experiences at various sites around the country. Many aspects of the program, including the field of study and nature of the research, vary by site. You may search for a site that fits your academic and research interests.
• Schwarzman Scholarship:  The Schwarzman Scholarship is a one-year, fully-funded master’s program at Tsinghua University in Beijing, designed to build a global community of future leaders who will serve to deepen understanding between China and the rest of the world. Applications open in June and are typically accepted until September.
• Udall Scholarship: The Udall Scholarship provides undergraduate funding to sophomores and juniors who demonstrate commitment to issues related to Native American nations and the environment. Scholarships are awarded in three categories: The Environment, Tribal Policy, and Native Health Care. Simmons Deadline: Please notify us of your intent to apply so we can provide you with the application. You will be required to submit your completed application to us three weeks before the National Deadline.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Opportunities

• Critical Language Scholarship: The Critical Language Scholarship, a program of the U.S. Department of State, provides summer study abroad opportunities for students who are seeking to learn languages that are critical to America’s engagement with the world. The program offers rigorous instruction in 15 languages as well as extracurricular activities for cultural immersion.
• Foreign Affairs Information Technology (FAIT) Fellowship: The FAIT Fellowship is a U.S. Department of State program that aims to diversify the ranks of Information Management Specialists. It provides funding for undergraduate and graduate students in I.T.-related programs and an employment assignment upon graduation.
• Humanity in Action Fellowship: The Humanity in Action Fellowship offers month-long summer programs based in different cities around the globe. Each program is tailored to its location. Fellows are challenged to understand their host city’s unique history of injustice, its present struggles to encompass groups with minoritized cultures and identities, and the future of its democratic values. For four weeks, Fellows engage with local experts and community members, visit museums and historical sites, and engage in constant discourse with one another and program leaders. For the next eleven months, Fellows work on their Action Project: an independent venture focused on promoting democratic values in their own communities.
• Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship: The Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program is an opportunity for students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines to receive a full scholarship and guaranteed civilian employment with the Department of Defense (DoD) upon degree completion.
• Tillman Scholar Program: The Tillman Scholar Program is the premier academic fellowship for military service members, veterans, and spouses.

Postgraduate Opportunities

• Boren Fellowship: The Boren Fellowship is a graduate language study award that funds study abroad in world regions critical to U.S. national security. It includes a service requirement: employment with the federal government for at least one year upon graduation.
• Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship: The Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) provides funding and professional experience for Ph.D. students in science, math, engineering, or computer science who are interested in research using computing and mathematical methods.
• Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship: The Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship is designed to increase the ethnic and racial diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties. As such, it provides funding for Ph.D. or Sc.D. candidates from underrepresented racial or ethnic backgrounds who are likely to use diversity as a resource in their teaching and scholarship.
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program: The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is an international grant program that aims to foster mutual understanding between the U.S. and nations across the globe. Fulbright provides grants for individually designed study/research projects and for English Teaching Assistant Programs.
• Gates Cambridge Scholarship: Gates Cambridge offers full-cost scholarships to outstanding applicants from countries outside the U.K. to pursue a full-time postgraduate degree in any subject available at the University of Cambridge. Approximately two thirds of the annual scholarships are awarded to Ph.D. students. Simmons Deadline: One month before the national deadline.
• Graduate Education for Minorities (GEM) Fellowship: The Graduate Education for Minorities (GEM) Fellowship funds graduate degrees in applied science and engineering for Native American, Black, and Latinx students. As defined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, these groups are underrepresented in science and engineering, and the Fellowship aims to facilitate their success in these fields. GEM’s principal activity is the provision of graduate fellowships at the M.S. and Ph.D. levels coupled with paid summer internships. GEM also offers fellowships without paid summer internships through their GEM University and Associate Fellowship programs.
• Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Peace and Reconciliation: The Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Peace and Reconciliation provides exceptional female students from the U.S. with a full tuition-free waiver to attend Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. The award honors Clinton’s contributions to the Northern Ireland peace process and supports students who are committed to civic leadership and peacebuilding. In order to earn this award, you must be studying politics, conflict transformation, or human rights.
• Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program: Knight-Hennessy Scholars receive funding for graduate study in any discipline at Stanford University.
• Marshall Scholarship: The Marshall Scholarship is a merit-based program that provides funding for American students to study at any U.K. university. It is named after the Marshall Plan, in which the U.S. provided aid to Western Europe following the destruction of WWII, and its objective is to foster U.S.-U.K. understanding.
• Mitchell Scholarship: The Mitchell Scholarship provides funding for one year of postgraduate studies in Ireland. The program is designed to introduce and connect generations of future American leaders to the island while recognizing and fostering intellectual achievement, leadership, and a commitment to public service.
• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship: The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) is a postgraduate fellowship for students pursuing a doctoral degree in one of fifteen supported disciplines at a U.S. institution. As a means of increasing the number of U.S. citizens and nationals trained in science and engineering disciplines of military importance, the Department of Defense (DoD) awards these fellowships annually, subject to the availability of funds.
• National Institutes of Health Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program: The National Institutes of Health Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program is an accelerated, individualized doctoral training program for outstanding science students committed to biomedical research careers. The program is based on the British system, in which students perform doctoral research without required formal courses other than those students choose to take in relationship to their own interests. Each NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholar is given the opportunity to work with at least two different research supervisors — one at the NIH and one at either Oxford or Cambridge — on a project that involves a collaborative undertaking by the two laboratories.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program: The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.
• Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship: The USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship Program seeks to attract outstanding individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). At the conclusion of two years of study, the Payne Fellow is expected to obtain a degree in international development or another area of relevance to the work of the USAID Foreign Service at a U.S. graduate or professional school approved by the Payne Program. Fellows who successfully complete the Payne Program and USAID Foreign Service entry requirements will receive appointments as Foreign Service Officers with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
• Pickering Fellowship: The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program is a program funded by the U.S. Department of State, administered by Howard University, that attracts and prepares outstanding young people for Foreign Service careers in the U.S. Department of State. Upon successful completion of a two-year master’s degree program and fulfillment of Foreign Service entry requirements, fellows have the opportunity to work as Foreign Service Officers in accordance with applicable law and State Department policy, serving in Washington, DC and at a U.S. embassy, consulate, or diplomatic mission around the globe. Fellows also agree to a minimum five-year service commitment in the Department of State’s Foreign Service. The Fellowship supports minority groups historically underrepresented in the State Department, women, and those with financial need.
• Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship: The Rangel Graduate Fellowship is a program that aims to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State in which they can help formulate, represent and implement U.S. foreign policy. The Rangel Program selects outstanding Rangel Fellows annually in a highly competitive nationwide process and supports them through two years of graduate study, internships, mentoring, and professional development activities. This program encourages the application of members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service, women, and those with financial need. Fellows who successfully complete the program and Foreign Service entry requirements will receive appointments as Foreign Service Officers, in accordance with applicable law and State Department policy.
• Rhodes Scholarship: The Rhodes Scholarship is a highly competitive fellowship award that offers a fully funded postgraduate degree at Oxford University in the UK. Rhodes Scholarships are for young leaders of outstanding intellect and character who are motivated to engage with global challenges, committed to the service of others and show promise of becoming value-driven, principled leaders for the world’s future.
• Schwarzman Scholars: The Schwarzman Scholars program offers a one-year master’s degree in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing. All courses are taught in English.
• Truman Scholarship: The Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based graduate scholarship for those pursuing graduate education to prepare for a career in public service.
• William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India: The William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India is an immersive, 10-month volunteer service program matching young professionals with development organizations. Fellows work on scalable and sustainable development projects in the fields of education, livelihoods, and public health.