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Fellowships & Scholarships

The Geography Department receives an allocation of funds for Fellowships from the Graduate School. The Department distributes this fellowship money following guidelines from the Graduate School. The department has several graduate scholarships/fellowships available. Students may apply or be nominated for these scholarships/fellowships after they have completed one semester of residency.  Students may contact the Department office for application/nomination procedures.

  • The Mabel Duncan Memorial Scholarship is for graduate students who qualify for financial aid. Those wishing to apply must fill out a short form in the Geography office and file a FAFSA for with the Financial Aid office.
  • The James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Scholarship was started by an endowment from an anonymous donor to help graduate students (MA's and PhD's) with summer research costs.
  • The Adam Kolff Memorial Research Fellowship is for Master's students to help support research costs.
  • The Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Fellowship is for PhD students to help support research costs.
  • The Gilbert F. White Doctoral Fellowship in Geography is for Doctoral students in their last year of dissertation writing.

If you are interested in federal financial aid, please see the Financial Aid website. International students are eligible for the departmental financial aid listed above, but it is usually not enough to cover all of a student’s expenses. International students are not eligible for federal financial aid. For international students seeking additional financial aid opportunities, see edupass.org

TAs and RAs

Departmental financial aid may be available in the form of Teaching and Research Assistantships and University Fellowships. The application deadline for Fellowships and for Teaching and Research Assistantships is December 1 as part of your application.  We assume that all applicants are interested in available departmental funding.

Some students, given adequate Department funding and good performance, may be supported as TAs, GPTIs, RAs, or with Fellowships, or some combination of these awards typically for two years for the M.A. and 3 years for the Ph.D. However, acceptance to graduate study does not imply a promise of financial aid in any form. Those earning an M.A. in the Department and who are allowed to continue in the Department for a PhD may normally be given a maximum of 5 years of support for both degrees. For more information on TA and RA stipends, see Graduate Student Appointment Information.