Fellowships and Scholarships

Fellowships, Assistantships and Scholarships

The College of Education and Purdue University offer incoming and current graduate students a number of prestigious fellowships, scholarships and awards. Funding enables graduate students to further their education without the burden of student loans. Below, learn about the awards and scholarships available to graduate students at the college and university level.

Fellowships and Assistantships for Incoming Doctoral Students

The following prestigious recruitment Fellowships and Assistantship for new incoming doctoral students are reviewed and awarded at the Department level, and provide up to 4 years of funding. The number of fellowships awarded varies each year based on available funding.

Frederick N. Andrews Fellowship
The Andrews Fellowship is a Graduate School recruitment fellowship for students admitted to the College of Education (COE) for the upcoming academic year as doctoral students in a degree-granting program. This prestigious fellowship is usually administered as an assistantship. Andrews Fellows receive four years of funding, with two years funded by the Graduate School and two years by the Department.

Ross Fellowship
The Ross Fellowship is a Graduate School recruitment fellowship of doctoral-seeking students admitted to the College of Education for the upcoming academic year to a degree-granting graduate program. This prestigious fellowship is usually administered as an assistantship. Ross Fellows receive four years of funding, with one year funded by the Graduate School and three years by the Department.

Purdue Doctoral Fellowship
The Purdue Doctoral Fellowship is a Graduate School recruitment fellowship for doctoral-seeking graduate students who will enhance the diversity of the graduate student body in the College of Education through their diverse backgrounds, views, and experiences. Applicants must be graduates from a U.S. high school. Purdue Doctoral Fellows receive two years of support funded by the Graduate School, with two years funded by the Department, and have assistantship responsibilities.

Dean’s Doctoral Research Assistantship
The Dean’s Doctoral Research Assistantship is a College of Education recruitment and support initiative for students admitted to the College of Education in a doctoral degree-granting program. This prestigious award provides four years of funding, with three years funded by the College of Education and one year funded by the Department. One Dean’s Doctoral Research Assistantship will be awarded to an incoming doctoral student each year by each department in the college. As graduate assistants, students must be candidates for a degree and remain in good standing to maintain eligibility to hold the assistantship. Recipients of the Dean’s Research assistantship will conduct research, which may or may not be directly related to their degree requirements, under the direction of their major professors.

Nomination Procedures
To be considered for a Ross, Andrews, or Purdue Doctoral Fellowship, or for the Dean’s Doctoral Research Assistantship, you must be nominated by a program-area faculty member. Nominations are reviewed and awarded at the department level by a graduate education committee. Faculty nominations to the committee are due the 3rd Friday in January.

In order to be nominated:

• Ensure your graduate school application is completed with all supporting documents no later than your program-area application deadline (EDCI deadlines | EDST deadlines). For programs with rolling admissions, your application must be completed by December 31.
• You are encouraged to communicate directly with a program-area faculty member to discuss the program and request nomination for one of the above fellowships/assistantships.

Additional Fellowships for Incoming Graduate Students

The following fellowships for incoming masters or doctoral students are centrally administered and awarded by the Purdue Graduate School.

David M. Knox Fellowship
The Knox Fellowship provides a two-year award package to that includes coverage of tuition and fees as well as medical insurance supplements. One year of funding is provided by the Graduate School and one additional year of funding support from the student’s graduate program.

To be considered for a Knox Fellowship, you must contact a program-area faculty member and ask them to nominate you using the current nomination form. Department nominations are due to the Graduate School at the end of January.

George Washington Carver Fellowship
The George Washington Carver Fellowship is awarded to doctoral-seeking students from historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, or tribal colleges who have demonstrated superior academic achievements and scholarly abilities. Recipients must aspire to a career as a professor of higher education. The Carver Fellowship provides 5 years of support funded by the Graduate School.

To be considered for a Carver Fellowship, you must contact a program-area faculty member and ask them to nominate you using the current nomination form. Department nominations are due to the Graduate School at the end of January.

Charles C. Chappelle Fellowship
The Charles C. Chappelle Fellowship provides a one-year fellowship to students with undergraduate degrees from Purdue for the furtherance of postgraduate research at the University. Recipients are selected on the basis of character, intellectual ability and promise of degree attainment. This fellowship, funded by the Graduate School, includes a stipend, graduate tuition scholarships, payment of most fees and a medical insurance supplement.

To be considered for a Chappelle Fellowship, you must apply directly through the Graduate School.

 

General Assistantships for Incoming or Current Graduate Students

General Assistantships may be available for students without a fellowship, on a per-semester basis. Most assistantships are half-time (0.50 FTE), but you may be offered the opportunity to work quarter-time (0.25 FTE), or three-quarter-time (0.75 FTE). FTE means Full-Time Equivalent, which is ordinarily assumed to mean 40 hours of work per week. International students, by law, may not exceed 0.50 FTE, or half-time employment.

Contact your department for information about how to apply for available assistantships. You must be admitted to the Purdue Graduate School before you will be offered an assistantship.

As a Teaching Assistant (TA), you might lead one or more sections of an undergraduate class with responsibility for preparing and delivering lectures and evaluating student work, you might oversee a recitation or laboratory section for a large lecture course, or you might supervise student teachers in the field. Most teaching assistantships require, or at least strongly prefer, that you have prior K-12 teaching experience because most courses deal with K-12 teacher preparation. These appointments are typically for 10 months and extend from about August 15 to May 15. TAs selected to teach Summer School classes receive additional paychecks, but usually there are few summer TA slots available. Individuals whose first language is not English must satisfy oral English proficiency standards to be offered a teaching assistant position.

As a Research Assistant (RA), you would perform research-related tasks, typically under the direction of a faculty member. You might work in a laboratory, collect observation data in a classroom, or type transcripts from recorded interviews. These appointments are most typically available from faculty members who have been awarded research grants.

As an Administrative Assistant, you would perform administrative tasks under the direction of faculty or staff members. Although fewer of these jobs are available, they are usually 12-month appointments. Examples include auditing the transcripts of teacher licensing candidates or maintaining a department’s website.

 

Scholarships, Research Grants, and Dissertation Fellowships for Current Students

College of Education Scholarships
Several scholarships have been created through the generous support of alumni and friends of the College of Education. Awards range from $1,000 to $2,500. Each scholarship has specific criteria. Faculty in the program areas select the recipients from a list of eligible students. Please see your program chair for eligibility and application information.

• Dean’s Doctoral Scholarship (dissertation stage students)
• Bruce Shertzer Award (Counseling Psychology)
• Elizabeth Doversberger (Counseling & Development)
• Feldhusen Doctoral Fellowship (Gifted Education)
• Frank B. DeBruicker (Learning Design and Technology)
• General Wei-chin & Madame Phoebe Lee (Social Studies Education)
• Jane & Michael Wilson Doctoral Award (Science Education)
• Mike Keedy (Mathematics Education)
• Lloyd Alexander Scholarship (Literacy and Language)
• Susan Carlson Harbridge Scholarship (Literacy and Language)

Graduate School Summer Research Grants
Graduate School Summer Research Grants provide two months of dissertation research support for doctoral students who have been exclusively teaching during both of the preceding academic semesters. The eligibility criteria for the Summer Research Grant are as follows:

• Doctoral student
• 0.50 FTE Teaching Assistant for both preceding semesters
• No Research, Fellowship or Administrative/Professional Appointment
• GPA of 3.0 or higher

The Graduate School identifies eligible students and nominations are handled through the departments each spring semester.

Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship
The Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship is a Graduate School fellowship which provides support to an outstanding College of Education Ph.D. candidate in the final year of doctoral degree completion. To be considered you must have completed your coursework and passed your qualifying examinations. There are no assistantship expectations for Bilsland Fellows. Students must complete an application and submit it to their departments by the 3rd Friday in January. Each department forwards rank-ordered nominees to the Dean’s Office by the second Friday of February. The College of Education Awards Committee selects the winner(s). The number of awards available varies based on Graduate School allocations. The application guidelines and nomination form are available via the Graduate Student Awards intranet page.

Graduate Student Awards and Support Programs
Additional awards and support programs are available for current College of Education Graduate Students. Information is available via the Graduate Student Awards intranet page.