Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program

The Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program's (CDIP) goal is to increase the number of faculty with the qualifications, motivation, and skills needed to teach the diverse students of the CSU. CDIP prepares promising doctoral students for CSU faculty positions by providing financial support, mentorship by CSU faculty and professional development and grant resources. It is the largest program of its kind in the U.S.

Upcoming CDIP Info Workshops

The College of Graduate Studies will be hosting two workshops for current doctoral students and students looking to apply to doctoral programs for the 2025-2026 school year on the following dates:

  • December 9, 2024: Presentation from 12:00 - 1:00 pm and Q&A from 1:00 - 1:30 pm, in SSE 1410U and via zoom.
  • January 9, 2025: Presentation from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm and Q&A from 12:30 - 1:00 pm, in SSE 1410U and via zoom.

If you are interested in attending one of these workshops, please sign up via this Google Form.

Description

CDIP participants may borrow up to $10,000 per year up to a total of $30,000 within a five-year period while they are enrolled full-time in a doctoral program at an approved, accredited institution. If the participant is hired to a full-time instructional faculty position at a CSU campus, the loan will be canceled at a rate of 20 percent of the original loan amount, plus interest, for each year of full-time teaching in the CSU. Recipients who do not obtain a CSU instructional faculty position will pay back the loan according to a 15-year schedule. See here for more information about the loan

Each applicant is required to have a full-time tenured/tenure-track CSU faculty advisor who will provide professional mentoring and networking opportunities throughout the student's educational experience. Mentors may be eligible for additional support, such as funding to accompany their student to conferences. 

Established in 1987, the CSU CDIP is the largest program of its kind in the United States. As of June 2018 the program has loaned $51 million to over 2,100 doctoral students enrolled in universities throughout the nation, and 1,281 of these participants have successfully earned doctoral degrees. Among participants who have earned their doctoral degrees, 769 (60 percent) have subsequently obtained employment in CSU instructional faculty positions.

Who is eligible to apply?

  • Anyone interested in doctoral study, including lecturers without terminal degrees, current MA and MFA students, and undergraduate seniors may apply for CDIP.
  • The program is open to applicants who will be new or continuing full-time students in doctoral programs at regionally accredited universities anywhere within the United States.
  • Applicants are not required to have attended the CSU nor to have been accepted in a doctoral program at the time of their application.
  • Each applicant is required to have a full-time tenured/tenure-track CSU faculty advisor who will provide professional mentoring and networking opportunities throughout the student’s educational experience.

Important Reminder

The Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities (CSRR) and the student’s home college will be consulted to ensure that the student is in compliance with the Student Code of Conduct and/or their program’s Graduate Professional Standards.

Award nominees: A potential awardee is subject to being deemed ineligible for an award if (a) it is determined by CSRR that the student is in violation of the Student Code of Conduct and/or (b) if the program notifies the College of Graduate Studies that the student has violated their program’s Graduate Professional Standards.

Current awardees: A current student awardee is subject to having their fellowship or scholarship rescinded if (a) it is determined by CSRR that the student is in violation of the Student Code of Conduct and/or (b) if the program notifies the College of Graduate Studies that the student has violated their program’s Graduate Professional Standards.

Application Deadlines

The Chancellor's Office has not yet announced the deadlines for the 2025-2026 CDIP application. The College of Graduate Studies will update this webpage when they are announced.

Please contact [email protected] should you have any questions.