Internal Fellowships and Scholarships

The College of Graduate Studies offers numerous awards for eligible graduate students. Internal awards are typically funded by university sources such as Academic Affairs or Associated Students, or funded by the state through sources like the Chancellor's Office. 

In addition to providing financial support, these awards also enhance your resume/CV. Please note that some internal awards are only available by faculty nomination. 

Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions. 

Student Direct Apply

Students may directly apply for these awards. 

• Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program
  • A forgivable loan for doctoral students looking to teach within the CSU system. 
  • CDIP awardees are eligible to apply for additional grants and fellowships. 
• California Pre-Doctoral Program (Sally Casanova Predoctoral Scholarship)
  • A scholarship for juniors, seniors, and master's students interested in obtaining research doctorates.
• Graduate Equity Fellowship
  • A fellowship for master's students that are California residents, have a 3.00 GPA, and demonstrate a financial need.  
• Graduate Student Travel Scholarship
  • An award given to students for travel associated with research, scholarly, and creative activities.

Faculty Nomination Only

These awards are available only by nomination. Students must be nominated by their graduate program advisor/director for these awards. Nominations are typically requested in spring for distribution the following academic year. 

• Completion of Research and Creative Activity (CORE) Fellowship
  • Funding for graduate students who have advanced to candidacy to complete the research, scholarly, and creative activity component of their thesis or dissertation.
• Master’s Research Scholarship 
  • A competitive one-year program awarding excellent master’s students with a $10,000 scholarship. 
• Presidential Graduate Research Fellowship
  • A competitive program providing a nonresident tuition waiver for out-of-state and international students. It waives the $420 per unit fee for nonresident students for the 2024-2025 academic year. 
• University Graduate Fellowship
  • A competitive two-year fellowship with a minimum annual stipend of $30,000. In one year, the student is funded by the College of Graduate Studies; in the other year, the student is funded by a matching commitment made by the faculty mentor. 
• WAGS & ProQuest Annual Awards
  • A prestigious regional competition for institutions to showcase innovation and creativity by their graduate students in four award categories.
• DRI/CGS Doctoral Fellowship (no new applications being accepted)
  • A two-year fellowship was supported by one-time funding from Division of Research and Innovation (DRI) and the College of Graduate Studies (CGS) in partnership with the individual colleges. The fellows, who were nominated by their program directors, received an annual stipend of $30,000.