Graduate Student Funding

SGS is pleased to provide a substantial portfolio of fellowships for incoming graduate students who promote our DEI mission. These awards help graduate programs recruit and retain excellent students from a wide variety of backgrounds and across disciplines.

Fellowships include

• The Dean’s Fellowships to Broaden Participation for first-year students who broaden participation in their graduate programs and the SGS community
• Summer Undergraduate Pipeline to Excellence at Rutgers Graduate (SUPER-Grad) Fellowships for outstanding alumni of diversity-focused summer programs such as RISE at Rutgers. SUPER-Grad has been highly effective in incentivizing top summer students to return to Rutgers, with a number of Fellows opting to do graduate research under the direction of their former summer mentors.
• Masters to Ph.D. Bridge Fellowships for high potential students who would be better served by a transitional program with flexible curriculum, academic support, and committed mentoring.

Graduate Program Directors nominate candidates for SGS Fellowships during designated windows in January (Round 1 for Early Action consideration) and February (Round 2, the General Pool). Faculty Evaluators from humanities, social sciences, and STEM review a subset of candidates in their respective areas. A Final Selection Committee aggregates rankings and designates awardees and alternates. Nominees designated as Alternates in the Early Action competition are automatically reconsidered as part of the General Pool.

The exact timetable is announced to GPDs and AAs prior to the winter holiday break.

Faculty Evaluators are key. This role takes minimal time and has a major impact. Contact Associate Dean Evelyn Erenrich to learn how you can volunteer or recommend a member of your graduate program.

We encourage GPDs to use SGS Fellowships as a recruitment incentive for outstanding prospects. While it can be productive to alert a student early on that they are a top candidate, an award is not guaranteed until the fellowship evaluation process is complete and the student has been admitted to the program.