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Associate Librarian and Scholarly Services Librarian
Funding Your Graduate Education
Looking for scholarships, fellowships, grants, or other awards that you can use toward your graduate school tuition and living expenses? This page collects databases and directories that will allow you to search for funding options.
When searching for graduate school funding:
- It pays to start early. Application deadlines may fall 6-12 months before awards are distributed, so think about funding well before you will need to use it.
- Think creatively about funding options. Graduate school funding can come from many different sources - professional associations, non-profit organizations, religious organizations, corporations, and many more.
- Use your department, instructors, and colleagues as information resources. People within your field of study are often familiar with specific funding opportunities that are relevant to students working toward advanced degrees or certificates.
- Remember that you are more than what you study. Funders may be looking to support graduate students based on their ethnicity, geographic origin, gender identity, non-traditional or first-generation student status, religious affiliation, or other characteristics.
Databases & Directories from Academic Institutions
Many universities maintain lists, directories, and databases of funding opportunities for graduate students seeking to pay for their education. Although hosted by a particular institution, these are made publicly available with the aim of helping graduate students at any school find and apply to scholarships, fellowships, and grants.
- Seattle University Office of FellowshipsSeattle University's Office of Fellowships supports students in applying for nationally competitive funding opportunities - search the list of awards by limiting 'Year in School' to 'Master's or Professional' or 'Doctoral' as appropriate.
- UCLA Graduate & Postdoctoral Funding DatabaseSearch hundreds of graduate student awards by discipline, academic level, citizenship, and other eligibility criteria. Opportunities with upcoming deadlines appear at the top of the list of results, making it easy to prioritize time-sensitive applications.
- UC Davis List of External Fellowships for Graduate StudentsAlthough not full-text searchable, this extensive list compiles options from a wide variety of sources. Filter the list to the "predoctoral" funding type to view opportunities for students working toward a master's degree or in the pre-dissertation phase of a doctoral degree.
- Harvard CARAT Database for Grants and FellowshipsAn extensive database of graduate-level opportunities that can be easily searched by degree level, citizenship requirements, and award type. Make sure to select the option for "Non Harvard" under "Also Open To" to see only external opportunities.
Local Databases & Directories
- WashBoard Database of Washington State ScholarshipsFind opportunities specific to students in Washington state through this local resource. Read descriptions carefully to ensure that scholarships are open to graduate students.
- University of Washington Graduate Funding Information Service BlogUW's graduate funding blog posts opportunities on a rolling basis, including many awards specific to graduate students in Seattle, Washington, and the Pacific Northwest region. Although a few options are open only to UW students, most will be relevant to anyone in graduate school.
Further Resources
Looking for more tips on finding funding for your graduate or professional program?
- GoGrad.orgGoGrad provides advice and a handy timeline to help you manage the funding application process, as well as lists of graduate school funding options specific to MBA, military veteran, women, and LGBTQ students.
- GrantSpace.orgGrantSpace offers a worksheet to help you think through all of the characteristics and affiliations that may qualify you for funding. Use it to generate search terms to plug into the databases linked from this page!
- Immigrants Rising Graduate Scholarship ListA list of scholarship opportunities for undocumented students that do not require proof of U.S. citizenship or residency. Although some are specific to California, many options are open nationally.