Doctoral Fellowships; Schooling the Scholars

Ahh…Fellowships. The free money you have to work for. Remember the days when you received financial aid for being unique…just like everybody else? Remember when filling out a FAFSA erased the last few numbers on your tuition bill? Those days are numbered for students working towards a doctorate. National attention is so concentrated on aiding undergraduates that the financial problems of a growing pool of doctoral students are frequently unaddressed. With some programs numbering seven or eight years (not including the undergraduate portion), doctoral fellowships are much needed. Doctoral students may no longer rely upon the standard "I’m in financial need" plight to receive government grants. These days, financial need alone isn't enough. To receive doctoral fellowships, students have to show that they can provide the world with something more—diversity, academic merit and hard work.

For those of you not familiar with them, fellowships are a form of financial aid students need not repay—at least not with money. However, many fellowships do require that students supply their school or fellowship provider with some form of service. If the school is the granter of the doctoral fellowship, the reward is usually given in exchange for research or teaching assistance. Providers outside of school may have other requirements, with research again topping the charts.

While the idea of working for finances may not be as appealing as receiving free government money, doctoral fellowships should be researched. As is true for scholarships, doctoral fellowships provide students with greatly varying sums of money. Students can receive a few hundred dollars, year-long tuition reimbursements and even renewable tuition reimbursements that accompany stipends. Some schools are more than willing to pay the right students to graduate from their school.

Aside from the money issues, doctoral fellowships can provide the future researcher, professor or writer with excellent experience. Doctoral graduates with a past in researching or teaching will have an edge over competitors who don’t. In addition to the resume garnish, those lucky enough to receive a doctoral fellowship will get an insider’s pass into their field of choice—and get paid for it. It may be heartbreaking to find the work to be worse than expected, but better late than never. Spending seven years in school, seven years without work experience, can be tough to swallow.

There are several places students can look to for information on doctoral fellowship opportunities. The Scholarships.com database is a great source of information on financial aid. This includes, among other things, fellowships, scholarships and grants. Government websites are another good resource. Some of the most prominent and well-paying fellowships are offered by the government. These tend to be pretty competitive, so students may also want to browse through university websites. A doctorate-offering university without doctorate fellowship opportunities is a rare find. The two are like peanut butter & jelly. Like student and aid.