About the Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship
The Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship recognizes strong academic performance, scholarly achievement, and demonstrated leadership through research goals or a professional discipline of academically excellent master’s and doctoral students enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Students are nominated for this award by their graduate program. Fellowship award decisions are made by a university faculty committee. The Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship is open to all full-time master’s and PhD students not yet at dissertator status.
Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowships are highly competitive. Fellowships are awarded based on the applicant’s previous academic record, scholarly and other achievements, status toward degree, and faculty recommendations. Evaluation is based on the totality of information available. No single factor is decisive. It is understood that excellence takes many forms across disciplines.
2027-2028 Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship Awards
UWM Graduate School Fellowship awards are for full-time study only. The 2027-2028 Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship (DGSF) includes an academic year stipend, coverage of in-state and out-of-state tuition, health insurance, and eligibility for a travel award. Fellowship awardees retain full responsibility for payment of segregated fees and additional instructional/course fees (including distance education) above basic graduate tuition levels. These fees are to be paid by the DGSF recipient and are due before the start of each semester.
The UWM Student Financial Services office provides more information on tuition and fees through this link uwm.edu/finances/finances/estimating-your-costs/tuition/. Health insurance options provided by the Universities of Wisconsin can be explored through this Benefits Quick Guide: www.wisconsin.edu/ohrwd/benefits/download/quickguidegrad.pdf. Fellowship travel award funds should be spent in accordance with UWM travel regulations by the end of the fellowship period during the time you are a student in your graduate degree program, but no later than the end of the fiscal year. The money is to be spent on travel to present at a major national or international conference in your discipline. You must be presenting to access a fellowship travel award.
Note: Graduate School fellowship stipends and tuition waivers count as financial aid. To better understand the financial impact of either an assistantship or fellowship, see Financial Impact of Assistantships and Fellowships.
Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship Application Process
The applicant’s complete DGSF application and two letters of recommendation must be submitted by the graduate program’s internal application deadline. Please contact your Graduate Program Representative for your graduate program’s internal application deadline. Each graduate program evaluates all applications received, selects applicants for nomination, completes all nomination procedures, and forwards nominations to the formal competition. The Graduate Student Fellowships Committee reviews nominations and selects recipients based on application requirements and departmental assessment.
DGSF Application Requirements
- Identification and Contact Information
- Residency and Citizenship Status
- Academic History & Details
- Graduate Degree Program and Major Professor Details
- Achievement and other relevant information:
- Honors, previous fellowship awards, publications (peer-review journals, newsletters, etc.), major exhibitions, performances, presentations (local, regional, national conferences, student-only conferences and annual meetings), departmental assistantships and/or other employment experiences or internships.
- Applicants are asked to clearly distinguished work that is published, completed, or still in progress.
- Two Letters of Recommendation
Each application is considered holistically, and factors such as academic background, experiences, perspectives, aspirations, values and accomplishments are taken into account. For the sake of these fellowships, a “graduate degree program” is defined more broadly than the Universities of Wisconsin definition to include any graduate program that meets both of the following criteria. Students must make specific application to the graduate degree program on their applications to the Graduate School or department. Students cannot transfer out of the program without making explicit application to another program, even within the same department or unit.
2027-2028 Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship Application Timeline
| October 2026 Exact Date TBA | The 2027-2028 application launches. It is highly recommended for applicants to consult with their Graduate Program Representative in prior to starting the fellowship application to learn of any additional requirements set by their graduate program. This includes the internal application deadline. |
| December 2026 – January 2027 Exact Dates TBA | Deadline to submit the 2027-2028 application. Exact deadline date varies by graduate program. Please consult your Graduate Program Representative to learn your deadline date. |
| March 2027 Exact Date TBA | Announcement of all UWM Graduate School Fellowship awards. |
| April 15, 2027 | Deadline for all UWM Graduate School Fellowship recipients to accept any UWM Graduate School fellowship offer, per the Council of Graduate Schools April 15 Resolution. |
UWM Graduate School Fellowship Compliance
Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship recipients must be enrolled full-time in a graduate degree program at UWM during the award period. Fellows must meet the Graduate School continuation requirements each semester and comply with the following UWM Graduate Faculty Committee regulations:
- Fellowship nominees/awardees must maintain a 3.0 GPA and make reasonable progress toward their UWM graduate degree.
- Fellowship nominees/awardees cannot be on academic probation and cannot have engaged in academic or non-academic misconduct during their current graduate program, based on transcript notations at the time of nomination/award. If the fellowship nominees/awardees become ineligible, the graduate fellowship award/offer is forfeited, effective the date that the sanctions are implemented.
- Full-time graduate program enrollment is set between 8-12 credits. Students approved for Prelim status must enroll in 1 credit to be set as full-time.
- Doctoral candidates cannot achieve dissertator status before the program nomination deadline for the award.
- Doctoral students who plan to achieve dissertator status after the graduate program nomination deadline, before, or during the 2027-2028 academic year, are eligible to apply. Doctoral students who attain dissertator status after the nomination deadline must carry 3 dissertator credits per semester. Doctoral students who are in preliminary status must carry 1 research credit during their prelim semester.
- Fellowship recipients may not hold any other external or internal fellowship or scholarship concurrently with a Graduate School award, except for small monetary awards under $10,000; the UWM Chancellor’s Graduate Student Award; or a philanthropic award.
- Fellowship recipients may not accept full-time employment. University appointments (maximum of 37.5% TA, PA or RA), or other student outside employment of up to 15 hours per week, are allowable.
For questions regarding the Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship please email gs-fellowships-distinguished@uwm.edu.