About the Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship
The Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship (DGSF) award recognizes and supports the most academically excellent master’s and doctoral students enrolled at UW-Milwaukee. Only doctoral students who have not achieved dissertator status by the nomination deadline for the award are eligible for the award. Students are nominated for this award by their programs and compete with other nominees from across the university. Fellowship award decisions are made by a university faculty committee.
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.
2026-2027 Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship Awards
UWM Graduate School Fellowship awards are for full-time study only and include an academic year stipend, coverage of in-state and out-of-state tuition, health insurance, and a $1,000 travel award. While the DGSF includes a tuition waiver, 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 at 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/. The 2026-2027 academic year stipend for DGSF recipients is $15,500. 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. Travel award money should be spent in accordance with UWM travel regulations by the end of the fiscal year following the year in which the fellowship award is held. The money will be spent on travel to present at a major national or international conference in the student’s discipline. Awardees retain full responsibility for segregated fees and additional instructional/course fees (including distance education) above basic graduate tuition levels. These fees are to be paid by the fellowship recipient and are due at the start of each enrollment term.
DGSF Application Submission and Selection Process
The applicant’s complete DGSF application, including the letter of recommendation from the faculty advisor/major professor, must be submitted by the graduate program’s internal deadline. Contact your graduate program representative for internal application deadlines. Following the internal application deadline, each 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, through use of the DGSF Application Rubric.
DGSF Application Requirements
- Identification and Contact Information
- Residency and Citizenship Status
- Academic History & Details
- Graduate Degree Program
- 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
UWM Graduate School Fellowship Compliance
All fellowship recipients must be enrolled 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.
- Fellowship recipients must carry and complete a full load of 8-12 graduate credits each semester during the academic year.
- Doctoral candidates cannot achieve dissertator status before the program nomination deadline for the award. Doctoral students who plan to achieve dissertator status after the program nomination deadline, before or during the 2025-2026 academic year, are eligible to apply. Doctoral students who attain dissertator status after the nomination deadline must carry three dissertator credits per semester. Doctoral students who are in preliminary status must carry one 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.
Note: Fellowships are factored in determining eligibility for federal student aid. Please know that a fellowship stipend and tuition waiver may significantly reduce a student’s financial aid loan eligibility.
2025-2026 Timeline for 2026-2027 Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowships
| October 15, 2025 | For All DGSF Applicants, Graduate Programs, Faculty Advisors: The Graduate School Fellowship application system launches. DGSF Applicants may open, begin, and complete their ’26-’27 DGSF application. It is highly recommended for new DGSF applicants to consult with their Graduate Program Representative in prior to starting the DGSF application, to learn of any additional requirements set by their graduate program. This includes the internal application deadline. |
| December 2025 | For New DGSF Applicants: Deadline to submit the ’26-’27 DGSF application. Please consult your Graduate Program Representative to learn your deadline date. Exact deadline date varies by graduate program. All DGSF applications must be marked as “complete” within the app system prior to the graduate program’s internal deadline. No exceptions will be made. |
| January 15, 2026 | For Graduate Programs and Faculty Advisors: Deadline for graduate programs to complete required evaluations of nominated applicants. All Graduate School Fellowship nominations must be submitted in the Graduate School Fellowship application system by each graduate program representative before January 15, 2026. |
| Mid-March 2026 | For All DGSF Applicants, Graduate Programs, Faculty Advisors: Announcement of all UWM Graduate School Fellowship awards. |
| April 15, 2026 | For All DGSF Applicants, Graduate Programs, Faculty Advisors: 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. |
For questions regarding the Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship please email gs-fellowships-distinguished@uwm.edu.
Instructions for Graduate Programs
Funding is very limited and Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowships are extremely competitive. Therefore, graduate programs are asked to be highly selective in nominating no more than two students for the DGSF. Only students with all completed answers and documents will be considered nominated. Please verify all information in the application submitted by each nominee, confirming application status as complete with two letters of recommendation. If a program offers both the master’s and doctoral degrees, it is considered a single graduate program and can nominate only two students.
After the applicant’s information has been verified, use the online application to submit a summary statement detailing why the nominee is a strong candidate for the DGSF.
After submitting nomination materials, please notify all your program’s DGSF applicants (non-nominated as well as nominated) regarding the status of their fellowship application. Please submit your nominations by Thursday, January 15, 2026.
Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowships are highly competitive. Fellowships are awarded on the basis of 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.
- 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 UW System definition to include any graduate program that meets both of the following criteria:
- Student must make specific application to the 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.
Please see the timeline at the top of this page for the program nomination deadline. No nominations will be accepted after this date. DGSF awards are capped at three awards per degree-granting program as recognized by the UW System.