Assistantship, Fellowships, Grants, and Scholarships

All applicants are considered automatically for university-based assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships. Inquiries should be addressed to the director of the graduate program to which the student has applied.

Students are encouraged to apply for externally funded fellowships as well. See the Nonuniversity Fellowships heading later in this chapter.

Assistantships Awarded by the University. The minimum beginning salary for teaching and graduate assistantships is $16,988 (2005-2006) for an academic year, although higher salaries may be offered by some departments.

Fellowship Awards.  Fellowship Awards are made by the Graduate School-New Brunswick and other units to doctoral students of exceptional promise. The awards typically carry stipends of $17,000 to $24,000 plus tuition for varying periods of time.

Bevier and University Fellowships.  Graduates of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and postqualifying students already at the university may apply for Louis Bevier Fellowships and University Fellowships. Funds provided by the state and by the Louis Bevier Memorial Fund, respectively, support a limited number of fellowships that carry stipends of $16,000. The Louis Bevier Memorial Fund was established through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Ralph G. Wright in honor of the late Dean Bevier.

Ralph Johnson Bunche Distinguished Graduate Award.  Established in 1979, this distinguished graduate award is named after Ralph Johnson Bunche, the African-American statesman, Nobel Peace laureate, and recipient of an honorary doctor of laws from Rutgers in 1949.

Bunche fellowships provide $15,000 plus tuition remission for as many as two years to exceptional, new, full-time students with backgrounds of substantial educational or social disadvantage.

Bunting-Cobb Graduate Residential Fellowship for Women in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering. Bunting-Cobb Graduate Fellowships for Women in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering are offered by Douglass College, the women's undergraduate unit of Rutgers, for women enrolled as full-time students in mathematics, science, and engineering programs in the Graduate School-New Brunswick. The award provides a two-year fellowship to women graduate students in mathematics, science, or engineering. Bunting-Cobb Graduate Fellows live in residence in the Bunting-Cobb Math and Science Hall at Douglass and serve as mentors to undergraduate women in mathematics, science, and engineering. The award includes a stipend and a single room with board for the academic year. Stipend and responsibilities are based upon the fellow's year in graduate study. Bunting-Cobb Fellows have the opportunity to be part of a unique program of support for women in math, science, and engineering. For more information, contact the Douglass Project for Rutgers Women in Math, Science, and Engineering, Douglass College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 50 Bishop Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8558, or call 732/932-9197.

Diversity Advancement Program in Teaching and Research.  Through referral from graduate program directors, the Diversity Advancement Program identifies individuals whose ethnicity, gender, or other characteristics make them unusual among students in their respective fields. Fellowships from various sources are allocated to encourage the enrollment of these students and thus diversify the graduate community. The fellowships awarded are comparable to those awarded through the schools and colleges.

Eagleton Institute of Politics Graduate Fellowship Programs.  The Eagleton Institute of Politics offers three interdisciplinary fellowship programs that provide Rutgers graduate students the opportunity to further their understanding of the practice of politics and public affairs and to connect their knowledge to their chosen fields of study. Fellowship students are chosen from a wide variety of departments and schools on all three Rutgers campuses, among them the graduate programs in food and business economics; art history; ecology and evolution; food science; geography; history; music; political science; sociology; and women's and gender studies. Eagleton fellows continue their graduate programs without interruption during the fellowship year; the fellowship complements students' academic study.

During the fall, fellows enroll in a weekly, three-credit seminar in applied politics. The seminar is designed to help prepare fellows for the spring semester when they are placed with an office in the New Jersey legislature, the Governor's Office, an executive agency, or other government office for at least 15 hours per week. In the spring, fellows also register for 3 credits of independent study to work with faculty members in their schools or disciplines, making the connection between their field of academic study and hands-on practical experience in government and politics.

Henry J. Raimondo Legislative Fellowships.  The Eagleton Institute awards eight Henry J. Raimondo Fellowships annually. Raimondo Fellows enroll in the graduate course on State Legislatures in the fall. In the spring, four fellows are placed with the New Jersey Senate and Assembly Democratic and Republican offices and four are placed with the Office of Legislative Services. This program was initiated by the Legislature and Rutgers University to honor the memory of Henry J. Raimondo (1947-1999), who served as associate director and professor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. Raimondo Fellowships, awarded for one year, offer a stipend of $8,625 plus significant tuition remission.

Governor's Executive Fellowships.  The Eagleton Institute awards eight Governor's Executive Fellowships annually. Governor's fellows enroll in the Eagleton Seminar in American Politics in the fall, which focuses on leadership styles, political strategies and the political process. It is taught by experienced practitioners and educators. In the spring, fellows are placed in the Office of the Governor or a state executive department in Trenton. Governor's Fellowships are awarded for one year and provide a stipend of $8,625.

Government Fellowships.  The Eagleton Institute awards seven Government Fellowships, six Harold and Reba Martin awards and one Eagleton Alumni award, annually. The government fellows join the Governor's Executive fellows in the Eagleton Seminar in American Politics in the fall. The government fellows' placements in the spring are determined by the students' specific interests. Placements for fellows might include, for example, a regional federal agency, the office of a U.S. Senator, the office of a mayor of a major city, or a political organization.

Eagleton has been awarding Harold and Reba Martin Fellowships since 1981 when the former Bergen County assemblyman and his wife made a generous donation to the Institute. The Alumni Fellowship is made possible by contributions from Eagleton's alumni and other friends. Martin Fellowships and the Alumni Fellowship are awarded for one year and provide a stipend of $6,000 plus tuition remission.

For further information visit http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu.

Nonuniversity Fellowships. Some graduate students at the university receive fellowships funded by sources outside the university. A major source of funding is the National Science Foundation, which offers talented graduate students in the sciences significant funding to pursue their academic programs. Information and applications are available from the Fellowship Office, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418. Other sources of prestigious fellowships are the Mellon Fellowships in the Humanities, administered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation; the Jacob Javits Fellowships, administered by the U.S. Department of Education; and the National Defense Science and Engineering Fellowships, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. Students may wish to consult standard reference material for other sources of nonuniversity fellowships. Students already enrolled in the Graduate School should consult the Chaser web site, http://chaser.rutgers.edu.

Students who receive aid administered by the Office of Financial Aid must report to that office any employment offers, scholarships, loans, gifts, and assistantships received subsequent to the original award made by the Office of Financial Aid.

Robert White-Stevens Graduate Fellowship.  The Robert White-Stevens Graduate Fellowship is named in memory of Dr. Robert White-Stevens, who was an agriculturist and former chairman of the Bureau of Conservation and Environmental Science. Dr. White also was the assistant director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, a biology professor, and a faculty member of Cook College. The fellowship named for Dr. White supports an advanced doctoral student who is committed to alleviating world hunger by increasing the food supply through plant or animal research.

Other Fellowships and Scholarships.  Each department continually seeks funds from outside agencies to help defray student expenses. Inquiries regarding the availability of such monies may be made through graduate program offices and advisers.

Chaser.  Chaser, the Resource Center for Graduate Student External Support is a service of the Graduate School-New Brunswick dedicated to assisting its students in identifying and applying for nationally competitive external grants and fellowships to support graduate work at the pre-doctoral and dissertation stages. Chaser resources and services open to all students currently enrolled in the Graduate School- New Brunswick include the Chaser Funder Database (http://chaser.rutgers.edu/database), proposal writing workshops, and individual meetings to discuss, review, and critique funding applications. For additional information on Chaser services or to schedule an appointment, visit http://chaser.rutgers.edu.