Awards and Scholarships

There are a number of scholarship opportunities for incoming students, contingent on availability of funding. The school reserves the right not to make an award.

Incoming Students

Master's Promise Scholarship.  This scholarship provides partial tuition and/or stipend support. All newly admitted students will be automatically considered for this award on the basis of merit and/or need.

Ralph Johnson Bunche Distinguished Graduate Award.  Established in 1979, this distinguished graduate award is named after Ralph Johnson Bunche, the black American statesman, Nobel Peace Laureate, and recipient of an honorary Doctor of Law from Rutgers in 1949. Bunche fellowships provide $15,000 plus tuition remission to exceptional, newly full-time students with substantial educational or cultural disadvantaged backgrounds. To apply, check the appropriate box on the graduate and professional school application form. Only those applicants receiving awards will be notified. The award is contingent upon acceptance to a graduate school program and upon full-time enrollment. The application deadline for fall semester awards is March 1.

Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF).  New Jersey residents who are full-time students and who can demonstrate backgrounds of financial and academic hardship are eligible for EOF grants ranging from $200 to $2,850. Students who received EOF grants as undergraduates are presumed eligible if they fall below the maximum income parameters required for all recipients of this state grant. Graduate students who did not receive EOF grants as undergraduates, but feel that they come from backgrounds of financial hardship and wish to be considered, should write to the financial aid office for consideration. The grants are renewable for the duration of a student's degree work. The student must demonstrate continued eligibility and provide evidence of satisfactory academic progress. In addition, students must complete the FAFSA form to be considered.

Inge Gambe Graduate Scholarship.  Academic excellence and service to the Rutgers-Newark community are the criteria for this scholarship of $500 or more. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean, Graduate School-Newark, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07102.

New Jersey State Grant.  Full-time graduate students, who are classified as New Jersey residents for tuition purposes and who demonstrate financial need, are eligible to receive a New Jersey State Grant. Amounts vary from $200 to $2,650 per year. The money is dependent upon funds being available, and grants are renewable. EOF grant recipients are not eligible.

For updated information on funding opportunities for incoming master of arts students please visit: http://rscj.newark.rutgers.edu/awards-and-scholarships.

Current Students

SCJ M.A. Award for Academic Excellence.  The M.A. Academic Oversight Committee will give an award to the M.A. student(s) with the highest cumulative GPA at the end of every spring semester to recognize a consistent record of excellence in scholarship. For students in the B.S./M.A. joint-degree program, undergraduate coursework will be included in the cumulative GPA calculation.

SCJ M.A. Guided Research Fellowships.  The M.A. Academic Oversight Committee will provide funding support to competitively selected proposals from current M.A. students for individual research projects to be conducted in the spring/summer of every year.

SCJ M.A. Applied Research Fellowships.  SCJ has developed a summer Applied Fellowship program for current M.A. students interested in criminal justice policy and practice. Applied research fellows will receive funding support for work with leading partner organizations in the private sector, government, or nonprofit sector to enhance their portfolio of projects through research and policy analysis. For more information, visit: http://rscj.newark.rutgers.edu/awards-and-fellowships-for-current-students.

Rutgers Eagleton Fellowship Program.  The Eagleton Institute of Politics offers interdisciplinary fellowships that provide select Rutgers graduate students the opportunity to further their understanding of government, public affairs, and the practice of politics, and connect the fellowship experience to their chosen fields of study. Eagleton fellowships provide varying stipends; some offer tuition remission. The fellowship application is available online in late January at http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/students/fellowshipapplication.php.

Graduating Students

Director's Award for Scholarly Achievement.  The Director's Award for Scholarly Achievement is presented to a graduating M.A. student who has achieved the highest academic standing in the master of arts (criminal justice) program and who has demonstrated an applied understanding of course materials through their written work.

Director's Award for Professional and Practical Excellence.  The Director's Award for Professional and Practical Excellence is presented to recognize outstanding contributions by a graduate student to influence or contribute to the field or profession of criminal justice while earning a master's degree.