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Overview of Fellowships

Fellowships are awards provided by the Graduate School through the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Fellowships are considered non-working awards (i.e., not linked to a particular job), but there may be expectations such as maintaining good academic standing, involvement in research, etc.

Endowed Graduate Fellowships

These fellowships are provided through endowed accounts managed by the Graduate School. Visit our Endowed Graduate Fellowships page for eligibility requirements.

Fellowships for New Students

  • Isobel Griscom Graduate Fellowship
  • Seaton Graduate Fellowship
  • Herman E. Spivey Humanities Graduate Fellowship
  • J. Wallace and Katie Dean Graduate Fellowship
  • Lori Mayer Women’s Graduate Fellowship
  • Rowland Family Scholarship

Fellowships for Returning Students

  • Shipley-Swann Graduate Fellowship
  • Mary Phipps Shepherd Graduate Fellowship
  • Oscar Roy Ashley Graduate Fellowship
  • Yates Dissertation Fellowship
  • Dawn and Lawrence Taylor Dissertation Awards

Tennessee Fellowships for Graduate Excellence

This is the signature graduate fellowship program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The fellowships are coupled with a tuition waiver and a graduate assistantship in order to create a financial package to attract top doctoral students to our campus. The recipients are known as Tennessee Fellows. Visit our TFGE page for details.

Tennessee Doctoral Fellowships

These awards are made possible by a grant from the Tennessee Higher Education Commssion (THEC) that provides a fellowship to a limited number of under-represented minority students from the state of Tennessee. The Graduate School provides the money for the fee waiver. A limited number of students are supported through this grant, and there are not new awardees every year.

Carolyn R. Hodges Graduate Fellowships

The Access and Diversity Fellowships have been renamed the Carolyn R. Hodges Graduate Fellowships, in honor of the first African American Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. These Fellowships are provided to recruit students to UT in support of our educational mission and diversity-related goals. These awards are made annually. Visit the Carolyn R. Hodges Graduate Fellowships page for eligibility requirements.

Graduate Fellowships

These fellowships are allotted to colleges each year to attract new graduate students. These awards are made for a period of four years in order to incentivize student retention and graduation. (Note: These funds have been previously referenced as ‘topoffs.’)

Federal Fellowships

These are fellowships supplied by federal entities (NASA, NIH, NSF, etc.). These are external awards that are managed jointly by the Graduate School, the Office of Research and Engagement, and academic units. The most common type of federal fellowship at UT is the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP).