The Graduate School provides fellowships each year to graduate students that have been nominated by their departments. 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.

Graduate Student Research Awards

Graduate Student Research Awards are used to advance the scholarship of graduate students pursuing research and creative activities. Grants up to $5,000 are awarded to the selected students to help support their research, scholarship, and creative activity; give students experience writing grants; and foster the mentoring relationship between faculty and graduate students. These were formerly known as the Student/Faculty Research Awards.

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.

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.

Graduate Fellowships

These fellowships are allotted to colleges each year for exceptional new graduate students. In order to support these students on their academic journey, these awards are made for a period of four years. 

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).