Graduate School Competitive Awards
Graduate Student Funding Opportunities
The Edward Alexander Bouchet Doctoral Scholars Assistantship is awarded to eligible new/incoming Ph.D. students who are committed to entering the professoriate (renewable for current Bouchet Doctoral Scholars). The assistantship is open to eligible students pursuing doctoral studies in any program of study within the Graduate School. The Edward Alexander Bouchet Doctoral Scholars Assistantship award is offered on a competitive basis upon recommendation by the candidate’s prospective department and the Financial Aid Advisory Committee.
The Frederick Douglass Doctoral Scholars Assistantship is awarded to eligible new/incoming Ph.D. students pursuing rigorous doctoral research/scholarship (renewable for current Douglass Doctoral Scholars). The assistantship is open to eligible students pursuing doctoral studies in any program of study within the Graduate School. The Frederick Douglass Doctoral Scholars Assistantship award is offered on a competitive basis upon recommendation by the candidate’s prospective department and the Financial Aid Advisory Committee.
The Ronald E. McNair Doctoral Scholars Assistantship is awarded to eligible new/incoming Ph.D. students who were McNair scholars in their undergraduate studies (renewable for current McNair Doctoral Scholars). The assistantship is open to eligible students pursuing doctoral studies in any program of study within the Graduate School. The Ronald E. McNair Doctoral Scholars Assistantship award is offered on a competitive basis upon recommendation by the candidate’s prospective department and the Financial Aid Advisory Committee.
The Just-Julian Graduate Research Assistantship is a one-year, non-renewable assistantship designed to provide continuing Ph.D. students with an opportunity to gain experience in their respective academic fields by working as a graduate research assistant with a faculty mentor or on their own research project under the close guidance of a faculty member. The assistantship is open to eligible students pursuing doctoral studies in any program of study within the Graduate School. The Just-Julian Graduate Research Assistantship award is offered on a competitive basis upon recommendation by the candidate’s prospective department and the Financial Aid Advisory Committee.
The Hawthorne Dissertation Research Fellowship, named for Edward Hawthorne, former Dean of the Graduate School, is a one-year, non-renewable, non-service dissertation completion award available to doctoral students who have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy and are in the terminal year of their Ph.D. studies. Recipients of this award are expected to earn their Ph.D. by May of the following year. The award is open to eligible students pursuing doctoral studies in any program of study within the Graduate School. The Hawthorne Dissertation Research Fellowship award is offered on a competitive basis upon recommendation by the candidate’s prospective department and the Financial Aid Advisory Committee.
The Sasakawa Young Leaders Foundation Fellowship (SYLFF) is a two-year award designed to provide full financial support to outstanding doctoral students who have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy in a Social Science discipline with a research concentration in international affairs and/or world peace. The SYLFF fellowship is a merit-based and competitive fellowship offered upon recommendation by the SYLFF Advisory Committee at Howard University.
The Esther Ottley Fellowship is a one-year, non-renewable award offered to a female doctoral student who has advanced to Ph.D. candidacy and demonstrates the quality of leadership exhibited by the former Dean of Howard’s Graduate School, Esther Ottley, who served as interim Dean from 1986-1988. The Ottley Fellowship recipient is required to participate in a 15-hour per week administrative internship assignment in the office of the Dean of the Graduate School for the given academic year. The fellowship is open to eligible students pursuing doctoral studies in any program of study within the Graduate School. The Esther Ottley Fellowship award is offered on a competitive basis upon recommendation by the candidate’s prospective department and the Financial Aid Advisory Committee.