Scholarships for Graduate Students in 2024

You’ll need to perfect your essay skills for grad school scholarships, but the rewards can be huge. Scholarships can help reduce your reliance on student loans, which can lead to a higher credit score and a faster path to homeownership.

Scholarships can come in the form of grants (which don’t need to be repaid) or fellowships. Many are based on academic merit, such as GPA or standardized test scores.

1. National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds research in all fields of science and engineering. It also provides funding for education and outreach activities that support its mission.

NSF seeks to develop connections between new scientific knowledge and innovations that address societal needs beyond basic research. This strategic goal encompasses a range of activities, from preparing scholars to become future STEM leaders to supporting the next generation of scientific researchers.

NSF-supported projects must support the recruitment, retention and graduation of academically talented, low-income students in an integrated research and education environment. Projects should define a scholar pool and analyze the data to determine the number of qualified applicants. The pool should include all domestic low-income students with the academic ability, talent or potential to succeed in a degree program in S-STEM fields and have demonstrated financial need.

2. National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities funds research, education, preservation, and public programs in history, literature, language, religion, philosophy, and the arts. It also provides for a variety of international scholarly exchange programs, sponsoring fellowships that give pre-doctoral and senior scholars time away from their home institutions to advance humanities research in foreign cultures.

NEH grant programs support innovative projects that apply new technologies to humanities research and teaching. For example, a recent project used machine learning techniques to enable a more effective search of large newspaper photograph collections. Other NEH-funded projects use new technologies to expand access to historical materials or support innovative ways of interpreting them. The agency also supports public impact projects at smaller cultural organizations. These projects promote outreach and forge connections between humanities institutions and the public.

3. American Association of Law Libraries

The American Association of Law Libraries is a nonprofit organization that promotes law libraries and legal information services. It offers library and archival resources to the public, provides education, and advocates for libraries at the state and federal levels. The association also publishes numerous journals and monographs. Membership is available to court, law firm, corporate and academic librarians in the Southeastern region of the United States. Membership benefits include a subscription to the journal Southeastern Law Librarian and access to conferences and educational institutes.

The association sponsors a variety of scholarships and fellowships for students pursuing library or information science degrees. These include the Queens Borough Public Library Page Fellows program, which encourages library pages to consider librarianship as a career option; the Knowledge River scholarship, which targets minority students addressing information and technology issues from their perspective; and the CONELL grant, which is offered for newer law librarians to attend the AALL Conference on Newer Law Librarians.

4. Asian Pacific Fund

The Asian Pacific Fund offers several scholarships to graduate students and undergraduates. Scholarships are available in areas such as journalism, law, and public policy. The SAJA scholarship is for graduate and undergraduate students who are of South Asian descent or have an interest in the region. The APIAVote Internship Fellowship provides stipends to AAPI students for internships related to political advocacy in the field of electoral politics.

The Dingwall Foundation provides scholarships for students with Korean ancestry and are enrolled full time in a degree program. The scholarship covers tuition and course-related fees.

Advancing Social Justice for Asians covers various aspects of social justice for the Asian community. It includes scholarly research, educational events, and community outreach. The scholarship also helps fund ICFAC’s continued community initiatives and programs that help address anti-Asian attacks.

5. Toigo Foundation

Toigo Foundation provides funding, mentorship and networking opportunities for MBA students from underrepresented communities who are committed to a career in finance. Their mission is to ensure that diverse candidates are better prepared for success and are given a fair chance to ascend into leadership positions in the industry.

Applicants to this scholarship must be a graduate student in the fields of fisheries, environmental sciences, planning/land use, landscape architecture or marine, geotechnical and environmental engineering with an emphasis on aquatic-based remediation or waterfront development projects. Applicants must have a minimum of a master’s degree in their field to be eligible for this award.

Attendance at the Toigo Catapult event in Spring is mandatory for all fellowship finalists. Attendees build bonds, share experiences and learn from Toigo’s unmatched finance industry network – including Toigo Alumni, recruiters and leaders.

6. American Psychological Association

The American Psychological Association (APA) offers a wide variety of scholarships, grants and awards for graduate psychology students. These awards are available in different content areas, as well as for specific populations.

APA’s more than 500 staff members track trends in psychology research and practice; produce content to educate the public about mental health, behavior and the science of psychology; advocate for the discipline as an important part of human wellness; maintain PsycINFO; and serve on a variety of APA committees and boards.

APA’s Archives Department preserves the administrative, financial and historical records of association offices for future use by researchers and historians. It also consults with the associations to determine their records preservation needs and issues. It also develops and distributes guidelines for association offices on how to manage their records.

7. Association of LGBTQ Journalists

Founded in 1990 by Leroy Aarons, this journalist-led association works within the news media to advance coverage of LGBTQ communities and issues. It also promotes diverse and inclusive workplaces by holding the industry accountable and providing education, professional development and mentoring.

NLGJA’s board is a model for diversity, including two trans people and an Asian person. Its president is Adam Pawlus, a New York Times journalist whose work has looked at HIV treatment access and criminalization of LGBTQ people in Illinois.

Its treasurer is Minami Funakoshi, a data and visual journalist at Reuters. She has presented on gender-inclusive language, best practices for queer and nonbinary coverage and data reporting tools at universities and custom-designed workshops and conferences across the country. Their data-driven graphics story on anti-trans laws in the United States won multiple awards, including a Gold from Information is Beautiful and Silver from Society for News Design.