Policies and Procedures
Tuition Waivers Granted by the Graduate College
Purpose
The Graduate College grants waivers to accompany fellowships. These fellowships include: (a) fellowships funded by the Graduate College; (b) fellowships paid from departmental endowments or trust funds received by the University; and (c) fellowships granted to individual students by agencies outside the University, such as the Fulbright program. In addition, as part of its administration of graduate student affairs, the Graduate College has authority to grant waivers in exceptional cases. Waivers are provided automatically for graduate student assistantship appointments within a certain range; those waivers are described in a separate document.
Application and Nomination Process
Students applying for admission to a graduate program on the Urbana-Champaign campus apply for all categories of financial aid by checking the appropriate box on the Application for Graduate Study. A continuing student applies directly to the appropriate department.
- For waivers accompanying fellowships funded by the Graduate College, the department nominates the student for the fellowships by submitting the student's application for admission, transcripts, letters of recommendation and other documents required by the specific fellowship program, and a Graduate College Rating Form bearing the signature of the department head or designee. Selection decisions are made by the Fellowship Board, a committee of graduate faculty appointed by the Dean of the Graduate College. The primary consideration in awarding fellowships is academic merit.
- For waivers accompanying fellowships paid from departmental endowments or trust funds received by the University, the department selects the student and authorizes the fellowship and waiver by forwarding to the Fellowship Office a Graduate College Rating Form bearing the signature of the department head or designee. Academic merit is usually a primary consideration in awarding departmentally funded fellowships.
- For individual students who receive fellowships from agencies outside the University and whose fellowships are not paid through the University system, departments select those who receive accompanying tuition waivers. The procedure followed may either be that described in [b] above, or, in the case of students sponsored by certain outside agencies such as the Fulbright program, the department may authorize the Office of Admissions and Records to request the waiver from the Graduate College as one of the final steps in the admission process.
- Selection of students to receive tuition waivers in exceptional cases is made by the Graduate College upon consultation with the appropriate officials within the students' enrolling departments and colleges. These situations are very rare.
Each student who receives a Graduate College waiver associated with a fellowship must: [a] be registered during the term of the waiver; [b] be in good academic standing at the beginning of the term in which the waiver is awarded; and [c] must register for 12 hours during the academic year and 4 hours in an eight-week course during summer. The Graduate College Fellowship Office must be notified in advance of any withdrawal, cancellation, or thesis deposit as it may result in a change in the terms of the award.
Award Process
For fellowships administered by the Graduate College, the Fellowship Office sends a Notice of Appointment to the student requesting a signature accepting the terms of the award. When the signed copy of the Notice of Appointment is returned, the Fellowship Office puts the fellowship appointment on the payroll if necessary, and enters the tuition waiver or payment into the registration system. For fellowships arising from external agencies, the waiver is granted upon nomination by the department, using the Graduate College Rating Form.
Evaluation Process
Fellowship programs are continuously evaluated by the Fellowship Board.
Documentation Storage
Graduate College rating forms and fellowship notices of appointment are kept on file in the Fellowship Office for a minimum of five years.
