The following page provides award information and procedures for multiple Central Recruitment Fellowship programs, including

(a) the Chancellor’s Fellowship and Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship,

(b) the Regents in the Disciplines Fellowship (Regents ITD), and

(c) the Racial Justice Fellowship.

It also provides information about the Childcare Support Supplement for Central Fellows, Native American Opportunity Plan and Department Recruitment Offer Upload (for non-central awards).

Table of Contents / Quick Links

Award Allocation and Deadlines Summary (further details in each program section below)

• Department allocations for (a) Central Recruitment Fellowships, (b) Regents in the Disciplines Allocations and (c) Racial Justice Nominations, are now published in the GradPoint Financial Portal Reports Section. Instructions on how to access the reports with these allocations can be found here.

• Central Recruitment Awards (Chancellor’s Fellowship and Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship) award nomination must be submitted to the Graduate Division via AppReview between Dec 11, 2024 and Feb 14, 2025.

• Regents in the Disciplines Offers must be submitted to the Graduate Division via AppReview between Dec 11, 2024 and Apr 14, 2025.

• Racial Justice Nominations must be submitted to the Graduate Division by Jan 31, 2025

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Central Recruitment Awards (Chancellor’s Fellowship and Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship)

Departments will make award nominations via the AppReview system for the Chancellor's and/or Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowships without the need for review by a central committee. In most cases, departments will have one award allocation, allowing the ability to offer either a Chancellor’s or Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship to their desired candidate. To see the number of available award allocations for your department, please visit the Reports section in the GradPoint Financial Portal and review the “Graduate Division Allocations Report”. A user guide on this report can be found here.

The basic workflow for making these awards is the following:

1. Departments will Admit their candidate via the AppReview system

2. Departments will Submit and Approve their Award Nomination via AppReview, indicating (a) which fellowships (Chancellor’s Fellowship or Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship) is to be issued and (b) selecting the schedule/option election (see below for available schedule options).

3. Departments approvers will approve the award in the AppReview system.

4. The Graduate Division Fellowships Team will then “Publish” the award to the department and student. This populates the award letter in the student’s EApp profile and sends them a notification of the award via email.

5. Awarded Students will indicate their decision to Accept or Decline the offer via their EApp profile. The acceptance deadline will remain Apr 15, 2024 as per the CGS Resolution.

Please note, though the system will permit department submission of an award nomination prior to the student having been admitted, a fellowship offer will not be made to students until their admission has been completed. Departments wishing to expedite publishing of the central recruitment award to their candidate should complete admission procedures as quickly as possible.

Deadlines

The window for departments to submit award nominations for the Chancellor’s and/or Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowships is Dec 11, 2024 and Feb 14, 2025.

Departments will have three scheduling options to chose from when awarding either a Chancellor’s or Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship:

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Chancellor’s Fellowship Award Eligibility and Support Package

Eligibility: Incoming international and domestic Doctoral or M.F.A. applicants

Criteria: Awardees must be top-ranked applicants whose applications provide persuasive evidence of
academic excellence and outstanding records of accomplishment.

Student Aid Fellowship Support: Two or three years (Years 1,3 or 1,3,5) based on department option election. The Graduate Division provides a $32,500 stipend, payment of fees, and UC Student Health Insurance (UCSHP) to all awardees, and Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition for nonresident domestic and international students. Departments may supplement with block grant, other departmental student aid fellowship funds or any combination of appointments (i.e. TA and/or GSR with included benefits of appointment). Please note employment in stipend years is restricted up to an average of 35% time over the course of the academic year.

Employment Support: Two or Three years based on department option election. Departments provide either a 50% TA or GSR appointment. Departments may elect to add a third employment year to create either a five or six-year package depending on the number of stipend years elected.

1. 50% TA appointments provide salary, UC Student Health Insurance (UCSHP) and fees from the salary source. NRST covered by IDRF for qualifying students.

2. 50% GSR positions provide salary, UC Student Health Insurance (UCSHP), and fees from the salary source. NRST covered by IDRF for qualifying students.

Summer stipend: Chancellor’s fellows will receive a $5,000 summer stipend in the summer
following their first academic year.

Supplementation: Departments may supplement this package with additional block grant, other
departmental student aid fellowship funds or any combination of appointments (i.e. TA and/or GSR with
included benefits of appointment). Please note that employment in stipend years is restricted up
to an average of 35% time over the course of the academic year.

Art MFA awardees: The Graduate Division will provide one stipend year with the department
providing one appointment year.

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Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship Award Eligibility and Support Package

Eligibility: Doctoral or M.F.A. applicants who are either domestic students or students who qualify for an
NRST exemption under AB 540. Awardees should make a contribution to the graduate population
in the awarding department in at least one of the ways described in the diversity statement below. Each recipient will be expected to work closely with a faculty sponsor whose role will be that of mentor.

Criteria: Awardees are among the most meritorious domestic students who contribute to the diversity of
the department or the university as outlined below. The fellowship award will involve a post-award review, focused on the qualifying diversity component of this awardee.

Student Aid Fellowship Support: Two or three years (Years 1,3 or 1,3,5) based on department option election. The Graduate Division provides a $32,500 stipend, payment of fees, and UC Student Health Insurance (UCSHP) to all awardees, and Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition for nonresident domestic students in year one. Departments may supplement with block grant, other departmental fellowship funds or any combination of appointments (i.e. TA and/or GSR with included benefits of appointment). Please note employment in stipend years is restricted up to an average of 35% time over the course of the academic year.

Employment Support: Two or Three years based on department option election. Departments provide either a 50% TA or GSR appointment. Departments may elect to add a third employment year to create either a five or six-year package depending on the number of stipend years elected.

1. 50% TA appointments provide salary, UC Student Health Insurance (UCSHP) and fees from the salary source. NRST covered by IDRF for qualifying students.

2. 50% GSR positions provide salary, UC Student Health Insurance (UCSHP), and fees from the salary source. NRST covered by IDRF for qualifying students.

Supplementation: Departments may supplement this package with additional block grant, other
departmental student aid fellowship funds or any combination of appointments (i.e., TA and/or GSR with
included benefits of appointment). Please note that employment in stipend years is restricted up to
an average of 35% time over the course of the academic year.

Summer stipend: Eugene Cota Robles fellows will receive a $5,000 summer stipend in the summer following their first academic year.

Art MFA awardees: The Graduate Division will provide one stipend year with the department providing one appointment year.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DIVERSITY STATEMENT

REGENTS' POLICY 4400: --Adopted 9-20-2007, Amended 8-17-2010

The diversity of the people of California has been the source of innovative ideas and creative accomplishments throughout the state's history into the present. Diversity - a defining feature of California's past, present, and future - refers to the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. Such differences include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, and more.

Because the core mission of the University of California is to serve the interests of the State of California, it must seek to achieve diversity among its student bodies and among its employees. The State of California has a compelling interest in making sure that people from all backgrounds perceive that access to the University is possible for talented students, staff, and faculty from all groups. The knowledge that the University of California is open to qualified students from all groups, and thus serves all parts of the community equitably, helps sustain the social fabric of the State.

Diversity should also be integral to the University's achievement of excellence. Diversity can enhance the ability of the university to accomplish its academic mission. Diversity aims to broaden and deepen both the educational experience and the scholarly environment, as students and faculty learn to interact effectively with each other, preparing them to participate in an increasingly complex and pluralistic society. Ideas, and practices based on those ideas, can be made richer by the process of being born and nurtured in a diverse community. The pluralistic university can model a process of proposing and testing ideas through respectful, civil communication. Educational excellence that truly incorporates diversity thus can promote mutual respect and make possible the full, effective use of the talents and abilities of all to foster innovation and train future leadership.

Therefore, the University of California renews its commitment to the full realization of its historical promise to recognize and nurture merit, talent, and achievement by supporting diversity and equal opportunity in its education, services, and administration, as well as research and creative activity. The University particularly acknowledges the acute need to remove barriers to the recruitment, retention, and advancement of talented students, faculty, and staff from historically excluded populations who are currently underrepresented.

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Other Recruitment Fellowship Details and Updates

• Departments are required, within a two year period, to award one of their centrally supported recruitment fellowships to a diverse student who meets the provided diversity criteria, as outlined in the University of California’s Diversity Statement above.

• As has been the case since the 2015-16 cohort, all international students admitted to doctoral programs will automatically be awarded the International Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship. The tuition support provided by the IDRF will automatically be incorporated into competition awards for qualifying students.

• All domestic non-residents are expected to establish residency after their first year of study.

• FAFSA Reminder : A portion of the funding for UCSB graduate awards comes from need-based money,
  so it is prefered that all domestic graduate students file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
  (FAFSA).

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Regents in the Disciplines (Regents ITD)

In 2024-25 all departments were given one Regents stipend allocation to utilize in recruitment over a two year span. For those departments who did not utilize their Regents allocation in 2024-25, or had their offer declined prior to the start of the 24-25 academic year, they will have the ability to make offers in the 2025-26 recruitment season. Centrally funded Regents in the Disciplines stipend years include coverage of in-state tuition and fees, UC Student Health Insurance, a $32,500 stipend during the academic year, and a $5,000 Summer stipend, trailing the recipients first year. This fellowship does not include NRST, so Departments must pay NRST for non-resident students in their first year from block-grant or other discretionary funds.

IMPORTANT: In an effort to streamline the Regents in the Discipline awarding process, and reduce burden on departments in crafting award letters, the Graduate Division examined trends in the student support offered in Regents awards. It was determined that a significant number of Regents offers followed a common pattern of aid, including one or two Regents stipend years, and three or four employment years.

While departments will still retain the ability to customize their Regents offers, the Graduate Division will also provide the option of selecting a standard “fully templated” offer letter that would only require departments to select their fellow, and whether they would like to add a second stipend year by moving one from their Central Fellowship (Chancellor/Eugene Cota-Robles), as has been an option in prior years. Selection of the fully templated letter would then generate the offer in the AppReview and EApp systems similar to how other central fellowships are awarded, allowing the recipient student to accept the offer in their EApp profile. Samples of the fully templated offer letter can be found on GradPoint here.

Should a department instead wish to customize their Regents offer in a way that does not follow the standard offer, there is now a “Alternate template” Regents offer letter option which produces an offer letter that notifies the recipient that they have been selected as a Regents fellow, describes the Regents student aid fellowship stipend(s) being offered, and basic features of the award, including that it includes five years minimum of full support. Departments can then use the “Template for Department portion of Regents Alternate Award Letter” to add the specific, more customized support offer being added to the applicant’s base Regents package. The departmental complementary offer may be sent directly to the student by the admitting department. Students must accept this Regents Base offer electronically in their EApp profile. Departments may either indicate in their complementary letter that students can accept the combined offer by accepting the Regents offer in EApp, or chose to request the applicant sign their supplement letter and remit it to the department as well. Samples of the Alternate template letters and complimentary department portion can be found here. Graduate Division staff is also available to work directly with departments who have questions about crafting any of these offers.

**Please note, When issuing a Regents in the Disciplines offer, Departments must use the AppReview system, using either the fully-templated or alternative-template letter option. This ensures accurate recording of the financial commitments to these students, and ensures they are included in the lists provided to Housing securing their housing guarantee.

Other Related Details

• All Regents ITD awards will be required to contain a minimum of five full years of support, the same as in prior years.

• The Graduate Division considers a 'year of funding' to include at a minimum payment of in-state tuition and fees, NRST if applicable, UC Student Health Insurance, and either salary from employment or a student aid fellowship stipend of at least $32,500 for Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters.

• Domestic non-residents are expected to establish residency after their first year of study and international students receive coverage of NRST after their first year through advancement via the International Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship (IDRF) provided they do so within department specific time-to-advancement standards.

• All Regents ITD awards will either have (a) a Regents student aid fellowship stipend in year one only, or (b) for departments selecting to move one of the stipend years from their Central Recruitment Fellowship to their Regents ITD, Regents stipends in years one and five.

• Other aid composing the minimum five year offers will come from department resources, typically in the form of Academic Employment.

• Regents ITD awards will be issued by departments via AppReview/EApp by selecting one of two template options. Departments will again be required to admit students being offered one of these fellowships before the Regents ITD offer is made to the student.

• Departments need to ensure that within a two year period, one of their centrally supported recruitment fellowships is offered to a diverse student who meets the provided diversity criteria. This means that within the period of the 24-25 (last year) and 25-26 (this year) recruitment cycles one of the Department’s central awards needs to be or have been offered to a diverse candidate.

Deadlines

Regents in the Disciplines Offers must be submitted to the Graduate Division via AppReview between Dec 11, 2024 and Apr 14, 2025.

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Racial Justice Fellowship

Once again this year, the Deans and the Graduate Division will be supporting the Racial Justice Fellowship, a program designed to help recruit students whose research and teaching interests, mentoring experiences, and/or other demonstrated commitments are focused on racial justice.

This student aid fellowship gives awardees summer stipend support of $8,000 for the first three years, when combined with a five-year fellowship package.  Five-year packages may include Central Fellowships from the Graduate Division, a Regents Fellowship, or other departmental student aid fellowships, and will be used to recruit students whose research and teaching interests, mentoring experiences, and/or other demonstrated commitments are focused on racial justice. They are open to incoming students in any discipline.

Eligibility: This award is open to incoming graduate students in any discipline.
Criteria: Nominees should have demonstrated research and teaching interests, mentoring experiences, and/or other demonstrated commitments focused on racial justice. Nominating departments should upload a justification describing how their nominee meets these criteria at the time of nomination.
Support: The Racial Justice Fellowship includes summer stipend support of $8,000 at the end of each of their
first three years, $24,000 total. Nominating departments commit to ensuring awarded students (previously applied to all nominated students) receive at least a five year package of full support which can be accomplished via either a central recruitment fellowship, a Regents in the Disciplines fellowship, or a department recruitment financial offer. This five year package can include combinations of student aid Fellowship or academic appointments (e.g. TA or GSR appointments), but must include at least one year of full fellowship support.

Deadlines

Nominations will continue to be submitted this year in AppReview. A nomination deadline for this Fellowship is Jan 31, 2025.

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Childcare Support Fellowship

The Graduate Division will continue to provide support for fellows with qualifying child dependents for the 2025-26 cohort. During stipend years central fellows will be eligible for a $1,400 stipend per quarter if they have qualifying dependents. Although this support will be described in the Eugene Cota-Robles and Chancellor’s Fellowships award letters, departments are encouraged to make sure students are aware of this support in the course of recruitment activities. Regents in the Disciplines awardees are also eligible for this support during their centrally funded stipend year(s).

Annually, a communication from the Graduate Division will go out to fellows with stipend years/quarters to determine eligibility for the upcoming year, and no action is necessary by departments for students to receive these funds.

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UC-HBCU Fellowship Program

Since 2013, UCOP has provided student aid fellowship support in partnership with campuses to enroll former UC-HBCU interns into UC Ph.D. programs. The UC-HBCU Initiative, through the Office of the President, encourages UC faculty to actively engage in collaboration and cooperation with faculty and students at HBCUs. Such efforts serve to strengthen and enrich our mission of teaching, research and public service. These UC-HBCU intern alumni, if admitted to certain UC campuses, have the potential to receive one year of full funding from UC Office of the President and one year of funding from Graduate Division, when coupled with three or more years of Department funding from their admitting Department. Departments should contact Dr. Carlos Nash regarding UC-HBCU alumni who might or may have already applied to your department, and Kelly Crowell at the onset of the financial recruitment process to ensure the correct steps are taken. Limited funding is available from UCOP, and the proposed student package needs to receive UCOP approval before assertions of funding can be communicated to the applicant.

The steps necessary for financial offers are below:

1. Email Kelly Crowell at the Graduate Division informing of which student you would like to request a UC-HBCU Fellowship Offer for. In this communication please detail the student name, objective they are applying for, and admittance status in the department. Please note: Departments need to have moved forward with admitting the applicant before financial packages can be requested.

2. Template for the package will be drafted by the Graduate Division and shared with the department for confirmation. Department approved draft will be sent to UCOP for approval of the proposed full 5+year support package.

3. If UCOP approval is granted, Graduate Division crafts and enters a Custom Award Letter in AppReview in consultation with the admitting department.

Native American Opportunity Plan Funding (NAOP)

Commencing in the 2022-23 Academic Year, UCOP created the Native American Opportunity Plan, ensuring that in-state systemwide Tuition and Student Services Fees are fully covered for California students who are also enrolled in federally recognized Native American, American Indian, and Alaska Native tribes. Additional information about this Plan can be found here.

The Graduate Division’s August '22 communication directly to continuing students informed them of the UC’s Native American Opportunity Plan, providing them the opportunity to demonstrate eligibility. For those students who were able to demonstrate their qualifications, the Graduate Division ensures coverage exists for the In-state systemwide Tuition and Student Services Fees for the year, and will continue to work with departments to ensure those fees are covered on an ongoing basis.

The UC Native American Opportunity Plan will continue for the 2025-26 year for new recruits. Below is what to do for new recruits:

• In their AppReview application, students are asked to indicate if they believe they are eligible for the Native American Opportunity Plan. If they indicate yes, they are asked to include required documentation through an upload feature to demonstrate their eligibility. The below screenshot is what the students see.

  Open

  

• Departments can see this self indication of eligibility in AppReview. The screenshot below is a part of the student’s demographic data.

  Open

  

• The Graduate Division, in conjunction with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, will assess the student’s eligibility by reviewing their uploaded documents for students who have accepted admissions, after the recruitment season has concluded.

• If eligible, the Graduate Division will then verify whether or not the student has an existing promise of aid covering the in-state systemwide Tuition and Student Services Fees for the year, and write to the student and department informing them of acceptance into the program, as well as any additional coverage being committed to meet the NAOP level of support.

Please note: This program does not replace existing aid, or the written promise of aid, that is already covering systemwide Tuition and Student Services Fees. Some examples of existing aid include (but are not limited to) grants, student aid fellowship support, or employment-based fee remission. In the event a student already has these fees covered by another source, the commitment under this program will be considered to have been fulfilled. 

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UC LEADS Fellowship Program

New this 2025-26 season, UCOP is providing student aid fellowship support in partnership with campuses to enroll former UC LEADS scholars into any UC STEM Ph.D. programs. These UC LEADS scholar alumni, if admitted to a UC campus, have the potential to receive two years of full funding from UC Office of the President, when coupled with three or more years of Department funding from their admitting Department. Departments should contact Karen Van Gool regarding UC LEADS alumni who might, or may have already, applied to your department, and Kelly Crowell at the onset of the financial recruitment process to ensure the correct steps are taken. Limited funding is available from UCOP, and the proposed student package needs to receive UCOP approval before assertions of funding can be communicated to the applicant.

The steps necessary for financial offers are below:

1. Email Kelly Crowell at the Graduate Division informing of which student you would like to request a UC LEADS Fellowship Offer for. In this communication please detail the student name, objective they are applying for, and admittance status in the department. Please note: Departments need to have moved forward with admitting the applicant before financial packages can be requested.

2. Template for the package will be drafted by the Graduate Division and shared with the department for confirmation. Department approved draft will be sent to UCOP for approval of the proposed full 5+year support package.

3. If UCOP approval is granted, Graduate Division crafts and enters a Custom Award Letter in AppReview in consultation with the admitting department.

Cal-Bridge Fellowship

Cal-Bridge is a statewide network of all three segments of the California higher education system—CSU, UC, and community colleges—together forming a comprehensive, end-to-end pathway for the diverse undergraduates of California to successfully matriculate to PhD programs, achieve their PhD, and then join the STEM professoriate in California. Cal-Bridge currently offers a $40,000 Cal-Bridge Fellowship to each Cal-Bridge undergraduate scholar who matriculates into a UC PhD program. Please see this this pamphlet if you are interested in more surrounding this ongoing program.

If you’re considering admitting an eligible student, please contact the Graduate Division Financial team at financial@graddiv.ucsb.edu about the possibility of supplemental funding from the Graduate Division.

Department Recruitment Offer Upload

As previously communicated in the May 20, 2022 email message to departments, the Graduate Division is requiring financial offer letters of department support to be uploaded to the AppReview repository starting with this 2023-24 cohort of admitted applicants.

We have developed a number of resources to aid in the process of uploading: 

• Instructions on how to upload offer letters in AppReview can be found here. 

• Instructions on accessing the Department Recruitment Offer Report in GradPoint can be found here.

  • Details on the described Department Recruitment Offer Report can be found here. 

• Instructions on how to view uploaded offer letters in GradPoint can be found here. Letters can be seen in the “Financial Letters” category. 

Departments should ensure that all financial offers to admitted students are uploaded to the AppReview system by Jul 1, 2025, though there are benefits to uploading letters on a rolling basis, including the inclusion of related information if the Department Recruitment Offer Report in GradPoint. If there are additional questions about this upload requirement, please first visit and review the FAQ’s page before reaching out for additional clarification.

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