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Graduate Student Financial Support

There are many grants available to MA and Ph.D. students through the university, the Graduate School, the School of Arts and Sciences, the department, and external sources. It is highly recommended that students actively seek out grant and fellowship support during their time in our program. Below is a list of some sources of funding available to MA and Ph.D. students in Spanish and Portuguese. This list is by no means comprehensive, and students are encouraged to seek out other sources of funding. Any questions should be directed to the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies. 

ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ-Boulder Resources for Grant Writing and Writing Support

• The Graduate School has many offerings through Grad+ Writing Support.
• Graduate School Professional Development
• The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) offers multiple on-demand webinars that teach the “basics” of grant writing (e.g., Everything You Need To Know ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Grant Writing (3 sessions)).  ŷ���ڱ���ƵB has an institutional membership to NCFDD.
• RIO Workshops/Webinar page (most are SHORT: 15-30 min.)
• (If you are not receiving it already, please consider signing up.)
• ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder Office of Postdoctoral Affairs programming
  (Most of the postdoc programming is done in partnership with the Graduate School – so typically, they are available to both Grad Students and PDs.)
• Lastly, Deborah Viles assists top students with top scholarships

Teaching Assistantship

By far the most common form of financial aid that graduate students in our department receive is a teaching assistantship (TAship). Recipients of these awards receive the following:

1. Tuition Waiver: The department pays all tuition costs for its TAs. Domestic applicants who are not ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ residents will receive tuition waivers at the out-of-state rate for their first year of study only. After this year, we will only pay tuition costs at the in-state rate. For this reason, domestic students are required to  by their second year in the program. International students with TAships will receive tuition waivers at the out-of-state rate as long as they are in the program.
2. Monthly Stipend: Students with TAships receive a monthly stipend for the duration of the academic year. AY 2018/19 (9 months) MA students receive $2,383/month gross and Ph.D. students receive $2,754.80/month gross.
3. Student Health Insurance: Graduate students are required to have some form of health insurance. Students with TAships who choose the  will have 100% of their premiums paid each semester. This does not include summer unless students have a summer appointment. Students with private health insurance (e.g., through their spouse) may waive the Student Gold Health Insurance Plan.

Students with TAships will have their tuition waived, but they must pay the student fees required by the university. These fees include full access to the University Recreation Center, the Career Center, and an RTD bus pass that provides free transportation on all RTD buses during the academic year.

In exchange for these awards, students with TAships teach lower-division language courses (Spanish or Portuguese, depending on the student's skills and experience) per semester. This teaching responsibility amounts to approximately 20 hours of preparation, in-class teaching, and grading per week. All entering graduate students are required to take our one-unit seminar on teaching methodology and pedagogy, which prepares them for their teaching assignments. Neither the TA's teaching schedule nor the methodology/pedagogy seminar will pose a time conflict with regularly scheduled graduate seminars offered by our department.

Dissertation Fellowships

The CHA offers two campuswide dissertation fellowships open to any ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder Ph.D. candidate working in the humanities and arts.
The fellowship covers tuition for up to 5 dissertation hours per semester.
Mandatory student fees, student health insurance, and a stipend equal to that of a 50% Graduate Part-Time Instructor.
Apply here

Diversity Fellowships

These are awarded to underrepresented first-year graduate students who demonstrate high academic promise. Their purpose is to increase the diversity of the graduate student body at the University of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ at Boulder. Only students with U.S. citizenship and permanent residents are eligible. The amount of each award is $2,500. Nominations are submitted by the departments in February.

Graduate School Awards

There are a number of avenues to explore for students who are interested in seeking funds for their graduate education. Click here for more information.

CHA Small Grants

The Center for Humanities & the Arts Small Grant provides up to $3,000 in support of the research and creative efforts of ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder faculty and staff to deepen and enrich the range of humanistic and artistic activities on campus.

Apply here

Graduate School Student Travel Grant

The Graduate School Student Travel Grant has three application cycles per year for domestic (including Mexico and Canada) and international (excluding Mexico and Canada) travel:

Click on this link for deadlines.

The Graduate School offers partial funding for graduate students to present research findings at meetings or conferences outside ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ.The Graduate School provides a travel grant of $300 for domestic conferences and $500 for international conferences. Funds will be applied directly to the student's tuition account. If the account balance is zero, a refund via direct deposit will be disbursed by the Bursar's Office. The grant is treated like a fellowship and reported to the Office of Financial Aid; therefore, please be aware it may affect your student loan package. The grant is contingent on account funding by the Graduate School.

If you received travel grant funding from the Graduate School during the last application cycle (May for current fall applicants, November for current spring applicants) you may not apply during this cycle. Masters students can receive travel funding once, and Ph.D. students can receive funding twice during their studies at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ.

• The applicant must be a full-time graduate student in good standing, and the travel must occur while the applicant is a current student.
• The applicant must be traveling to a meeting or conference to present his/her own work or work on which he/she is the primary author.
• An applicant receiving significant funding (over $500 for domestic travel and $1,000 for international) from an outside source (fellowship, stipend, scholarship, grant, departmental travel grant) is not eligible.  
• The applicant must be enrolled during the term that the travel occurs (excluding summer).  If the travel occurs during the summer (and the applicant is not enrolled), the grant will be applied to the fall bill.

Here are the required elements of the application:

• Applicant ID and contact information
• Dates of Conference
• Location of Conference
• Department travel liaison contact information
• Academic Advisor contact information
• Applicants must confirm in writing by marking a checkbox that they have received their advisor’s approval for the travel
• Supporting documents showing that you will be presenting at this conference (e.g. acceptance letter/email, program, abstract etc.) 

Note: If you are planning to attend a conference, but do not have an acceptance letter/email yet – you should still apply! Contact graduate.contest@colorado.edu for further details on this special circumstance.

Applications must be submitted through Academic Works: To access Academic Works, log into Myŷ���ڱ���ƵInfo and click on the Student Tab. Click on the Financial Aid tab, and then click "Apply for Scholarships" to access Academic Works. Search for the Graduate School Travel Grant and select the proper one (international or domestic) to apply!

Please note that all first-time users of Academic Works are prompted to fill out a ‘general application’ before being able to search the system and apply to other grants, scholarships, etc. This general application will allow you to match automatically with other scholarships in the system but is not required for Graduate School opportunities. Therefore, if you would like to be considered for other possible scholarship opportunities feel free to fill out the general application but it is not required for this award and will not be considered during the judging.

Department Summer Research Grants

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers summer funding for continuing graduate students to work on specific research projects (like traveling to conduct dissertation-related research, working on an article or dissertation chapter, etc.) Funds will be applied directly to the student’s tuition account. If the account balance is zero, a refund via direct deposit will be disbursed by the Bursar’s Office. The grant is treated like a fellowship and reported to the Office of Financial Aid; therefore, please be aware it may affect your student loan package. This award will be processed no later than April 30. Successful applicants are required to present their research findings in the Internal Colloquium of the department by October 30. 

Amount: $2,500 depending on budget availability 

Eligibility Requirements 

The applicant must be a full-time graduate student in good standing and enrolled during the following Fall term. All graduate students (MA and Ph.D. can apply). Priority will be given to those students who have not been awarded the grant in the previous two years or who do not have any other source of summer funding.  

Required Documents to Submit with your Application [all documents must be submitted in English and will be evaluated by the Graduate Committee]: 

• Applicant’s contact information 
• Title and Project Description [3 to 4 double-spaced pages] 
• CV 
• Academic Supervisor’s Support Letter 
• Budget 

Selection Criteria: The Graduate Committee will base their selection on the following: 

1. The quality of the research project 
2. Importance of project to the student’s professional development 
3. Student’s academic record 
4. The probability of completion within the period of the fellowship (the greater the probability, the better chance of receiving a fellowship) 
5. Other teaching-free fellowships that the candidate has already enjoyed (the fewer the better) 

6. Letter of support 

   NOTE: 

•  Applications that are incomplete or that do not adhere to the format will be disqualified. 
• If your research focuses upon or requires assistance from the Spanish Department, its members, or any of our students, you must first inform the relevant parties/participants of your intention. 
•  Send your application to the Program Assistant by April 3rd. The results will be announced within a month. 

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers summer funding for continuing graduate students to work on specific research projects (like traveling to conduct dissertation-related research, working on an article or dissertation chapter, etc.) Funds will be applied directly to the student’s tuition account. If the account balance is zero, a refund via direct deposit will be disbursed by the Bursar’s Office. The grant is treated like a fellowship and reported to the Office of Financial Aid; therefore, please be aware it may affect your student loan package. This award will be processed no later than April 30. Successful applicants are required to submit a one-page report describing progress made on the project to the Graduate Program Assistant by September 1.

Department Travel Grant Application for Graduate Students

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers to fund graduate students to present their research at meetings and conferences hosted nationally and internationally. (Please remember that the Graduate School also offers partial funding for graduate students to travel to conferences.) Funds will be applied directly to the student’s tuition account. If the account balance is zero, a refund via direct deposit will be disbursed by the Bursar’s Office. The grant is treated like a fellowship and reported to the Office of Financial Aid; therefore, please be aware it may affect your student loan package. This award will be processed no later than April 30. 

Every academic year the application for travel occurring on that same academic year must be submitted by October 1st or February 1st. Eligible travel may take place at any time in the academic year of the grant (July 1-June 30).  

All students and faculty planning research- and education-related travel over the coming months should consult the university’s COVID guidelines and recommendations. 

Amount: $400 for domestic travel and up to $800 for international travel 

Eligibility Requirements 

All graduate students (MA and Ph.D. can apply). Only one grant will be awarded to a student per academic year. The applicant must be a full-time graduate student in good standing, and the travel must occur while the applicant is a registered student (non-continuing students are eligible to apply if travel occurs before June 30). Travel must be to a meeting or conference to present the student’s own research work or work of which he/she is the primary author. 

Required Documents to Submit with your Application [all documents must be submitted in English to the Graduate Committee]: 

• Applicant’s contact information 
• Dates and Location of Conference 
• Title and Abstract (± 15 lines) of Paper to Deliver 
• Rationale explaining why that conference is important to your field and to you in particular (±10 lines) 
• Supporting documents showing that the paper has been accepted.   
• CV 
• Detailed budget 
• Academic Supervisor’s Support Letter 

NOTE: The department also offers $250.00 grants to assist students who travel for a job interview. 

Award Criteria: Applications will be evaluated by the Graduate Committee according to the following criteria: 

1. Overall quality and clarity of the proposal 
2. Importance of project to the student’s professional development 
3. Student’s academic record 
4. Appropriateness of the proposed budget 
5. Letter of support

NOTE: Applications that are incomplete or that do not adhere to the format will be disqualified.

Send your application to the Program Coordinator by October 1st or by February 1st. Results will be announced within a month. 

The Elizabeth Brower Fund supports the development of improved methods for the teaching of Spanish and assists students who upon graduation from UCB will be teaching Spanish. Funding is available for:

• Scholarships for Secondary Spanish Teaching Certificate Candidates
• Attendance at language teaching conferences and workshops
• Student memberships in teaching-related organizations
• Hosting on-campus workshops and talks by guest presenters for events related to Spanish language teaching

Applications are due the 1st of September, October, November, December, February, March, and April.

Learn more and apply .

Department GPTI Teaching Recognition Award Nomination Process

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Students must self-nominate to the Spanish and Portuguese Department Graduate Committee and must submit the materials listed below. 

Fall Deadline: October 7th. at NOON. Applications should be sent to Shannon Markusen in pdf formats. 

Portfolio Required Materials: 

1. A brief biographical statement indicating the nominee's special interests, academic history, teaching responsibilities, and degree status 
2. Faculty and Student evaluations (FCQs) of the nominee's teaching abilities from two previous semesters. 
3. A current copy of the nominee’s course syllabus only if it is not a coordinated course. 
4. A statement of teaching philosophy, written by the nominee. (200-300 word max) 

In addition to the Portfolio of Required Materials, the following items should be submitted to the Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Graduate Committee in care of Shannon Markusen in pdf formats, and include the latest “Coordinators’ Yearly GPTI/Instructor/Lecturer Evaluation Report” to the Chair. :

1. Letter of candidate nominating self
2. Copies of all available FCQs
3. Letters from past and/or current students to support the candidacy
4. Videotape of minimally 15 uninterrupted minutes of classroom teaching [YOU MAY USE THE RECORDING OF A ZOOM CLASS]
5. Coordinators’ Yearly GPTI/Instructor/Lecturer Evaluation Report to the Chair

The graduate committee will select candidates to nominate for the Awards following these steps: 

Procedure: 

1. The Graduate Committee will review all materials from each nominee. Each self-nominated student will be ranked using the same confidential procedure for ranking applicants to our graduate programs (ratings 1 through 5 from lowest to highest). 
2. The Graduate Committee members will discuss the evaluation materials after they have been reviewed and will vote. 
3. The nominees for this award will be announced to the Department. 

4. The department will send the nomination(s) to Graduate School.  

   Grading Rubric (1 the lowest, through 5, the highest): 

•  According to the standards of your department and your discipline, does this graduate teacher (TA or GPTI) rate highly on excellence in teaching (i.e., would you recommend this graduate teacher for an academic position in your discipline)?  
• Does this graduate teacher demonstrate excellence in teaching in your discipline? 
•  How does the graduate teacher compare to other candidates based on Faculty and student evaluations submitted?  
• Student Engagement (based on class observation reports) 
• Teaching significance (based on the student’s teaching statement/philosophy)

Grading Rubric:

GPSG Graduate Excellence Awards

Students should self-nominate to the Graduate and Professional Student Government's Graduate Teaching Excellence Awards (TEA). For more details, see here.

Department One-Year Extension Funding for רD Graduate Students 

The following procedure to request funding for one-year extensions to complete dissertation work is in place as of February 15, 2015. 

Eligibility 

Doctoral students in good academic standing who, by the end of the semester, will have exhausted their funding. 

Evaluation Criteria: 

The Evaluation Committee will base its decision on the following criteria: 

• Feasibility of Completion 
• Progress 
• Personal Circumstances 

Application Procedures 

Deadline: All application materials need to be received by the Department by noon on Friday following Spring Break. Students may expect an answer within two weeks after the deadline. 

Applicants are required to submit the following information to the department. 

1. Statement from the applicant justifying the need for an additional year 
2. Letter of support from the dissertation director 
3. Calendar and date of completion 

Evaluators and evaluation process: 

All Spanish and Portuguese faculty members who teach graduate courses are eligible to evaluate requests and vote on them. Students who receive a positive recommendation from the graduate faculty will be granted a one-year funding extension. A “positive recommendation” is issued when a majority of the graduate faculty votes in favor of a request. Requests shall not be ranked. 

Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant

The Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grants are competitive awards sponsored by the Graduate School that support the research, scholarship and creative work of graduate students from all departments at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ-Boulder. All funding is provided by private donations, and the grants range from $100 to $1,000 per proposal. Please refer to the Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant Tips & Guidelines for more information.

The highest-ranked proposals are considered for a Named Graduate Student Grant. Funding for the Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grants program comes entirely from private donations. Some awards are made possible by the generous donation of an individual or family, often in honor of a family member. Winners of Named Graduate Student Grants will be awarded an additional $1000. Also, they will be expected to undertake stewardship responsibilities to the donor (e.g., write a thank you letter and attend a Graduate School Advisory Committee luncheon).

To Apply:

1) Prepare all the files to be uploaded during the online application process. You may purchase a PDF version of your current transcripts online from the Registrar at http://registrar.colorado.edu/students/transcripts.html, or you may scan one in yourself. Official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable. Transcripts must include the current, active semester in order to verify enrollment status. Please upload all documents as one PDF!

2) Request a confidential letter of support from your advisor or from another faculty member who is familiar with your work. Provide your advisor's (or other faculty member's) e-mail in the space allotted in this application, and they will automatically be sent a link prompting them to attach their letters to your application.  The advisor's letter should address the specific merits of the proposal and the abilities and potential of the student applicant. The advisor should also provide information about other financial support the student is receiving for his/her research. Advisors who are submitting recommendations for more than one student should make clear distinctions between students regarding the merits of each individual's work. Be sure to tell your advisor that his/her letter must be received by the proposal deadline. The Graduate School will no longer accept letters of support after the posted deadline. Do NOT have your recommender email his/her letter separately. 

3) Submit the completed application form. Once you click "Submit" (and all required fields are populated), your application will be submitted and you will not have the opportunity to modify it. Be sure that all materials have been uploaded and that your application has been submitted by the deadline. Any items received after the deadline will not be accepted; incomplete applications will not be considered.

For more details and to apply, click .

This US Government program provides generous academic year and summer fellowships (up to approx. $10,000 per award) to institutions of higher education to assist graduate students in foreign language, and either area or international studies. The goals of the fellowship program include: (1) to assist in the development of knowledge, resources, and trained personnel for modern foreign language and area/international studies; (2) to stimulate the attainment of foreign language acquisition and fluency; and (3) to develop a pool of international experts to meet national needs.

A student is eligible to receive a fellowship if he or she: (1) is a graduate student, (2) is a citizen, national or permanent resident of the United States, (3) is enrolled in a program of modern foreign language training in a language for which the institution has developed or is developing performance-based instruction, (4) Shows potential for high academic achievement based on such indices as grade point average, class ranking, or similar measures that the institution may determine.

NOTE: Students do not apply directly to the U.S. Department of Education. Students must apply to grantee institutions. Deadlines vary per program. 

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/
ACLS Early Career Fellowships
Dissertation Completion Fellowships
Fellowships for Recent Doctoral Recipients

The American Council of Learned Societies launched this new fellowship program providing (generous) support for young scholars to complete their dissertations and, later, to advance their research after being awarded the Ph.D. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/ACLS Early Career Fellowship Program will award fellowships in two categories: Dissertation Completion Fellowships and Fellowships for Recent Doctoral Recipients. A grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports this program. 

Dissertation Completion Fellowship

The application For the Dissertation Completion Fellowship will be available from September 14 through October 28, 2020. The Graduate School Dissertation Completion Fellowship is intended to provide outstanding PhD candidates with financial support to assist in the process of completing their doctoral dissertations. The fellowship consists of full support for one academic semester (either fall 2021 or spring 2022), and includes a monthly stipend equal to that of the current 50% GPTI salary, tuition coverage of up to five dissertation hours, mandatory fees, and coverage under the Gold Ship (health insurance plan). Please note: students may not engage in other forms of paid employment (working, teaching, or off-campus employment) during the time they receive a Dissertation Fellowship. Additionally, any hours taken by students outside their dissertation hours will not be covered, and fellows may not accept another fellowship or grant during the same time period. The purpose of the fellowship is to allow recipients to devote their full attention to the dissertation.

Eligibility: Doctoral students who have been advanced to candidacy (D status) by the application deadline. Any student who is eligible may submit a nomination.

For more details and to apply, click .

External Funding Opportunities

Two nine-month residential fellowships in Latino Studies are available. Scholars with doctorates at the assistant professor level who plan to complete book-length projects and PhD candidates who plan to write their dissertations are eligible.  Underrepresented scholars are especially encouraged to apply.

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See:  RE: Dissertation revisions 

"Applicants may seek funding for projects based on completed dissertations. You must state in your application narrative that the proposal is to revise a dissertation, and you must explain how the new project moves beyond the original dissertation. [p. 1] and how the project will benefit from the additional research, materials, or chapter(s)." (p. 10)

National Fellowship Opportunities

Office of Contracts and Grants

The Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) is available to assist Graduate Students in applying for funding from sponsors outside the University. Visit the OCG website for more information and to contact the proposal analyst assigned to your department.

Graduate School Summer Fellowship 

Eligibility: Eligible students will have advanced to candidacy (D status) by the end of Spring 2025 and have NO other university-sponsored sources of support during the summer 2025 term. Recipients of other major fellowships for AY23/24 or AY24/25 are not eligible. Preference should be given to those students who have not received funding (other than RA/TA/GA or GPTI appointments) during AY24/25.   

Required Nominating Materials:  Please submit one pdf document that includes a statement by the student of what they plan to accomplish with the fellowship (one page maximum), an anticipated timeline for completion of the dissertation, and a letter of nomination from the department chair, graduate director, or academic advisor. 

The fellowship awardees will receive a $1000 biweekly stipend, totaling $6000 over the course of the summer.