A fellowship is defined as an award providing a stipend for living expenses at the established minimum or higher and demanding no services in return. Fellowship awards count against student loan eligibility. Fellowship appointments are reviewed in the Graduate College.
Traineeships are research fellowships that are awarded to provide educational training in particular disciplinary areas and provide a stipend for living expenses. Traineeship awards count against student loan eligibility. In questionable cases the Graduate College will decide whether an award is a traineeship.
Students who are admitted on limited status due to grade point average, admitted on limited status due to bachelor’s degree not comparable to that at this university, or not in good academic standing may not hold fellowships or traineeships until they are in good academic standing. Non-degree students are not eligible for fellowships or traineeships.
Students not in good academic standing must petition the Graduate College each term to request to hold a fellowship or traineeship.
The full tuition and fee policy for fellows and trainees can be found in Chapter 7.2 Tuition Waiver Policy.
Registration for Fellows and Trainees
Holders of waiver-generating assistantships/traineeships and holders of courtesy waivers are required to register during their entire fellowship periods and must register full-time during the fall and spring semester.
Award Periods
The standard award period for an academic year fellowship is August 16 to May 15. The standard award period for a fall fellowship is August 16 to December 15; the standard award period for a spring fellowship is January 16 to May 15.
Concurrent Awards
Fellows are generally prohibited from holding two waiver-eligible awards concurrently. An “award” here includes any fellowship, traineeship, grant, tuition payment award, or comparable support from any government agency (state, federal, or foreign), or from any foundation, corporation, or similar organization. “Waiver-eligible” means that the award is of sufficient dollar amount to generate a waiver (see Chapter 7.2 Tuition Waiver Policy or details on the dollar amounts required to generate a waiver). Any award offer should be reported immediately to the Graduate College Fellowship Office where the determination will be made as to whether an exception to this policy is allowable.
Concurrent Appointments
Unless otherwise restricted by campus policy, the granting agency or unit, or other external source, fellows may, at the discretion of their department and with the prior approval of the Graduate College, hold up to 67% FTE in totality of assistantship/traineeship appointments. Any assistantship/traineeship offer should be reported to the Graduate College Fellowship Office through its electronic fellowship management system, and the Fellowship Office will then determine whether the appointment can be held concurrently with the fellowship.
Taxability of Stipend
Fellowship stipends may be subject to income taxes. For U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and foreign national resident aliens for tax purposes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has ruled that universities are not responsible for withholding or reporting income taxes on fellowship payments. Taxability of the fellowship payment is a matter between the fellow and the IRS. Therefore, no income taxes are withheld from fellowship payments. Fellows do not receive a Form W-2 for their fellowship income nor does the university report the fellowship payment to either the state or federal government.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires that universities withhold taxes from the fellowship payments to international students on temporary visas who are classified as non-resident aliens for tax purposes. International students may be able to claim a treaty benefit that exempts the fellowship payment from income tax withholding. All students on temporary visas must schedule a tax status review appointment with the University Payroll Service Center to determine their tax residency status and whether they qualify for tax treaty benefits. At this appointment, University Payroll determines residency and tax status classification. Fellowship stipend payments will be taxed at the highest possible rate until after the tax status review process is completed.
Taxability of Tuition and Fee Waivers
For information about the taxability of tuition and fee waivers associated with fellowships, see Chapter 7.2 Tuition Waiver Policy.
Thesis Deposit/Graduation for Fellows
Students with fellowship or traineeship appointments must notify the Graduate College Fellowship Office in advance of thesis deposit as it may result in a change in the terms of the fellowship award, including termination.
For students who are depositing a thesis, the fellowship end date is determined considering multiple factors. These include:
- degree conferral date
- deposit deadline
- deposit date
- policies of the fellowship sponsor
- original award period
- payroll processing dates
This may mean that the fellowship would end effective the date of deposit.
For each degree conferral date there is a window of time within which a student may complete the deposit process and keep a fellowship or traineeship until the end of the standard award period for that semester.
The deposit window of time begins on the doctoral degree final exam deadline date and ends on the deposit deadline date for the degree being conferred. Degrees are conferred in May, August, and December. See the academic calendar for conferral dates. An exception to the fellowship end date policy may occur when a student deposits a master’s thesis, but continues as a doctoral student with funding approval from the sponsor. In all cases, the Graduate College Fellowship Office determines the fellowship end date.