Ronald E. McNair Doctoral Fellowship

The McNair Doctoral Fellowships provide supplemental support that may total up to $50,000 per student.  $42,500 is provided by the Graduate School and $7,500 is provided by the program or college. 

McNair Fellowships are enhancement awards added to a base fellowship/assistantship packages.  The McNair Fellow's first year will include a half-time assistantship or fellowship from the program.  For years 2, 3 and 4, the McNair Fellow will hold a full time assistantship/fellowship base support. Please consult the section titled, "Award Timeline" for more details.

Cost sharing Requirement:  The McNair Doctoral Fellowship is a cost share fellowship.  The program and/or college will provide $7,500 and the Graduate School will provide the remaining $42,500.  The program will disburse the $2,500 initial grant and the $5,000 summer support as indicated below.  The program's $7,500 cost-share support cannot be funded by Graduate School Dean’s Fellowships.  

Award Timeline for the Fall 2027 Cohort
(default timeline, contact the Graduate School with questions)
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Academic Year: 2027-28
Graduate School Support: $12,500
Program Supplementary Support: $2,500 Grant* (disbursed by the program)
Program Base Support: HALF-TIME assistantship (or half fellowship with half tuition)

Academic Year: 2028-29
Graduate School Support: $5,000
Program Base Support: FULL-TIME assistantship

Summer 2029
Program Supplementary Support: $5,000 McNair Summer Fellowship** (disbursed by the program)
Program Base Support: NONE while on a $5,000 fellowship 

Academic Year: 2029-30
Graduate School Support: $5,000
Program Base Support: FULL-TIME assistantship (or full fellowship with tuition)

Academic Year: 2030-31
Graduate School Support: $5,000
Program Base Support: FULL-TIME assistantship (or full fellowship with tuition)

Fall 2031
Graduate School Support: $15,000 McNair Dissertation Fellowship 
Program Base Support: NONE while on a $15,000 fellowship
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*The $2,500 grant is designed to help pay for technology needs, books, travel, or other research-related expenses.  This $2,500 grant is part of the program cost-share requirement and will be administered by the program.

**The $5,000 Summer Fellowship is designed to support a McNair Fellow in summer of year 2 to work on a project that helps them significantly advance them through the program. This $5,000 award is part of the program’s cost-share requirement and will be administered by the program. The funds can be paid to the student as a program fellowship.  If the student maintains a 12 month GAship during this summer, the student must be relieved of duties.

To request a different timeline, programs must contact the Graduate School.

Based on the student’s progress, the $5,000 McNair Summer Fellowship and the McNair Dissertation Fellowship can be disbursed on a different timeline.  To request a different timeline, programs must contact the Graduate School

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NOTES

Tuition Assistance
McNair Fellows are eligible to receive up to 10 credits of tuition remission each semester.  In year 1, five credits will be paid by the half-time assistantship, and five credits will be paid by the McNair Doctoral Fellowship.  In years 2, 3, and 4, the 10 credits of tuition remission will be paid by the full–time assistantship.

McNair Summer Fellowship (summer of year 2) 
This is a $5,000 award during the summer and it is disbursed by the program. The funds can be disbursed to the student as an award or through payroll. When disbursing through payroll, the student must be releived of GAship duties not related to their project. 

McNair Dissertation Fellowship  (year 5)
This is a $15,000 semester stipend and it is disbursed by the Graduate School. Students must be off of payroll.  The McNair Semester Dissertation award comes with tuition assistance for 899 and a credit for mandatory fees. 
 

Nominees must be alumni of a McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, and plan to begin their program in Fall 2027. International students are not eligible for the McNair Doctoral Fellowship. 

Programs must recommend their nominee(s) for admission prior to making a nomination. .  

Programs must commit to providing the base assistantship/fellowship package outlined in the McNair Guidelines (half and full support) at the time of nomination, and must notify the Graduate School of any subsequent changes in the proposed support package. Candidates who will have an assistantship as their base support must have U.S. citizenship, valid visa status, or valid work authorization.  Programs must clearly state they will;

1. Provide a half-time assistantship/fellowship support during the first year,
2. Provide full-time assistantship/fellowship support during years 2, 3, and 4, and
3. Agree to the $7,500 McNair cost-share requirement.
    

McNair Fellows must maintain full time enrollment and satisfactory progress while on fellowship

All PhD programs at University of Maryland, College Park, are eligible to nominate up to 2 candidates. Programs must recommend their nominee(s) for admission prior to making the nomination.

Nomination packages must include the following:

1. Letter of nomination from the program’s Chair or DGS, or the student’s prospective advisor.  The letter of nomination should address the student’s exceptional qualifications and promise, and include what contributions the student is likely to make to the program and the field.  The letter should also cite evidence of the program’s commitment to the successful mentoring of doctoral students. This could include training in holistic admission, actions to create a supportive environment for diverse students, past success in recruiting and graduating diverse students, or training in best practices in mentoring graduate students (particularly by the student’s likely advisor).

   Letter writers should not make any reference to standardized testing scores.  
    

2. Description of the base fellowship/assistantship support being offered by the program to the student (these base packages must extend at least for the duration of the McNair Fellowship. It is expected that these base packages will be at least comparable to those normally offered by the program. Please note that assistantship support in year 1 normally must be half-time (10 hours) unless special circumstances justify moving the half-GA year to another year. Support in years 2, 3, and 4 must be full-time (20 hours).
    
3. Nominee’s complete application will be made available to the selection committee in TerpEngage. (The School of Public Health will need to upload the student’s SOPHAS application.)
    

Programs must gather the requred nomination materials as individual PDF files.  Submit nominations by going to the Graduate School Awards Portal at terpengage.umd.edu/gsawards/s/ by the nomination deadline.  At the time of nomination, TerpEngage will prompt nominators to select the correct application (the correct APP-ID).
 

A faculty committee from varied backgrounds and broad disciplinary representation appointed by the Graduate School will serve as the selection committee. Selection decisions will be based on the nominee’s excellence, understood as a convergence of the nominee’s academic success, statement of purpose, prior research or other original scholarship, letters of recommendation, and the program’s letter of nomination, and the ability of the nominee to contribute unique personal and scholarly experiences  to the program. 

The selection committee will not consider GRE or other standardized test scores during evaluations.

Award decisions are expected by the end of February.  It is expected that the cohort of awardees will reflect the university’s ideals as outlined in the UMD Strategic Plan’s Guiding Principles. 

McNair Doctoral Fellowships are awarded to programs for specific students and are not transferable to other students. Should the awarded candidate decline the Fellowship or should a student holding a President’s Fellowship graduate or leave the program with enhancement funding outstanding, the Graduate School will return unused funds to the President’s Fellowship pool.

McNair Fellows are asked to submit a brief progress report each year using this GS Fellowship and Award Report Form.

If a Fellow experiences significant academic difficulty during the year, the program and the Graduate School will confer and establish benchmarks to monitor the student's progress. Continuation of the McNair Doctoral Fellowship is contingent upon the student's continued full-time enrollment and timely, satisfactory progress toward the degree.

Please direct questions to Ms. Robyn Kotzker, Program Director for Office of Funding Opportunities, at 301-405-0281 or rkotzker@umd.edu.