Funding and Awards
Types of Funding
Graduate assistantships
There are three types of graduate assistantships on campus: teaching, project, and research assistantships. Programs use their own internal processes to award assistantships to students.
Fellowships
Fellowships are grants that you do not have to pay back. Unlike graduate assistantships, fellowships generally involve no work obligations. There are both campus/departmental and external fellowships.
Traineeships
Traineeships are supported by federal training grants from agencies like the NIH and NSF. Benefits typically include tuition/fee remission, a stipend, and health insurance. To inquire about traineeships, check with your graduate program coordinator.
Student loans
The Office of Student Financial Aid provides information and assistance to prospective, new, and enrolled graduate students about federal work study and student loans.
Student jobs
The UW–Madison Student Jobs Center has listings of open positions both on campus and off campus in Madison and the surrounding areas. Keep in mind that only 33% and higher graduate assistantships provide tuition remission for eligible students.*
Research and travel grants
This Graduate School competition includes awards for eligible UW–Madison graduate students who are traveling to present at a conference or conduct research supporting their dissertation, thesis, or final project.
Funding for international students
U.S. citizenship is a requirement for some fellowships, but there are others for which international students are eligible, including University Fellowships and some departmental fellowships.
*Graduate students enrolled in service-based pricing programs, such as online and accelerated programs, are ineligible to receive tuition remission. Students should consult with their graduate programs and read their admission and appointment letters carefully to understand their benefits eligibility.
Taxes
Payroll taxes are assessed in identical circumstances for stipends provided to research assistants (RAs), project assistants (PAs), and teaching assistants (TAs) — i.e., income taxes are withheld, but FICA tax is not as long as the student is enrolled in at least a half time course of study. Trainee and fellow stipends are also taxable; however, tuition, fees, and books may be deducted before students calculate their tax liability. Find more information on the Office of Human Resources’ Pay webpage.
Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax
FICA tax funds social security and Medicare programs. To be eligible for FICA exemption, non-dissertator graduate students must be enrolled at UW–Madison at least half time (4 credits during the spring and fall semesters), or 3 credits for dissertators. Read more about Student FICA exemptions.
Awards
External fellowships
External awards on your CV demonstrate grant-writing success and your promise as an exceptional researcher or scholar. The Graduate School’s Funding Forward program helps you compete for external fellowships through resources, workshops, and writing camps.
Bouchet Society
The Bouchet Graduate Honor Society is a network of scholars who exemplify academic and personal excellence, foster environments of support, and serve as examples of scholarship, leadership, character, service, and advocacy for underrepresented students.
TA Awards
In order to recognize excellence on the part of TAs across campus, each year the Graduate School, with administrative and financial assistance from the College of Letters & Science and the Morgridge Center, sponsors awards for exceptional teaching by graduate students.
Peer Mentor Awards
The Graduate Peer Mentor Awards recognize stellar mentorship. These graduate students are selected based on their ability to mentor undergraduate and/or graduate students, on or off campus.
Fellowships and Awards in the News
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Four doctoral students receive NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowships for education research
Four UW–Madison doctoral students are among the 35 selected to receive 2026 National Academy of Education (NAEd) and Spencer Dissertation Fellowships.
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31 UW–Madison students receive NSF GRFP awards
Of those offered awards, 23 are currently UW–Madison graduate students. Eight current UW–Madison undergraduates were also offered the award for their graduate study. Additionally, 22 UW–Madison students were recognized with honorable mentions…
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Fields receives Schmidt Science Fellowship to develop earlier diagnostic tools for ALS
It’s no simple feat to find a better way to detect neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and Alzheimer’s, Lauren Fields knows. But with support from a 2026 Schmidt Science Fellowship, Fields will build…
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UW–Madison celebrates 2025-26 Teaching Assistant Award Winners
Thirty-two exceptional graduate students have been selected as recipients of the 2025-26 Campus-Wide Teaching Assistant Awards, recognizing their strengths and commitment surrounding the craft of teaching.
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Five UW–Madison PhD students inducted into the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
UW–Madison welcomed five exceptional scholars into its chapter of the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society during a ceremony Dec. 1.
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