OGS creates a funding plan every year for every master’s program (excluding TSPPPA) and PsyD. We take into account equity across programs, the nature of the various academic disciplines, enrollment goals, supply and demand, instructional needs, and so forth. Each program receives a memo from the associate dean in December explaining its funding plan for the coming academic year. Because funding levels are reviewed on an annual basis, programs should not assume their funding level will remain the same from year to year.
A student with a renewable award who remains in good standing will ordinarily be offered a renewal for their second year. However, the only students who will receive CCAS funding for a second year are those whose initial awards specified renewability. Students who were unfunded in the first year and funded students whose awards did not specify renewability cannot receive second-year funding from CCAS. Nor will CCAS offer awards to newly admitted applicants who have already accepted admission. Programs are welcome to offer second-year awards, and awards to committed applicants, from R-funds, endowments, or other departmental sources, without these restrictions.
If a program anticipates that it may wish to offer second-year CCAS funding to students who were unfunded in the first year, or whose first-year awards did not specify renewability, the DGS must contact the associate dean for approval as early as possible. Under no circumstances should the student be promised an award.
Non-Tailoring Programs (Dean’s Awards)
For funding purposes, CCAS master’s programs are classified as either “tailoring” or “non-tailoring”. In most master’s programs -- the non-tailoring programs -- the largest source of funding takes the form of Dean’s Awards. These are tuition awards, typically non-renewable. OGS makes the ultimate determination as to which admittees receive Dean’s Awards. These decisions are based on the following:
- Your recommendation for an award at the time of admission
- Academic merit
- Diversity of program and college
OGS determines the amounts for Dean’s Awards. They are typically tuition fellowship awards of $10,000 - $20,000 for the academic year for on-campus programs and $7,500 - $10,000 for off-campus programs. Dean’s Awards normally require full-time enrollment (9 credits), however OGS may pro-rate an award if a student wishes to study part-time. Students must request a pro-rated award for part-time study, otherwise the award will be cancelled if the student registers for fewer than 9 credits. This applies even to programs in which students always take fewer than 9 credits in at least one semester (e.g., programs requiring fewer than 36 credits).
Tailoring Programs
A small minority of CCAS master’s programs - tailoring programs - are expected to exercise more control over their funding process. Tailoring programs design award packages comprising tuition awards and/or stipends and/or GA salaries, in various permutations. Tailoring programs may offer renewable awards, although renewals are deducted from the following year’s allocation. If a tailored award submitted by a department does not specify renewability, CCAS will consider it a non-renewable award for purposes of determining the department's aid budget for the following year.
Tailoring programs must use their budget prudently to reach enrollment targets. A tailoring program that spends in excess of its funding allocation without exceeding its enrollment target may have the excess deducted from the following year’s allocation.
Global Leaders Fellowship
The Global Leaders award was partially funded (50%) by OGSAF up until January 2020. CCAS decided to continuing offering the Global Leaders award for new Fall 2020 students without OGSAF's contribution.
The Global Leaders Fellowship is designed to attract students studying on an F-1 student visa from the following countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Turkey, and Vietnam. Students may receive up to $10,000 per year (up to $5,000/semester, tuition only). Awards are renewable for one additional year upon satisfactory academic progress. These awards are limited to master’s degree programs classified as “on-campus” and those in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. Please see the Global Leaders Fellowship page for eligibility details.
Eligibility for this award will be indicated on the application PDF in TargetX. Funds for this award do not come out of your allocation.
Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) Award
CCAS has partnered with select HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and HSIs (Hispanic Serving Institutions) to offer to graduates of those institutions, upon admission to GWU, tuition awards valued at approximately 40% of tuition. These awards are renewable.
Current partner institutions and eligibility requirements are found in Appendix 2; please refer to the Minority-Serving Institution Award page for updates.
Eligibility for this award will be indicated on the application PDF in TargetX. Funds for this award do not come out of your allocation. Due to limited funds CCAS may not be able to offer an award to all accepted MSI eligible students.
Grad2Grad
Current GW undergraduates who matriculate in GW graduate programs may be eligible for the Grad2Grad program. Eligible students receive the following:
- Application fee waiver
- GRE waiver (for most CCAS programs)
- 10% tuition reduction
Eligibility for this award will be indicated on the application PDF in TargetX. More information on the Grad2Grad program can be found here. Combined degree students are also eligible for this award and should apply through the Grad2Grad website. The Grad2Grad award is considered a tuition discount so you are able to offer other awards to these applicants. The Grad2Grad program is managed and funded by the OGSAF - Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships.
Funding for Graduate Certificate Students
The only CCAS awards available to Graduate Certificate students are the MSI award and the Grad2Grad tuition discount (see above). Programs may use endowments or R-funds (if available and approved by the Finance Office) to fund certificate students.
