Funding Resources
Financing your degree is an obstacle faced by all students. Support through loans, awards, and/or employment is available to both incoming and continuing graduate students through the Financial Aid Office, the University, the Department, and affiliated research centers. As a graduate student, it is critical to develop a habit of searching for funding. Taking the initiative to search for opportunities should be done continuously: Apply EARLY, OFTEN, and be PERSISTENT. This will help you later on in your career as a PI applying for grants to fund research projects.
Successful Fellowship Proposals
Department folder
The Box folder linked below contains successful fellowship proposals. Please always review the full call/instructions for a fellowship as requirements, criteria, and formatting may change every year. Developing a proposal similar to one awarded in a prior year may no longer remain competitive if the call has changed.
If you would like to share materials from a successful proposal, please forward the materials that you are comfortable sending (ideally a single PDF per proposal/application if possible) to the Graduate Advisor, anthrogradadvisor@anthro.ucla.edu. In the body of the email, please include the fellowship/program and year applied. If you would like to redact some information but are unable to, please inform the Graduate Advisor and they will redact the requested information before they are shared.
To access the documents:
Click here> Box folder. Full link if hyperlinked text does not work: https://ucla.box.com/s/6dhgp8s2tl36x7t7qe91zj1xkt8uuviw
When prompted, paste the following password (case sensitive): Anthro063_5i4ykjFp"S
Please note: This folder does not allow any documents to be downloaded.
Graduate Writing Center Fellowship and Grant Archive Project
Please visit this page to request access for particular fellowships. These resources will include basic information, links, and videos pertaining to major extramural fellowships as well as samples of successful application essays available for view. These resources will be housed in CCLE websites and UCLA Box folders. The materials are managed by the GWC and made available to UCLA graduate students who request access.
To request access, follow the link above select from a handful of links that will direct you to private Google forms for a major fellowship or group of fellowships of interest. Please note that access is given for the current academic year. If you need access again in a later year, you may need to request it again.
UCLA Financial Wellness Program
The mission of UCLA’s Financial Wellness Program is to empower all Bruins to confidently navigate their finances in a way that supports their overall well-being. This program fosters financial literacy skills through workshops, coaching and online educational efforts. Additionally, we aim to encourage students to know who, when and why to ask for help. Overall, the program centralizes and advocates for student economic support services on campus.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Even if you don't plan on borrowing federal loans, it is recommend to file a FAFSA every year (if eligible). The FAFSA will also determine if a graduate student is eligible for the graduate work-study program. In addition, the FAFSA confirmation page is the most accepted form of proving financial need for a number of fellowship opportunities based on need.
Conference Travel Support
The Division of Graduate Education offers a $1,000 total reimbursement to students who are within their first seven years of doctoral study. These funds are to encourage students to present their work and network at conferences in their field, to support travel associated with off-campus research and to enable students to take advantage of off-campus professional development opportunities. For more information and the application, please see their website.
Support from the Department is available for students presenting at a conference. The application for this support will be sent in the Fall Quarter by Tracy Humbert, the Department's Accounting and Personnel Analyst.
Division of Graduate Education (DGE) Opportunities
To prepare for upcoming academic year funding opportunities, a booklet is sent to all graduate students via email from the DGE in December. More information can be found on their website.
Funding Opportunities for Graduate Study (DGE presentation)
Financial Aid Options for Undocumented Graduate Students in California
Incoming Generation options for Undocumented Students Toolkit
Financial Crisis
Students in financial crisis should contact the Economic Crisis Response Team (ECRT). the ECR Team can take a comprehensive approach to your situation and can help you determine as many options as possible.
The Department has some limited emergency funding to provide graduate students. Please contact the Graduate Advisor if you are in need of emergency funds.
Interest-free short-term loans are available through the Loan Services Office.
Research Grant Administration
Students who wish to submit a research grant to the federal government, private foundations, or UC seed grants which require a University signatory authority must contact Tracy Humbert, thumbert@anthro.ucla.edu, the Department's Accounting and Personnel Analyst, to begin the application process. Her office is 341D Haines.
The Graduate Writing Center periodically holds workshops on how to prepare and write federal grant proposals. Information about these workshops will be sent by the Graduate Advisor as they are announced.
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship
Full information regarding FLAS opportunities at UCLA is available on the Division of Graduate Education's website.
The FLAS fellowship is intended for language study at the intermediate and advanced level. Applications to fund beginning-level language study will only be considered in extraordinary cases. If you plan to apply for a FLAS to fund beginning-level language study, please consult the relevant Center during the application process.
Currently approved languages include, for East Asia: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean; for Latin America: Nahuatl, Portuguese, Quechua and Advanced Spanish (additional languages, such as Haitian Creole and Maya, may be eligible for summer study with prior approval from the US Department of Education); for Middle East: Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish; and for Southeast Asia: Indonesian, Filipino/Tagalog, Khmer, Thai, and Vietnamese (additional languages may be eligible with prior approval from the US Department of Education).
Extramural Sources
The Division of Graduate Education (DGE) offers a a searchable database, GRAPES, of 540 private and publicly funded awards, grants, and fellowships of interest to prospective and current graduate students, students working on a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation, and postdoctoral scholars. The DGE has also created a fellowship directory listing starting points of where to find fellowships.
Other sources and opportunities (non-exhaustive list)
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad - Applicants must contact the DGE to submit an application for nomination consideration
scholars4dev - Scholarships for Development, listing of scholarships for international students, specifically for people from developing countries, people who would like to pursue development-related fields, and people who seek global and national development through further education.