Diversity Funding Opportunities

There are many questions that prospective graduate students have when they consider enrolling in a graduate program. For many, primary among those questions is, “How will I pay for it?”

Our Office of Fellowships and Awards maintains information on paying for graduate school to help you find ways to lessen the financial burden, including a list of popular fellowships. The Graduate Funding Information Service (GFIS) is also an excellent resource.

More information on diversity fellowships
General list of fellowships

Many diversity-specific awards are available to students who meet each award’s specific criteria. We’ve highlighted a few of these opportunities here.

National Institutes of Health Diversity Supplements

The National Institutes of Health, including the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have diversity supplement programs to promote diversity in health-related research and to improve the Nation’s capacity to address health disparities by providing training, mentorship and career development opportunities to individuals who are underrepresented in biomedical, behavioral, clinical, social and basic sciences research.

These diversity supplement programs allow an opportunity for PIs holding specific types of research grants to apply for a diversity supplement to support and recruit individuals at various career levels who come from groups shown to be underrepresented in science. Applying for these supplements is not a cumbersome process and it provides additional funding to recruit and support students, postdoctorates, and eligible investigators from groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in health-related research. Diversity supplements must support work within the scope of the original project.

For students, Diversity Supplements may provide up to 5 years of funding for candidates, which includes additional research funds, tuition, stipend and health insurance, so that you can focus on your coursework and research project. Depending on your academic level and NIH institute, you may be able to request conference funding, research-related equipment, publication fees, and other research-related expenses. All budget-related questions should be discussed with a grants manager and NIH project officer. (Note: Some grants may not cover summer quarter tuition, salary and health insurance.)

For more information, please visit the School of Public Health’s Diversity Supplement Information page.