Fellowships

Fellowship Opportunities

A number of internal UT fellowships and external fellowships are available for graduate students pursuing a doctoral degree at UT Austin. Many university awards are based on nominations from the graduate programs.

Resources for Graduate Student Fellows

Differences between Graduate Student Fellowship (GSF) and Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)

Out-of-state and international students should not complete a non-resident tuition waiver for a semester they are on a fellowship. A different waiver will be applied by the university to reduce your bill.
GSFs are not employees, students will not be automatically enrolled in UT SHIP insurance. The student must choose to enroll in an insurance elective. See insurance below.
- International students should not complete an international insurance waiver for a semester they are on fellowship. See insurance below.
Fellowship stipends are not part of payroll. They will not be listed in Workday.
- Domestic students will not have taxes taken from their fellowship payments and it is their responsibility to pay the tax that is owed. For questions on how to manage tax, reach out to tax services.
- International Students may see tax taken from their fellowship payments. Questions should be directed to International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). Find out more on their Tax Information page.

Fellowship recipients may find practical information related to their awards via the UT Austin Graduate School.

Insurance for Graduate Student Fellows

Students on fellowship are not automatically enrolled in insurance benefits as academic employees are. They must self-enroll in insurance for the semesters of their fellowships. Many fellowships include payments to cover the cost of insurance, but the student must take action to enroll in an insurance option in the enrollment period and process payment.

Insurance Benefits and enrollment options for Graduate Student Fellows can be found via the UT Human Resources website.

For students who were previously using the UT SHIP insurance received because of academic employment. Even if you enroll in the Academic Blue Medical Voluntary insurance, you will receive notification of your UT SHIP insurance ending as you no longer qualify for the employment-based insurance. When you receive this notification take a moment to log in to the Academic Blue Medical Voluntary insurance portal and confirm you have completed all steps needed to ensure your enrollment.

International Students on Fellowship

International students should not complete an international insurance waiver for the semesters that they are on fellowship. Instead, they should apply financial aid that is provided to the insurance costs that are listed on the semester tuition bill.

Fellowship pay rates

Fellowship stipend rates vary, some are designed to serve as awards or supplemental stipends while others should serve as the student's primary source of income.

ILS salary rate is guaranteed by the program and a student's faculty member. If a student should find that their primary income source does not pay at the ILS rate action will be taken to ensure that the gross salary is supplemented up to the current ILS rate. This may be done via additional fellowships or a small GRA appointment.