School of Graduate Studies/GradFund

School of Graduate Students  

Promotion of Academic Excellence Program 

Request for the Provision of Tuition and/or Fellows Health Insurance from the Office of the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies 

The School of Graduate Studies in its commitment to supporting graduate student success provides access to fellows' health insurance and provision of tuition remission to doctoral students who secure fellowship support.  

Fellows's Health Insurance Enrollment and Tuition Remission for Externally Funded Fellows 

To incentivize and support graduate student success, the School of Graduate Studies will provide doctoral students who secure nationally or internationally competitive fellowships with the minimum number of tuition credits required each semester they are on the fellowship.  

Each year, Rutgers University sponsors a Student Health Insurance Plan with UnitedHealthcare Student Resources (UHCSR) to provide health insurance to doctoral students who are on internal or external fellowship support.  

The School of Graduate Studies manages student enrollment in collaboration with the graduate programs. SGS doctoral programs based in the NB/P Chancellor area may request enrollment of their fellows through this portal.  

The effective enrollment date is September 1, annually.  

Requests for the tuition benefit and/or health insurance enrollment should be submitted to the portal by graduate program staff and should include copies of the fellowship award documents. If additional information is needed, the request will be sent through the portal. The decision on whether tuition will be provided will also be communicated to the program through the portal.  

Tuition Remission to Support Doctoral Degree Completion 

To support and incentivize graduate student success, graduate programs may request up to 3 credits of tuition support for unfunded doctoral students who are in the final year of their program of study. We recognize that there may be times when a student has expended their funding package, and the cost of tuition is a barrier to timely completion of their PhD. SGS will receive and review requests from graduate program staff for the one semester provision of up to 3 credits of tuition to help a student finish their degree.  

Requests for the tuition benefit should be submitted to the portal by graduate program staff and should include a written request from the graduate program director that explains the need for the tuition and the plan and timetable for the student to complete their degree. A clear and compelling case should be made for why the tuition is needed including an explanation for why the tuition cannot be covered by the graduate program or the school in which the program resides. A small percentage of these requests can be granted each year. 

Requests may be submitted through the SGS Submittable Portal and will be reviewed weekly: https://rutgersnewbrunswick.submittable.com/submit/7aa7988c-31b0-419b-a3d2-7f05bfa43f30/request-for-the-provision-of-tuition-and-or-fellows-health-insurance-from-the-off 

Questions regarding the program should be directed to Senior Associate Dean Teresa Delcorso-Ellmann at sgs.sadean@grad.rutgers.edu. 

The Office of the EVPAA will continue to award Presidential Graduate Fellowships for AY 2026-27. 

These fellowships are designed to provide supplementary support and are often used as a recruitment tool for our top pool of potential graduate students.  Fellowships will be funded through the OEVPAA for up to three years only.  Deans or chancellors/provosts may choose to provide funds for any additional years to create a five-year package.

12 fellowships have been allocated for Rutgers–New Brunswick. 

Guidelines for Presidential Graduate Fellowships

• Fellowships are available for doctoral students and will be awarded at $10,000 per student annually for up to 3 years.  Note that these are intended as supplements for appointments such as primary AY TA or GA, or to smaller, less competitive fellowships.  These Presidential Fellowships do not provide tuition remission or health insurance.  
• The Presidential Fellowship Award is supplementary and funds 3 years per student, assuming the student is making satisfactory progress.  Although OEVPAA funds do not extend beyond 3 years, deans or chancellors/provosts may choose to extend funding for years 4 and 5.
• Presidential Fellowships CAN be held simultaneously with other fellowships, or with TA or GA appointments.  Presidential Fellowships can also be used for summer supplementation for students on AY appointments.
• A faculty committee comprised of both graduate programs and professional schools will evaluate and rank nominees
• The committee seeks to support nominees who demonstrate academic excellence. Nominating programs should clearly articulate how a Presidential Fellowship will support the recruitment and retention of the student to their program.
• Each graduate program may submit up to 3 nominations. 
• The deadline to submit nominations is February 25, 2026.

      Please send your questions about the competition or application process, to SGS_Awards@grad.rutgers.edu.

The SGS Fellowship for Excellence is a premier School of Graduate Studies recruitment award that supports the admission of outstanding incoming Ph.D. students by recognizing academic excellence, research innovation, and leadership potential.

Please use the Rutgers Single Sign-On feature to access the site and submit your application for a streamlined and secure login experience

If you have any questions about the form or encounter technical issues, feel free to reach out to the SGS team, Diego Chica (diegochk@grad.rutgers.edu).