AAUW’s International Fellowship program 2020 for Masters, Doctoral & Post-Doctoral Study in the USA (Funded)

Application Deadline: November 15th 2019

AAUW International Fellowships are awarded for full-time study or research in the United States to women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Both graduate and postgraduate studies at accredited U.S. institutions are supported.

Applicants must have earned the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree by November 15, 2018, and must have applied to their proposed institutions of study by the time of the application. Up to five International Master’s/First Professional Degree Fellowships are renewable for a second year; fellows will receive application information for this competitive program.

Recipients are selected for academic achievement and demonstrated commitment to women and girls. Recipients return to their home countries to become leaders in business, government, academia, community activism, the arts, and sciences.

Requirements:

• International Fellowships are not open to previous recipients of any AAUW national fellowship or grant (not including branch or local awards or Community Action Grants). Members and officers of the AAUW Board of Directors are not eligible to apply for fellowships and grant awards. AAUW staff or volunteers with decision-making authority who wish to apply for an award must recuse themselves from the decision-making process.
• Unsuccessful applicants may reapply.
• To be eligible for an International Fellowship, applicants must meet the following criteria:
  • Have citizenship in a country other than the U.S. or possession of a nonimmigrant visa if residing in the U.S. Women who are currently, or expect to be during the fellowship year, a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or dual citizen with the U.S. and another country are not eligible.
  • Hold an academic degree (earned in the U.S. or abroad) equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree completed by November 15, 2019.
  • Intend to devote herself full-time to the proposed academic plan during the fellowship year
  • Intend to return to her home country to pursue a professional career
  • Be proficient in English. Unless the applicant can verify that her native language is English (written statement required), that she received her secondary diploma or undergraduate degree from an English-speaking institution (transcript required), or that she will have completed one semester of full-time study in her discipline at an English-speaking college or university between November 2017 and November 2019 (transcript required), she must upload a recent ETS TOEFL* (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score. Institutional TOEFL scores and other English proficiency test scores (such as IELTS) will not be accepted. Minimum score acceptable: 550 for Paper-Based Test (TOEFL PBT, no older than October 2017); 79 for Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT, no older than November 2017); 60 for Revised TOEFL Paper-Delivered Test (no older than November 2017).
  • Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral applicants must have applied by November 15, 2019, to an accredited institution of study for the period of the fellowship year and must indicate the name of the institution in the International Fellowship application.
  • Master’s/first professional degree fellowships are intended for master’s or professional degree-level programs such as J.D., M.F.A., L.L.M., M.Arch., or medical degrees such as M.D., D.D.S., etc.
  • Doctoral fellowships are intended for doctorate degrees, such as Ph.D. or Ed.D.
  • Postdoctoral applicants must provide proof of their doctorate degree; hold a doctorate classified as a research degree (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D., D.B.A., D.M.) or an M.F.A. by November 15, 2019; and indicate where they will conduct their research.
  • Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral applicants must be enrolled in a U.S. accredited institution located in the U.S. during the fellowship year.
  • A limited number of awards are available to GWI members for study or research in any country other than their own. Note that foreign branches of U.S. institutions are considered outside of the U.S.
  • Applicants must be conducting a full year of study or research. International Fellowships do not provide funding for a partial year of study or research. Programs ending prior to April of the fellowship year are not eligible.
  • Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral fellowships support traditional classroom-based courses of study at colleges or universities. This fellowship program does not provide funding for distance-learning or online programs or for degrees heavily dependent on distance-learning components. Final decisions about what constitutes distance learning under these fellowships will be made by AAUW.

Benefits:

International Fellowship funds are available for

• Educational expenses
• Living expenses
• Dependent child care
• Travel to professional meetings, conferences, or seminars, as long as it does not exceed 10 percent of the fellowship

International Fellowship funds are NOT available for

• Purchase of equipment
• Indirect costs
• Research assistants
• Previous expenditures, deficits, or repayment of loans
• Publication costs
• Institutional (overhead) costs
• Tuition for dependent’s education
• Grants-in-aid for less than a full academic year or travel grants
• Travel to or from a fellow’s home country
• Travel to or from the fellow’s research location, if abroad (does not apply to fellows who are GWI members with AAUW approval to study or research in a country other than their own)

Selection Criteria

Applications and supporting documents become the sole property of AAUW and will neither be returned nor held for another year.

• Applicant residing in home country at time of application will receive special consideration
• Position on return to home country
• Academic and/or professional qualifications
• Applicant’s commitment to the advancement of women and girls in her home country
• Proposed time schedule
• Quality and feasibility of proposed plan of study or research
• Demonstrated evidence of prior community and/or civic service in home country
• Applicant’s country’s need for the specialized knowledge or skill
• Financial need
• Motivation for graduate study or research
• Applicant is from an underrepresented area of the country and/or type of university other than a top-level research institution

Visit the Official Webpage of the AAUW’s International Fellowship program 2020