Graduate Assistantship Opportunities
Graduate students may apply for a teaching and/or research assistantship if they are currently enrolled as full-time students who are on campus, or if they are planning to be full-time, on-campus students. Graduate teaching and research assistantships are academic year appointments that must be renewed on an annual basis. Each appointment requires 19.6 hours of work per week in a teaching or research role (or a combination of the two). Graduate assistants receive a salary, a tuition remission, and they are eligible for some UNL employment benefits.
Applications for graduate assistantships are due by February 1 for an academic year appointment starting in the fall semester. Graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis and are limited each year by department funding resources. Funding priority (graduate assistantships) is given to full-time doctoral in the department. Full-time master’s students are encouraged to apply and will be considered if there are available resources. Prospective students can also apply for assistantships when they apply for admission via TLTE Graduate Programs.
Prospective and current students should apply using the Graduate Assistantships and Fellowships Application below by the February 1st deadline.
The Nebraska Department of Education has the Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program, which offers forgivable loans to Nebraska teachers.
Graduate Fellowship Opportunities
Visit the UNL Graduate Studies website for fellowships available to all UNL graduate students.
Prospective and current students should apply using the Graduate Assistantships and Fellowships Application below by the February 1st deadline:
Please read each fellowship's description to make sure you meet the criteria.
Dr. Milton Beckmann Fellowship. Candidates are full-time graduate students pursuing initial certification in middle or secondary mathematics education or seeking a graduate degree in mathematics education. Candidates must have a Grade Point Average of 3.0 or above.
Anne L. Christensen Memorial Scholarship. Candidates shall be deserving, regularly enrolled students majoring in elementary education.
Gordon and Erma Culver Fellowship. Candidates are regularly enrolled, full-time masters or doctoral degree students whose objectives are to prepare business educators for administrative or instructional roles in secondary schools or in higher education.
Rosalie W. Farley Fellowship. Candidates are doctoral students who are enrolled in the Teaching, Curriculum & Learning specialization. Candidates must be completing or planning to complete a dissertation emphasizing elementary education. Candidates must be completing the residency requirement through on-campus work.
Fern H. Hay Memorial Fellowship in Elementary Education. Candidates must be majoring in elementary education and have demonstrated financial need.
Grace M. Janike Scholarship. Candidates are beginning masters degree student who are currently employed as an elementary education teacher in the first three years of experience in some Nebraska school district.
Robert and Olga Kopp Memorial Student Support Fellowship. Candidates for this award must be part-time or full-time students in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education. Preference shall be given to the candidate who is solely responsible for the support of dependent children (i.e., single parent) or who is a child of parents who are solely responsible for their support (i.e., child has no income and parents are paying all expenses).
Frances Anderson Leeper Fellowship. Candidates shall be regularly enrolled graduate students pursuing a graduate degree in TLTE. First preference shall be given to candidates in the area of business education. Second preference shall be given to candidates in the areas of music education, English education, or American history education. Preference shall be given to candidates who have demonstrated financial need.
Mary L. Mielenz Fellowship. Candidates are women graduate students in the College of Education and Human Sciences. Recipients must have earned a master's degree in English but their doctoral studies may be in other academic concentrations within CEHS. Their intent must be to become college instructors.
Russell W. McCreight Memorial Fund. Candidates shall be regularly enrolled, majoring in elementary education, be of good moral character and show promises of leadership and success in the teaching profession.
Dr. James P. and Gail A. O'Hanlon Student Support Fund. Candidates must be regularly enrolled students in TLTE. First preference shall be for students pursuing a broad field social science endorsement in TLTE. Second preference shall be for students pursuing any teaching endorsement in TLTE. Candidates must have been accepted into the professional education endorsement program.
Dr. David and Mrs. Margaret Wells Fellowship. Candidates are full-time or part-time post-baccalaureate graduate students pursuing initial certification in middle or secondary mathematics education or seeking a graduate degree in mathematics education. Candidates must have a Grade Point Average of 3.0 or above. Financial need is a criterion for this award.
J.A Woollam Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics Educator Support Fellowship. Candidates are full-time, regularly enrolled masters level graduate students who are pursuing a graduate degree program in TLTE and shall be pursuing a teaching endorsement in physics, chemistry or mathematics. Candidates must be from the U.S. and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Only candidates who are interested in continuing their teaching endeavors in the physics, chemistry or mathematics areas in the middle level or secondary levels can be considered. Award may be renewed for one additional year provided the candidate maintains all criteria.
Graduate students, including post-baccalaureate and graduate students who are student teaching, may apply for the Babson and Brownell science education fellowships year round:
Paul and Edith Babson Fellowship. Candidates are graduate students in the Graduate College with majors in education and with special attention to science education, including physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science. Candidates shall have records that give promise of outstanding accomplishment.
Herbert Brownell Fellowship. Candidates are enrolled in the College of Education and Human Sciences in science education. Preference will be given to a student who has matriculated in the Graduate College in science education whose record gives promise of unusual accomplishment.
Additional Fellowship Opportunities
Eleanor Francke Fund: Candidates must be regularly enrolled (taking classes only in the summer does not qualify).
Preference to candidates who have a native language other than English and have been employed in elementary or secondary education in a country other than the United States. Candidates must be pursing a teaching endorsement for English as a Second Language (ESL) [ELL]. Preference shall be given to candidates who have ESL [ELL] teaching experience. Preference shall be given to candidates who have teaching experience in the Lincoln Public Schools system. Academic achievement and financial need shall be considered as criteria in awarding this fellowship. Fellowships shall be for one academic year only.
Donald McCurdy Fellowship in Science Education Fund:
- Admitted to a TLTE graduate program
- Preference for students in science education
Dr. Keith Finkral STEM Education Fellowship:
- Fellowships for summer participation in TLTE STEM courses
- 4 available to rural area educators, 1 to Madison Public Schools educator
The Edgren Tuition Fellowship is available to U.S. citizens who are full-time students and non-residents of Nebraska for tuition purposes. Students retain the fellowship until graduation if continuously enrolled. Selection Criteria:
- Newly admitted full-time domestic doctoral or masters student
- Minimum 3.0 GPA in previous degree
- Excellent letters of recommendation
- Student must be a U. S. citizen or permanent resident
- Students who receive the fellowship pay tuition at 150% of the resident tuition rate until graduation if continuously enrolled at UNL
- Covers up to 12 credit hours during the fall and spring semester and 6 credit hours during the summer session
Questions: Contact Joelle Tangen <jtangen2@unl.edu>, Graduate Project Associate
