Since 1881, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) has been advocating for women’s rights— and one of the many issues they lobby for is education.
If you’re interested to pursue a fellowship in the USA, read on to learn how the AUWW can help.
AAUW annually awards international fellowships for women intending to study full-time or do research in the USA.
Both graduate and postgraduate studies at accredited US institutions are supported.
Furthermore, women who are not citizens nor permanent residents of the United States are welcome to apply for the opportunity.
Application deadline: November 15, 2021
Table of contents
Benefits of the AAUW International Fellowship
AAUW is a community of more than 170,000 people standing strong for gender equity. Your membership makes our powerful voice even louder on critical issues affecting women and girls.
As a community of more than 170,000 people championing gender equity, AAUW amplifies women’s voices on critical gender-based issues and also provides new avenues of learning.
Through AAUW’s International Fellowship in the USA, women across the globe are entitled to greater educational opportunities granted through the following amounts:
Master’s/Professional Fellowship: $18,000
Doctorate Fellowship: $20,000
Postdoctoral Fellowship: $30,000
International Fellowship funds are available for:
- Educational expenses.
- Living expenses.
- Dependent child care.
- Travel to professional meetings, conferences or seminars that does not exceed 10% of the fellowship total.
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).
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an International Fellowship in the USA, 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 15 November 2021.
- • 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 and confirm proficiency by submitting a valid ETS TOEFL* (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score or other acceptable verification.
- • 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, 2021; 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.
Selection Criteria
The panel meets once a year to review applications for funding. Awards are then based on the criteria outlined here.
Meanwhile, recommendations by the panel are subject to final approval by AAUW. Please note that fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis according to funds available in a given fiscal year.
To ensure a fair review process, AAUW does not comment on the deliberations of its award panels. AAUW does not provide evaluations of applications. No provisions exist for the reconsideration of fellowship proposals. Applications and supporting documents become the sole property of AAUW and will neither be returned nor held for another year.
- Applicants residing in their home country at time of application, from developing/emerging countries, or from an underrepresented group in any region, 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.
How to Apply for the AAUW Fellowship in the USA
Start the application process by accessing the online application form and creating an account on the AUWW’s vendor website. Consequently, interested parties must complete all required components in the following areas:
- Start
- Background
- Proposal
- Recommendations, Documents & Review
- Recommendations:
- Provide three recommendations from professors or professional colleagues well acquainted with you, your work, and your academic background, in striving towards scholarly pursuits. When possible, recommenders should be professors or professional colleagues in the applicant’s home country who can speak about the applicant’s qualifications and about the country’s need for the specialized skill or knowledge she plans to acquire with her proposed study or research. AAUW does not accept references from dossier services, such as Parment or Interfolio.
- Documents:
- Proof of highest degree: Upload transcripts** from the college or university where the highest degree (not a certificate) was obtained. Highest degree must be at least a bachelor’s degree (must be earned on or before November 15, 2021).
- Transcripts** must include a list of courses taken and grades received.
- If the institution does not provide a transcript or a list of courses taken and grades received or the degree did not require coursework, an official letter from the institution where the degree was received that includes the degree completion date must be uploaded.
- Do not upload copies of additional certificates or other documents the applicant may have received during her education.
- Proof of current enrollment (currently enrolled applicants only): Upload transcripts**/lists of courses/institution letters from the college or university in which the applicant is currently enrolled, if she is enrolled.
- Transcripts must include a list of courses taken and grades received.
- Many transcripts do not include current coursework. If fall 2021 semester grades are not available and are not on your transcript, a list of courses taken that semester must be provided by the institution’s Office of the Registrar.
- If the institution does not provide a transcript or a list of courses taken and grades received or the degree did not require coursework, an official letter* from the institution where the degree was received that includes the degree completion date must be uploaded.
- Proof of a doctorate or M.F.A. degree (postdoctoral applicants only): Upload any one of the following:
- Transcript showing degree and date received (must be on or before November 15, 2021).
- Official letter from institution where degree was received that includes the degree completion date.
- Copy of diploma showing date degree was received (must be on or before November 15, 2021).
- Proof of English proficiency: Upload one of the following:
- Official report of an acceptable and valid TOEFL or IELTS score. Scores are valid for two years. Institutional TOEFL scores and other English proficiency test scores will not be accepted.
- Minimum acceptable scores are as follows:
- TOEFL iBT (Internet-Based Test): 79
- TOEFL Essentials: 8.5
- Revised TOEFL Paper-Delivered Test: 60
- IELTS: 6.5
- Minimum acceptable scores are as follows:
- Written statement verifying the applicant’s native language is English.
- Academic transcript or diploma confirming one of the following:
- Secondary diploma or undergraduate degree is from an English-speaking institution.
- One semester of full-time study in the applicant’s discipline at an English-speaking institution between November 2019 and November 2021.
- Official report of an acceptable and valid TOEFL or IELTS score. Scores are valid for two years. Institutional TOEFL scores and other English proficiency test scores will not be accepted.
- Proof of highest degree: Upload transcripts** from the college or university where the highest degree (not a certificate) was obtained. Highest degree must be at least a bachelor’s degree (must be earned on or before November 15, 2021).
- Recommendations:
*A certified English translation is required for all components provided in a foreign language. Translations must bear a mark of certification or official signature that the translation is true and complete.
**All transcripts provided must include the applicant’s full name, the school’s name, all courses, and all grades, as well as any other information requested in the application instructions.
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