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Fellowships & Financial Aid

Fellowships and awards for graduate students vary widely; they range from small internal awards that help defray costs for travel, to fellowships that cover costs for a full year of study or research.  Although IPCAA students are encouraged to apply for fellowships throughout their career,  fellowship applications become particularly critical after the student has achieved Candidacy and is embarking on dissertation research.

IPCAA Summer Support and Conference Travel Awards

Each IPCAA student in their 6th year or below, who does not have a Rackham or similar fellowship which includes a summer stipend, receives automatic Summer Support in the amount of $2,500.  We also invite from these students applications for additional discretionary funds to assist with travel for personal research or for fieldwork participation up to $1,000.  (We do ask students to provide us with a detailed budget listing air fare, accommodation, etc. and explain how his/her automatic summer support will be used.)  Thus the potential total summer funding for students who travel is $3,500.

UM field projects sometimes require UM participants to contribute their IPCAA summer funds to the cost of the project.  IPCAA limits the amount of summer support that project directors may request from each student to $2,500.  The amount of summer support in excess of that, which we are able to award, remains with individual students.

IPCAA students may also apply to the IPCAA Director for occasional Conference Travel Awards of up to $400.  Additional research awards may also be available during the academic year depending on a student's particular needs and the program's current financial situation.  IPCAA encourages its students to inquire about these options with our faculty and/or administrators

Other major funding resources available to IPCAA students are listed below (both internal and external sources).  For more complete details students should consult the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Students funding page.

U-M College of LSA International Travel Policy

All U-M students traveling abroad for university-related purposes (i.e., participating in study, research, or internship programs organized or supported by LSA departments/units or for which LSA in-residence credit is granted) are bound by the College of LSA International Travel Policy.

To receive funding/credit for their international experiences, students are required to:
• Register their travel in the MCompass Travel Registry
• Purchase U-M’s Travel Abroad Health Insurance and upload card to MCompass
• Provide contact information in case of emergency on MCompass
• Submit a safety plan if traveling to a U-M Travel Warning/Restriction destination. (Safety plans must be submitted at least 3 weeks prior to departure and MUST be approved before funding can be released)

Learn more about the requirements and find travel resources on the LSA Travel website. You can also find additional resources on Global Michigan.

A special note regarding Rackham Graduate Student Research Grants:   If you are awarded an Rackham Graduate Research Grant, IPCAA will request that Rackham deposit your grant into an IPCAA account created specifically for these awards. Once IPCAA receives your award, the program will distribute your funds through the Financial Aid system and will forward your relevant travel/research budgets (if applicable) to the Office of Financial Aid to satisfy their reporting regulations for student payment for non-employment purposes.