UMass Boston

The largest scholarships and followings administered by the Merit-Based Scholarship Office support students in the education field. Priority for these competitive scholarships will be given to students who are competing their student field-based work on a full-time, unpaid basis during the semester immediately following when their application is submitted. Questions about these scholarships can be directed to the Merit Scholarship Coordinator, Dan MacLeod.

A group of doctoral graduates from the Department of Leadership in Education at UMass Boston established an endowed fund to provide dissertation support to future students in the Higher Education and Urban Education, Leadership, and Policy Studies Programs. Doctoral candidates whose dissertation proposals have been accepted by their committees are eligible to apply. The Alumni Award provides up to four $1,000 grants to students in these programs on an annual basis. Students are eligible to receive only one Alumni Award during their program of study; thus, previous recipients of the Alumni Award are not eligible to apply.

If you have questions about the application process, contact Patricia Krueger-Henney, chair of the Alumni Award for Dissertation Research Committee, at patricia.krueger@umb.edu.

The Higher Education Program established a fellowship in honor of program founder Professor Zelda F. Gamson upon her retirement from UMass Boston in 1999. From 1988 to 1999, Gamson founded and directed the New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE), a center that organized higher education in New England by convening academic leaders in colleges and universities across the region to promote organizational change in higher education. This fellowship provides dissertation support for doctoral candidates by recognizing innovative and creative dissertation research. All UMass Boston Higher Education Program doctoral students whose dissertation proposals have been approved by their dissertation committees are eligible to apply. Previous recipients of the Gamson Fellowship, however, are not eligible.

If you have questions about the application process, contact the Higher Education Program at highereducation@umb.edu.

In honor of Professor Emeritus of Higher Education Dwight Giles and his contributions to the field of higher education, the Higher Education Program established the Dwight E. Giles, Jr. Fellowship Fund upon his retirement in 2016. This fellowship is presented annually to a Higher Education Program doctoral candidate whose dissertation research best advances the mission of the Higher Education Program. The first recipient of the fellowship will be announced in 2020.

If you have questions about the application process, contact the Higher Education Program at highereducation@umb.edu.

The Kanter Fund is named in honor of the late Sandy Kanter, a founding higher education faculty member, program director, and department chair.  Kanter Travel Grants are awarded to Higher Education Program students for travel to recognized conferences. Priority will be given to students who have applied for, or have received, travel stipends from the UMass Boston Graduate Student Assembly. The Kanter Travel Grant seeks to supplement other sources of funding, with an award of $400. Previous recipients of the Kanter Travel Grant are eligible to apply in subsequent years.

If you have questions about the application process, contact the Higher Education Program at highereducation@umb.edu.