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Tip: Did you know that you can search the Yale Student Grants Database by class year to find fellowships for which you are eligible?

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For first-years and sophomores

Start Exploring

Your first and sophomore years are a good time for you to explore areas of academic or professional interest which may inform the choices you make later on at Yale. 

Possibilities for your summer include designing your own research or public service project or doing an unpaid internship with the support of fellowship funding. For opportunities including structured study abroad and internships, explore the CIPE website.

Don't miss out

Awards to Consider

Richard U. Light Fellowship
Supports intensive language study at approved sites in East Asia. Eligible are currently-enrolled Yale University students. Campus application deadlines typically begin in September or December. See their website for further details.

Critical Language Scholarship
Supports immersive overseas language study in areas critical to national security and economic prosperity. This program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is not Yale-administered. See their website for further details and eligibility requirements.

Alan S Tetelman 1958 Fellowship and Robert C Bates Summer Traveling Fellowship
Support STEM-based original undergraduate research projects abroad. Currently enrolled first-years, sophomores, and juniors are all eligible to apply. Some research experience is assumed. See here for details. For funding that applies to on-campus research projects, see here.

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
Supports students of limited financial means planning to study or intern abroad. This program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is not Yale-administered. Eligible students must be receiving Federal Pell Grant funding. See their website for further details.

CIPE Summer Fellowships
Support various summer activities, including but not limited to internships, independent projects, and study abroad. Eligibility varies by award. Students will apply using the CIPE Summer Fellowships Common Application. See here for details and a list of awards offered. 

For juniors

Summer Projects, Senior Essays, Life after Graduation, and More

The summer before your senior year is an excellent opportunity for you to carry out research in preparation for your Senior Essay. You may also have developed advanced language skills and be seeking an opportunity to put them to use. Alternatively, you may be interested in pursuing an internship in order to gain experience in a professional field in which you might be interested in the longer-term.

Believe it or not, junior year is also a great time to begin to explore postgraduate fellowship options to support graduate study, self-designed projects, and a host of other things. Application deadlines for some of these may fall as early as in the fall of junior year, so start looking early: search for fellowships open to juniors and seniors and come to a Fellowships information session (see our calendar).

Start Exploring

See what others have done with Yale fellowships and what they have to say about applying for external fellowships, check out fellowship options, find support for research, and consider career paths for the future:

Awards to Consider

Language Study

Richard U. Light Fellowship
Supports intensive language study at approved sites in East Asia. Some Light-approved programs offer internship opportunities alongside a program of study for students with advanced language abilities. Eligible are currently-enrolled Yale University students. Campus application deadlines typically begin in September or December. See their website for further details.

Critical Language Scholarship
Supports immersive overseas language study in areas critical to national security and economic prosperity. This program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is not Yale-administered. See their website for further details and eligibility requirements.

Boren Scholarship
Supports U.S. undergraduate students studying less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests, and underrepresented in study abroad. In exchange for funding, Boren Scholars commit to working in the federal government for at least one year after graduation. This program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. See their website for further details.

Senior Essay Support

CIPE Summer Research Fellowships
Supports summer research in non-STEM fields, often relating to the senior essay. See here for further details and a list of awards offered.

Residential College Mellon Grants
Supports research relating to the senior essay. See the Student Grants Database for the specifics of your college's award.

Postgraduate Awards

The earliest deadlines for postgraduate awards are in August preceding senior year. It pays to start early!  

For seniors

Questions to be asking

While it's important to give serious thought to what you might like to do in the world and what kind of career you might hope to pursue, don't worry if you're still figuring things out. Start with the first step or two after graduation.

Quote: What do you care about? What are your goals? What is the change that you want to make in the world? Over the course of my application, I went from feeling unsure about the future to having a purpose, a direction, a path (not a path paved in stone, but a path nonetheless). It truly is a valuable process, and one that I don’t think I would have undergone without the structure of an application.

— Cody McCoy, BR '13

Whether or not you win a fellowship, engaging thoughtfully with the application process will help you with future applications, whether for fellowships, graduate or professional school, or jobs.

If you're considering postgraduate fellowships

What future plans will these awards help you pursue? Hint: the award itself should not be the end goal. How will the funded experience fit into your longer-term plans and aspirations? What makes most sense for you?

Self-designed projects

Structured experiences

Graduate and professional school

  • Look for the best programs to suit your preparation, interests, and future aspirations. There is no better source of advice about graduate school than a professor in the relevant field, especially one who has taught you or supervised research you’ve done. Where are the best places to study what you're hoping to, and what makes sense given your longer-term goals and aspirations? (If graduate study in the United Kingdom or Ireland sounds like a good idea, find further advice here.)
  • If professional school interests you, you'll find great advice at the Office of Career Strategy.
  • If you're looking for funding for graduate or professional school, check funding and financial aid information provided by the schools to which you're applying, and explore our advice about searching for fellowships and the list of selected outside fellowships.

For graduate and professional students

Yale and outside fellowship resources

Yale Student Grants Database

Current Yale graduate and professional students should search the Student Grants Database for Yale funding opportunities and information about how to apply for outside awards requiring a campus application or evaluation process.  They might also try our other tips for searching for funding, including links to external databases.

Other Yale resources

Fulbright US Student Program
While Fellowship Programs works with graduating seniors applying for the Fulbright, there is a separate Fulbright Program Adviser for Yale’s graduate and professional students. Learn more via the Yale Student Grants Database.

Various Yale graduate and professional schools offer additional resources for:

Fellowships through CIPE

The Fellowships office at the Yale Center for International & Professional Experience administers and advises on a handful of fellowships for which Yale's graduate and professional students may apply. Find details of campus application deadlines and requirements for these via the Yale Student Grants Database:

Richard U. Light Fellowship
Supports intensive language study at approved sites in East Asia. Eligible are currently-enrolled Yale University students. Campus application deadlines typically begin in September or December. See their website for full details.

South Asian Language Fellowship
Supports intensive language study at approved sites in South Asia. Eligible are currently-enrolled Yale University students. Campus application deadline typically in February.

Luce Scholars Program
Supports one-year internships (along with language training) in Asia for those who have not had extensive experience in Asia. Eligible are US citizens who are graduating seniors or recent alumni, graduate or professional school students, and junior faculty. Deadline to apply typically in September.

Rhodes Scholarships
Support one to three years of study at Oxford. Eligible are graduating seniors and alumni, as well as current graduate/professional students who are US or Canadian citizens under the age of 24 (or citizens of other countries as specified by the Rhodes Trust (see the Rhodes Trust website). Only US and Canadian applicants are required to seek institutional nomination; Yale campus application deadlines for this typically begin in early August.

Fellowship Programs advising for Yale graduate and professional students

Generally, Fellowship Programs can only offer advising on the handful of fellowships listed above, administered by our office. Time-permitting, however, we also offer advising on other fellowships for postgraduate study in Britain and some other external awards, including the Schwarzman Scholars Program and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.  Graduate students can also contact Dean Richard Sleight (richard.sleight@yale.edu) in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for additional support.

For alumni

Questions to be asking

Even though you have graduated, there are still a variety of fellowship opportunities and resources available. Start by finding the right fit. What might you hope to do with the support of a fellowship? How does this fit into your longer-term plans and aspirations? What makes most sense for you?

  • If a self-designed project sounds like the way to go, explore options like Echoing Green, Fulbright, or Hays-Brandeis on our list of external awards, as well as external databases listed on our page about searching for funding.
  • If an internship, job, or volunteer opportunity sounds like what you'd like to do, check out fellowship options like the Coro, German Chancellor's Fellowship, Luce, Yale-China Teaching Fellowships and other external awards listed on our website, as well as the list of gap-year and short-term opportunities and other great resources offered by the Yale Office of Career Strategy.
  • If graduate school sounds like a good idea, look for the best programs to suit your preparation, interests, and future aspirations. There is no better source of advice about graduate school than a professor in the relevant field, especially one who has taught you or supervised research you’ve done. Where are the best places to study what you're hoping to, and what makes sense given your longer-term goals and aspirations? (If graduate study in the United Kingdom or Ireland sounds like a good idea, find further advice here.)
  • If professional school sounds like a good idea, you'll find great advice at the Office of Career Strategy.
  • If you're looking for funding for graduate or professional school, check funding and financial aid information provided by the schools to which you're applying, and explore our advice about searching for funding and the list of selected outside fellowships.

Advising

Fellowship Programs offers one-on-one advising appointments, essay review (when permitted), and interview prep for Yale College alumni about:

Don't worry: we offer advising via telephone and Skype, as well as in person. Find out how to book an appointment.

Tip: Plan ahead: the crowded fall calendar of postgraduate fellowship deadlines means that advising spots are usually fully booked from late August until early October. So it's smart to book an appointment during the summer, before the rush.

Although we're always glad to help if we can, Yale College alumni who are current graduate or professional students elsewhere are wise to seek fellowship advice from that institution (except in the case of fellowships requiring application through the undergraduate institution).