History

Department of History
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5334 USA
(269) 387-4650

Funding Opportunities

Graduate Student Research Grant – established to support graduate students engaged in independent scholarly research, scientific inquiry, inventive technology and artistic/creative activity.

  • The intent of this funding is to support the student's research, not the student with a salary/stipend.
  • Applications open twice per year.
  • Masters students may receive a max of two research and/or travel grants during tenure. Doctoral students may receive a max of three.
  • Student applies on InfoReady
  • https://wmich.edu/grad/fellowships-grants/gsrg

Graduate Student Travel Grant – supports graduate students to travel in-person to meetings or events sponsored by professional organizations (or where the professional meeting is to be held virtually, assist with their participation in virtual conferences) for the purpose of sharing the results of their research, exhibiting or performing creative works, or otherwise disseminating the results of their scholarly activity. 

  • Must be enrolled in the semester they apply for grant
  • Masters students may receive a max of two research and/or travel grants during tenure. Doctoral students may receive a max of three.
  • Student applies on InfoReady
  • https://wmich.edu/grad/fellowships-grants/gstg

Graduate Awards, Fellowships, and Grants - https://wmich.edu/grad/fellowships-grants/fellowship-deadlines

COAS Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Grant – These grants fund research and creative activity collaborations between students and faculty representing in any discipline in the college.

COAS Undergraduate Travel Grant – fund students' travel to conferences to disseminate research activities

Honors College Research and Creative Scholarship Funds – up to $3,000 is awarded to students engaged in research or creative work. Students may use the scholarship funds to pay themselves for their work or to offset costs associated with their projects.

Office of Research and Innovation Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Excellence Award – supports WMU undergraduate students to pursue projects with faculty or staff members on campus. Students may participate in research during the spring or summer sessions.

  • $750 total award for one semester, or $375 for each summer session.
  • Faculty mentor must have external funding OR be a pre-tenure faculty member in their first three years of appointment.
  • Applications accepted twice per year

https://wmich.edu/research/funding/students/undergrad-research-excellence

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS

There are a number of ways your graduate education in the Department of History at Western Michigan University may be financially supported. The department reviews applications received for the January 15 deadline and considers what combination of applicants it wishes to fund with graduate assistantships (typically four to six full time graduate students and two to three doctoral students are given graduate assistantships each year). No separate application is required for consideration. Admissions decisions and initial funding offers of graduate assistantships are usually made in February or early March. Individuals who are admitted without funding offers are placed on a waiting list; if another person who is admitted with funding declines their offer, the waiting list will move. We renew graduate assistantships annually (typically two years for M.A. students and five years for Ph.D. students) depending on satisfactory academic progress and our funding support from the Graduate College.

There are also funding opportunities for incoming students available through the WMU Graduate College which require a separate application. We strongly urge candidates for admission to apply for the Thurgood Marshall and WMU-GEP Fellowships, if appropriate. Their application deadlines are late February or early March before matriculation. Candidates for the Accelerated Graduate Degree Program may apply for the Stapleton-Reinhold Scholarship after they enroll.

OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

There are many additional funding opportunities for incoming students based on their activities, heritage, gender, ethnicity, family work history and more. Members of Phi Alpha Theta should consult the national PAT website for scholarships that may only be applied for prior to admission in a graduate program. Veterans would do well to contact the WMU Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, which can offer advice about military scholarships. The WMU Graduate College maintains a brief list of external funding opportunities, but probably the largest database of graduate funding sources is updated regularly by UCLA. Other sizeable grant databases may be found at University of Boulder, BigFuture, Grants.Gov, ProFellow, and GrantWatch. Grants, fellowships, and awards are always preferable to loans; to learn more about how financial aid works in graduate schools, start here.