Most of our PhD students receive a stipend and full tuition coverage for 4-6 years, depending on the time needed to complete their program. Funding typically consists of full tuition remission and a 9-12 month stipend to defray living expenses.
Graduate Fellowships
Washington University offers several highly competitive and prestigious fellowships for graduate students.
Ann W. and Spencer T. Olin-Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship (OCF)
The Ann W. and Spencer T. Olin-Chancellor’s Fellowship (OCF) is an elite cohort of outstanding graduate students with wide-ranging backgrounds and from varied disciplines. The OCF is committed to nurturing a variety of distinctive backgrounds and perspectives. The OCF particularly values students who have demonstrated a commitment to gender and racial diversity, equity and inclusion. The OCF offers a competitive award package and a best-in-class graduate fellowship experience. Fellows receive exceptional leadership and development opportunities, access to exemplary resources, and networking and mentorship opportunities that will empower them to demonstrate all-round excellence. Our Fellows will reinforce the ethos of the program through sustained engagement as students and alumni.
McDonnell International Scholars Academy
The McDonnell International Scholars Academy provides the network with which Washington University in St. Louis incubates new ideas and mentors future leaders. Through partnerships, they lead groundbreaking research projects and prepare Scholars to be effective leaders in a global community. Applications to the McDonnell Academy are accepted from graduates of universities across the world, with a special interest in those students from its network of partner universities. In creating an international network of research universities, WashU is developing a cohort of future leaders in a global university system, promoting global awareness and social responsibility.
Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
Yale University and Howard University established the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society in 2005. Named for the first African American doctoral recipient in the United States (PhD in physics from Yale University in 1876), the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate.
The Bouchet Graduate Honor Society at Washington University in St. Louis seeks to develop a network of preeminent scholars who exemplify academic and personal excellence, foster environments of support, and serve as examples of character, leadership, advocacy, scholarship, and service for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the academy.
Visit our University Awards page for a list of more awards and fellowships available at WashU.
External Funding Opportunities
External fellowships are a prestigious and valuable acknowledgment of intellectual pursuit and promise. Explore external funding opportunities here.
Student Loans
Students are encouraged to explore external funding opportunities before applying for loans. Please visit the University Awards page, Research page and U.S. Department of Labor Scholarship page for funding opportunities. Visit our Student Loans page for more information.
Inquiries about compliance should be addressed to:
Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
Washington University
Campus Box 1184
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130
Specific information may be obtained from the departmental or administrative unit to which the student intends to apply.
Washington University encourages and gives full consideration to all applicants for admission, financial aid, and mentorship. The University does not discriminate in access to, or treatment of mentees in, its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, veteran status, disability or genetic information.