Upcoming Fellowship Opportunities, and Next Steps for Admits

The SIPA Financial Aid Office maintains a database of external funding opportunities, and we wanted to alert students to some with upcoming application deadlines. We've also included some next steps for admitted students regarding financial aid. For more external scholarship awards, go to our External Fellowships and Funding Sources page.

Upcoming Scholarships

Islamic Scholarship Fund

Requirements: US citizens and permanent residents attending graduate school who have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and are Muslim or an active member of the Muslim community.

Deadline: April 9, 2020

John R. Mott Scholarship Foundation

Requirements: Graduate students native to the region of Calabria, Italy.

Deadline: April 15, 2020

Peggy Howard Fellowship in Economics

Requirements: Wellesley alumnae continuing their study of economics.

Deadline: April 15, 2020

Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Fund

Requirements: Egyptian nationals under the age of 35 who have a minimum of two years of work experience post-graduation and committed to returning to work in Egypt for two years after completing their degree program.

Deadline: April 15, 2020

Savoy Orders Piggot Scholarship

Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, have proven financial need, strong academic performance, and have a minimum GPA of 3.00 or its equivalent. For the International Studies Scholarship, enrollment at a university within reasonable proximity of the United Nations is also required because recipients will be required to attend and report on periodic NGO briefings at sessions relating to the Economic and Social Council of the UN.

Deadline: May 15, 2020

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Scholarship

Requirements: CHCI's scholarship opportunities are afforded to Latino students in the United States who have a history of performing public service-oriented activities in their communities and who demonstrate a desire to continue their civic engagement in the future.

Deadline: May 22, 2020

R.D. Sethna Scholarship

Requirements: Loan scholarships to students who are citizens of India, regardless of community, caste or creed. Loan scholarships are granted to enable students to undertake scientific, technical, industrial or commercial studies in India and overseas on the condition that they are repayable with interest in terms of the agreement and other documents required to be entered into and executed by applicants and their guarantors. Only those applicants who have passed at least the Secondary School Certificate examination or other equivalent examination and who have secured not less than 50% of the total marks in the last examination given by them prior to the making of the applications are eligible to apply for a loan scholarship.

Deadline: May 31, 2020

Houtan Scholarship Foundation

Requirements: Students from all origins - Iranian and non-Iranian - who have high academic performance and proven interest in promoting Iran's great culture, heritage, language and civilization. The candidates for the award must demonstrate leadership ability and the desire to make a difference in the society where they reside.  Applicants should have a working knowledge of Parsi.

Deadline: June 1, 2020

For Admitted Domestic SIPA Applicants: Financial Aid To-Do List

All admitted applicants who were offered direct funding by SIPA were notified at the time of admission. In addition, all domestic admitted applicants who submitted a FAFSA have been notified of additional student loan and/or Work Study options, and that is an ongoing process as FAFSAs are received. Your next steps will be emailed by the Office of Financial Aid. Please be aware the following action is required upon receipt of your full financial aid package by the financial aid team via email:

• Accept any fellowship offered by SIPA – this should be done by the time you pay your enrollment deposit by May 1, and;
• Accept or decline student loans and/or Work Study (if you have completed your FAFSA and notified by SIPA of loan/Work Study eligibility) – this can be done at any time, but if you want these financing options available at the start of the fall semester, you should do this by about July 1;
• Loan borrowers must complete the one-time federal requirements Direct Loan master promissory note and entrance counseling
• If you have been offered a Work Study job, you will be notified by the Work Study Office over the summer with instructions about finding an available job. Work Study jobs are University-wide, many students will not have a Work Study job at SIPA.

NOTE: If you’re a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and haven’t submitted a 2020/2021 FAFSA yet, you should do so as soon as possible so that we can provide you with information about loans and Work Study.  Columbia University’s school code number is 002707.