Colleges

Best Graduate Scholarships for 2026: Apply Now to Fund Your Degree

Find a list of current scholarships for grad students. Discover the other methods students use to pay for graduate school and learn the difference between assistantships and fellowships.

Shawna Newman

February 05, 2026

Best Graduate Scholarships for 2026: Apply Now to Fund Your Degree
Even after securing a fellowship or assistantship, graduate students can still find a financial gap exists.

Top scholarships for graduate students with upcoming deadlines

Daniel M. Jobbins Scholarship

The Daniel M. Jobbins Scholarship is available to full - time graduate students. You must be conducting (or recently have completed) research regarding mosquitoes or ticks, their biology, and / or practical control to be eligible for this award. Deadline: 2/13/26
Award Amount: $1,000

William L. Wilson and Diane C. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science

The William L. Wilson and Diane C. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science is available to students pursuing a master's degree. To be considered, you must submit a 1,000 - word proposal narrative on a research topic focused on karst science, broadly defined, including subfields of geochemistry, geology, geophysics, or hydrology. Deadline: 2/15/26
Award Amount: $3,000

Lighthouse Graduate School Scholarship

The Lighthouse Graduate School Scholarship is available to students who are legally blind. You must be pursuing a Master's, PhD, or any other post - Baccalaureate degree to be considered for this award. Deadline: 2/28/26
Award Amount: Varies

Edvisors $3,000 Graduate Student Scholarship

Enter to win our $3,000 Graduate Student monthly scholarship. Scholarships are money for college that you don't have to pay back! Eligibility: The Edvisors $3,000 Graduate Student Scholarship Sweepstakes is only open to legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia age 16 or older at the time of entry, and who meet one (1) of the two (2) following eligibility requirements at the time of entry: a student who is currently enrolled in an accredited college or university graduate program located within the United States; a student who intends to enroll in an accredited college or university graduate program located within the United States, within the current or upcoming academic year ("Entrant"). For Official Rules, including odds of winning, alternative method of entry and prize descriptions visit https://www.edvisors.com/rules-3000-graduate- student-scholarship/ Deadline: 2/28/26
Award Amount: $3,000

Life Membership Fund Scholarship

The Life Membership Fund Scholarship is available to undergraduate and graduate students. You must be pursuing a degree in wildlife management, wildlife biology, and wildlife pathology and answer the prompts provided by the sponsor. To be considered for this award, you must be a member of the of Wild Sheep Foundation or become one after the scholarship has been offered. Deadline: 3/1/26
Award Amount: $5,000

Melanie Foundation Scholarship

The Melanie Foundation Scholarship is available to students who are pursuing a doctoral or master's degree in the mental health field. To be considered, you must demonstrate past involvement in extracurricular, volunteer, research, and / or career - related activities. Deadline: 3/5/26
Award Amount: $2,500

Thornton Tomasetti Foundation Scholarship

The Thornton Tomasetti Foundation Scholarship is available to master's degree students who are enrolled in programs that specialize in structural engineering or architectural engineering (with courses in structural engineering). You must be nominated by a department chair to be considered for this award. Deadline: 3/20/26
Award Amount: $5,000 - $10,000

Laurels Fund

The Laurels Fund Scholarship is available to female students who are pursuing a Ph.D. in accounting. You must have completed comprehensive exams prior to the previous fall semester to be eligible for this award. Deadline: 3/30/26
Award Amount: $3,000

WEF Canham Graduate Studies Scholarship

The WEF Canham Graduate Studies Scholarship is available to graduate students in the water environment field. You must be a member of the Water Environment Federation to be eligible for this award. A 750 - to 1000 - word essay is also required. Deadline: 3/31/26
Award Amount: $25,000

Richard A. Freund International Scholarship

The Richard A. Freund International Scholarship is available to graduate students who are studying the theory and application of quality control, quality assurance, quality improvement, and total quality management within engineering, statistics, management, or behavioral foundations. You must have a minimum GPA of 3.25 to be considered for this award. Deadline: 4/1/26
Award Amount: $5,000

Samvid Scholarship

The Samvid Scholarship is available to full - time, first - year graduate students. You must have an undergraduate GPA of 3.5 to be eligible for this award. Deadline: 4/12/26
Award Amount: $50,000

NPG Graduate Essay Scholarship

The NPG Graduate Essay Scholarship is available to graduate students. You must submit an essay of between 500 and 750 words that identifies three aspects of American life that are negatively affected by population growth and explain why these factors would be easier to manage with fewer people to be considered for this award. Deadline: 4/13/26
Award Amount: $2,000 - $5,000

JD-Next Impact Scholarship

The JD-Next Impact Scholarship is available to entering law students. To be considered, you must submit a 600 - word essay on the following topic: "Describe how you plan to use your legal education to make a positive impact in your community or society. What motivates you to pursue law, and how do you envision using your degree to lead, serve, and drive meaningful change?" Deadline: 5/15/26
Award Amount: $1,000 - $10,000

Herbert Roback Scholarship

The Herbert Roback Scholarship is available to full - time graduate students enrolled in a master's degree program in public administration, public and international affairs, or political science. To be eligible, you must be attending the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, Brandeis University, the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, John Jay College at CUNY, Albany / SUNY - Albany, Binghamton, Brockport, New York University, or any university in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Deadline: 5/31/26
Award Amount: $7,500

American Academy of Underwater Sciences Scholarship

The American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) Scholarship is available to graduate students engaged in, or planning to begin, a research project in which diving is or will be used as a principle research tool. You must be a current, student member of AAUS to be eligible for this award. One award is for a master's degree student and one award will be for a Ph.D candidate, and the remaining two awards will be for the next two proposals that have been ranked the highest. You must submit a research proposal and a letter of recommendation along with your application. Deadline: 6/30/26
Award Amount: Varies

Tannenwald Writing Competition

The Tannenwald Writing Competition is available to undergraduate and graduate law students. You must submit a 25 - to 50 - page typewritten paper on any federal or state tax - related topic to be considered for this award. Deadline: 7/11/26
Award Amount: $1,500 - $5,000

Siebel Scholars Program

The Siebel Scholars Program is open to the most talented students at the world's leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering, and energy science. Deadline: Varies
Award Amount: $35,000
Find more scholarship matches specific to your field of study, grad-school year, and more by creating a free Fastweb profile. Many college graduate students secure fellowships or assistantships as a method of paying for their advanced degree. Grad students apply for an assistantship or fellowship at the program department level, or college level (for instance the College of Science and Technology at XYZ University). Both opportunities help students fund a graduate-level degree while providing practical field experience. Jump to Top Scholarships for Graduate Students

What is a graduate assistantship?

Like work-study programs, an assistantship provides money and/or tuition reimbursement to help grad students pay for college. However, a graduate assistantship program includes work tied directly to your graduate degree or area of interest. A graduate student working an assistantship will, in most cases, be working for the college or university they're attending. Assistantships are considered part-time paid work.

What is a graduate fellowship?

A graduate student fellowship earns a stipend, or payment, and/or a tuition waiver as they work on a grad-level research project related to their field of study. Many grad students select a faculty member to work alongside on the assigned research project; this is often called their faculty adviser. Fellowship funding could be provided by private organizations or through universities. Even after securing a fellowship or assistantship, graduate students still find a financial gap exists as they plan to pay for their master's degree.

I'm a Graduate Student. Is it too late to apply for scholarships?

There are many scholarship opportunities for graduate students. A first-, second-, third- and even, fourth-year grad student has access to scholarships to help them pay for an advanced degree. Some colleges offer graduate school scholarships specific to graduate programs, too.

What's the easiest scholarships grad students can apply for?

Between research, thesis proposals, lectures, and reading, students pursuing a master or doctorate degree are busy! Grad students are in survival mode. Yet these advanced-level college students are searching for ways to pay for graduate school so that funding their degree doesn't feel like a full-time job. Fastweb's Featured Scholarships are some of the easiest scholarships grad students can apply for. In addition to graduate fellowships and assistantships and/or student loans, there are other forms of financial aid available for grad students. Scholarships are a form of financial aid you're not required to pay back!

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Shawna Newman

Managing Editor, Contributing Writer

Shawna Newman covers various topics related to post-secondary education, including trade schools, the military, and college. She details strategies for paying for school, such as scholarships, financial ai...

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