Award Description

The Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Master’s and Doctoral Fellow (MDF) Program is a highly competitive program that was created to recruit the very best graduate students. The program is a multi-year funding package.

The package will include a monthly stipend at a level competitive for the student’s discipline and full-time tuition plus mandatory fees (but excluding specific course fees). Students can not apply directly for this award, but are nominated by the program coordinator/director, chair and dean. Nominations are made in early Spring semester.

Award nominations are reviewed by members of the Graduate Fellowship and Scholarship Committee.  The nominations are evaluated based on academic excellence, potential for research or creative activity, and other eligibility criteria.  Awards are announced in early Spring semester and awarded for start the following Fall semester. Each program has a responsibility to develop and maintain a plan to recruit high quality graduate students, particularly those who will enrich and promote the diversity of the UNT graduate community.

Award Eligibility

Qualifying students

• Only master’s students who are admitted to a program that does not have a doctoral program in the field and that requires a thesis may be nominated.
• For programs that offer a master’s and doctoral degree in the same field, only doctoral students may be nominated.
• Only doctoral applicants who are admitted to a program that requires a dissertation may be nominated.

Criteria for qualifying students

The MDF Program is open to newly admitted and qualified master’s and doctoral applicants and current UNT graduate students who have not completed more than 12 graduate hours toward their degree program and who:

1. have a record of superior academic achievement (e.g. grade point average, honors, or other designation);
2. show exceptional promise for scholarly success in their graduate program;
3. demonstrate the potential for conducting important research or creative activity appropriate to the discipline;
4. show the potential for contributions to the wider academic or professional communities; and
5. are motivated and committed to pursuing the degree on a full-time enrollment basis and completing the masters with thesis within 3 years and the doctoral degree with dissertation within 5 years of initial enrollment.

Award Conditions

Satisfactory Academic Progress

MDF students are expected to meet the satisfactory academic progress standards established by the University of North Texas, their graduate degree programs, and the Graduate School throughout the award period. All MDF recipients are encouraged to routinely seek direction and counsel from their advisor, chair, and faculty mentor(s) during each term. Fellows experiencing academic difficulties should be strongly advised to obtain early assistance from their graduate program.

Enrollment

MDF students are expected to be enrolled on the Denton campus or have prior approval for taking coursework for the degree at another institution, except for graduate programs in which UNT students are required to enroll in courses at a cooperating institution.  MDF recipients will not receive tuition support for courses taken at another university, even if these courses are approved for transfer to the UNT degree.

MDF recipients must be registered in a full-time program of study (9 to 12 hours) each long semester and may be enrolled up to 6 hours in the summer term.  They will not need to be employed in their graduate assistantship jobs during the summer to receive summer tuition support. 

Change of Major / Dual Degrees

MDF recipients who change from the majors to which they were admitted will forfeit the remaining MDF award. The nominating degree program will be fully responsible for the financial obligations during the middle year(s) for students seeking dual degrees. For students enrolled in Research Cluster or dual degree programs, the departments involved will be fully responsible for the financial obligations during the middle year(s).

External Fellowship Funding

MDF recipients and their graduate programs are expected to notify the Graduate School, in writing, of any supplemental fellowship awards or other funding received prior to, or after the student accepts the MDF Award. This includes awards external to the University (e.g., Ford, NSF, DOD, NASA).  MDF students who may be competitively supported by external funding for a competitive stipend and/or tuition at or exceeding the level of the MDF Award will be required to migrate to the external funding support. 

Benefits

 Health insurance benefits are provided as a part of all .5 FTE graduate “assistantships.”  Because the assistantships are payment for services rendered (employment), they are considered income and subject to income tax.

 If you have questions about the Masters and Doctoral Fellows program, please contact your graduate advisor.