Students are awarded two years of fellowship support from these grants, and the campus pledges at least two years of local support, usually in the form of teaching or research assistantships. Most campuses pledge support through normative time to the fellow's degree. In almost all cases, students receive the fellowship in the initial year of graduate study and in a year of dissertation work. Humanities divisions select entering students to receive the fellowship package on the basis of academic promise. Annual reports on individual students to UCOP assure that these students are carefully monitored and their progress tracked.
Campuses provide supplemental support, such as fee remission and additional stipends.
Beginning with admissions for 1996-97, the campuses may choose to reduce the number of fellowships in order to raise the stipend to competitive levels. Fellowships have been distributed approximately equally between entering and advanced students, since successful students are promised two years of support.