A number of academically talented graduate students hold fellowships, assistantships or traineeships at Virginia Commonwealth University. These awards are received from a wide variety of university, governmental, foundation, industrial, alumni or other private sources. Most awards are made on a competitive basis to eligible applicants. Scholarly potential and excellence are the principal criteria used in selecting students for stipend support in full-time study and research in programs leading to graduate degrees.
Some awards provide for tuition and fees and some for research expenses.
Fellowship and assistantship awards to new and continuing students are made on a competitive basis normally for a period of one academic year. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties. In those instances in which the student accepts an offer before April 15 and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer.