• Master’s/first professional degree: $18,000
• Doctoral: $20,000
• Postdoctoral: $30,000

November 15, 2021, by 11:59 p.m. Central Time
Deadline for online submission of applications, recommendations, and supporting documents.

April 15, 2021
Notification of decisions emailed to all applicants. AAUW is not able to honor requests for earlier notification.

July 1, 2021–June 30, 2021
Fellowship year

When a deadline or notification date falls on a weekend, the date will be observed on the following business day.

• AAUW Scholarship and International Fellowships are not open to previous recipients of any AAUW national fellowship or grant (not including branch or local awards or Community Action Grants). Members of the AAUW Board of Directors, committees, panels, task forces, and staff, including current interns, are not eligible to apply for AAUW’s fellowships and grants. A person holding a current award is eligible for election or appointment to boards, committees, panels, and task forces.
• Unsuccessful applicants may reapply.
• To be eligible for an International Fellowship, applicants must meet the following criteria:
  • Have citizenship in a country other than the U.S. or possession of a nonimmigrant visa if residing in the U.S. Women who are currently, or expect to be during the fellowship year, a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or dual citizen with the U.S. and another country are not eligible.
  • Hold an academic degree (earned in the U.S. or abroad) equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree completed by November 15, 2019.
  • Intend to devote herself full-time to the proposed academic plan during the fellowship year
  • Intend to return to her home country to pursue a professional career
  • Be proficient in English. Unless the applicant can verify that her native language is English (written statement required), that she received her secondary diploma or undergraduate degree from an English-speaking institution (transcript required), or that she will have completed one semester of full-time study in her discipline at an English-speaking college or university between November 2017 and November 2019 (transcript required), she must upload a recent ETS TOEFL* (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score. Institutional TOEFL scores and other English proficiency test scores (such as IELTS) will not be accepted. Minimum score acceptable: 550 for Paper-Based Test (TOEFL PBT, no older than October 2017); 79 for Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT, no older than November 2017); 60 for Revised TOEFL Paper-Delivered Test (no older than November 2017).
  • Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral applicants must have applied by November 15, 2019, to an accredited institution of study for the period of the fellowship year and must indicate the name of the institution in the International Fellowship application.
  • Master’s/first professional degree fellowships are intended for master’s or professional degree-level programs such as J.D., M.F.A., L.L.M., M.Arch., or medical degrees such as M.D., D.D.S., etc.
  • Doctoral fellowships are intended for doctorate degrees, such as Ph.D. or Ed.D.
  • Postdoctoral applicants must provide proof of their doctorate degree; hold a doctorate classified as a research degree (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D., D.B.A., D.M.) or an M.F.A. by November 15, 2019; and indicate where they will conduct their research.
  • Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral applicants must be enrolled in a U.S. accredited institution located in the U.S. during the fellowship year.
  • A limited number of awards are available to GWI members for study or research in any country other than their own. Note that foreign branches of U.S. institutions are considered outside of the U.S.
  • Applicants must be conducting a full year of study or research. International Fellowships do not provide funding for a partial year of study or research. Programs ending prior to April of the fellowship year are not eligible.
  • Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral fellowships support traditional classroom-based courses of study at colleges or universities. This fellowship program does not provide funding for distance-learning or online programs or for degrees heavily dependent on distance-learning components. Final decisions about what constitutes distance learning under these fellowships will be made by AAUW.

*TOEFL is given at designated test centers throughout the world. Applicants planning to take the TOEFL should check test locations, dates, and formats and take the test as early as possible. The code for AAUW is 9231. This code must be written on the test registration form so that the scores will be reported directly to AAUW and score report request form for tests previously taken. TOEFL is changing to an internet-based test and will be administered through the internet in most countries. Questions? Contact the U.S. Embassy in the applicant’s country. You can also write to: ETS TOEFL at TOEFL Services, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08541-6151 USA; visit their website, ets.org/toefl; fax 610.290.8972; call 609.771.7100; or email toefl@ets.org.

The International Fellowships Panel meets once a year to review applications for funding. Awards are based on the selection criteria outlined on this page. Recommendations by the panel are subject to final approval by the AAUW Board of Directors. Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis according to funds available in a given fiscal year. To ensure a fair and objective review process, it is the policy of AAUW not to comment on the deliberations of its award panels. No provisions exist for reconsideration of grant proposals after the board has acted. AAUW does not provide evaluations of successful or unsuccessful applications. Applications and supporting documents become the sole property of AAUW and will neither be returned nor held for another year.

• Applicant residing in home country at time of application will receive special consideration
• Position on return to home country
• Academic and/or professional qualifications
• Applicant’s commitment to the advancement of women and girls in her home country
• Proposed time schedule
• Quality and feasibility of proposed plan of study or research
• Demonstrated evidence of prior community and/or civic service in home country
• Applicant’s country’s need for the specialized knowledge or skill
• Financial need
• The motivation for graduate study or research
• The applicant is from an underrepresented area of the country and/or type of university other than a top-level research institution

Start the application process by clicking on the link to access the application and create an account through our vendor site. Complete all required components in the following tabs.

1. Eligibility
   • Applicants must pass the eligibility quiz to be reviewed by the selection panel.

2. Applicant

3. Recommendations
   • Provide three recommendations who are professors or professional colleagues well acquainted with you, your work, and your academic background, in striving towards scholarly pursuits. When possible, recommenders should be professors or professional colleagues in the applicant’s home country who can speak about the applicant’s qualifications and about the country’s need for the specialized skill or knowledge she plans to acquire with her proposed study or research. AAUW does not accept references from dossier services.

4. Academics

6. Narratives
7. Budget