McKNIGHT DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, BUSINESS AND ENGINEERING

McKnight Doctoral Fellowships provide full tuition or up to $5,000 per year plus an annual stipend of $13,000 for students pursuing Ph.D. degrees at the following universities in the State of Florida:

PURPOSE: The McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program is designed to address the underrepresentation of African American and Hispanic faculty at colleges and universities in the State of Florida by increasing the pool of citizens qualified with Ph.D. degrees to teach at the college and university levels.

ELIGIBLE FIELDS OF STUDY: Eligible fields of study include any field in the Arts and Sciences, Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Nursing, or the Visual and Performing Arts.

Fellowships are especially encouraged in, but not limited to, the following disciplines:

No academic program that leads to a degree other than the Ph.D., including, but not limited to, the D.B.A., D.D.S., D.N.P., D.P.H., D.P.T., D.V.M., Ed.D., Ed.S., J.D., and M.D., will be covered by the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship.

THE AWARD: Up to 50 Fellowships are awarded annually to study at one of the nine participating Florida universities. Each award provides annual tuition up to $5,000 for each of three academic years, plus an annual stipend of $13,000. (An additional two years of support at this same level is provided by the participating institution.)* Each annual renewal is contingent upon satisfactory performance and normal progress toward the Ph.D. degree. It is important to note that the University of Miami and the Florida Institute of Technology will cover tuition expenses over the $5,000 paid by the Florida Education Fund. Furthermore, universities may supplement the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship’s stipend to varying degrees.

WHO MAY APPLY: Applicants must be African American or Hispanic, U.S. citizens, and hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university. Since this program is intended to increase enrollment in Ph.D. programs, currently enrolled doctoral students are not eligible to apply. 

GENERAL ELIGIBILITY: The Fellowship will be awarded only to persons who intend to seek the Ph.D. degree fulltime in one of the aforementioned eligible fields of study. In those doctoral programs which require entry at the master’s level prior to acceptance at the doctoral level, institutional verification will be required. All recipients of the McKnight Ph.D. Fellowship must agree to seek a professorial position at a four-year Florida university. If the student is offered a competitive faculty position at a Florida university, and does not accept the position, the student must repay the amount of the Fellowship received. If a Fellow does not receive a competitive offer for employment from a Florida university, without penalty, the Fellow may secure employment opportunities elsewhere.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications must be postmarked no later than January 15th of each year.