About the Program

The McCausland College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce a new award designed to recruit top prospective graduate students into our terminal graduate degree programs. This competitive award will provide $4,000 of support each academic year for up to four years*. The award is intended to supplement the funding package offered by the student’s academic program or other (internal or external) sources.

Eligibility

The program is limited to students pursuing terminal degrees in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences on the Columbia campus. To be eligible for nomination, prospective students must be accepted by the Department/Program and supported by, at minimum, their standard departmental assistantship, or the equivalent thereof, for at least four academic years. Students supported by a departmental assistantship will receive the award in the form of a stipend. Students who are supported by external or other sources, will receive the award as a fellowship.

Students must be enrolled full-time (i.e., a minimum of 6 hours per semester or approved z-status) to be eligible for the award. Graduate Directors will verify enrollment each semester and promptly notify the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies if a student is no longer in good standing, does not meet the minimum enrollment requirement, or has left the degree program early. Students awarded a Presidential Fellowship are not eligible for the McCausland Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Scholar Award.

*Students may pause the award for one year with the approval of their Graduate Director, who must notify the College’s Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in writing.

Nomination Deadlines

There are three independent nomination deadlines to help graduate programs recruit top terminal degree-seeking students throughout the admissions process. Full and fair consideration will be given to each nominee, regardless of the nomination period.

The nomination deadlines for the upcoming admissions cycle are:

• Monday, January 25, 2027
• Monday, February 22, 2027
• Monday, March 22, 2027

Terminal degree-granting Departments/Programs may submit up to three applications in rank order. If no nominees for a Department/Program are selected during the first round, the Department/Program may nominate three prospective students in the second round and so on; any nominee from the first round who was not selected during that round must be re-nominated in the second round and so on for consideration. No Department/Program may receive more than three McCausland Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Scholar Awards per year, pending availability of funds.

If a Department/Program nominee accepts another offer or receives a Presidential Fellowship at any point in the admissions cycle, the Graduate Director should promptly notify the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. If a Department/Program nominee declines the offer prior to submission deadlines (or is awarded a Presidential Fellowship), the Department/Program may submit another application for review.

Application Process

To nominate an admitted applicant, the Graduate Director must submit the following documents electronically using the online form below:

• A 1-2 page letter from the Graduate Director summarizing the nominee's merits and the total financial support offered to the nominee by the program or other funding source. Include the ranking of the nominees if more than one nominee is being put forward.
• A single PDF of the nominee’s graduate application including the cover sheet, letters of recommendation, transcripts, and the personal statement submitted for graduate admission by the nominee. The PDF should be labeled with the name of both the nominee and the graduate program.

The online nomination form is available below. Nominations in each round will be reviewed by the College leadership team and results will be announced in a timely manner.

 

Please contact Tracey Weldon(weldont@mailbox.sc.edu) if you need help troubleshooting this form.