Financial Aid for Graduate Students

Note: Due to a change in University of Houston policy, the Graduate Assistant Teaching Fellowship (GATF) program has been discontinued and replaced with the Doctoral Student Tuition Fellowship (DSTF) program. The purpose of the prorgram is to encourage students to complete their Ph.D. degrees in a timely manner.

Doctoral Student Tuition Fellowship (DSTF)

All graduate students must be in good standing and currently enrolled in a College Pharmacy Ph.D. program(s). The college DSTF will support funding for 9 SCH (semester credit hours) for fall and spring and 2 SCH for summer.  If the student enrolls in additional SCH per semester, the student assumes financial responsibility for the additional SCHs.

To be eligible to be considered for funding, a student must have an undergraduate degree or its equivalent and be admitted to a UH College of Pharmacy graduate program, devoting full time (9 credit hours per semester and six hours during the summer) effort to a Ph.D.

Continuing students must have shown satisfactory progress in the degree program as defined by the College of Pharmacy or department.

Continuing students must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.00 (all digits significant) in the Ph.D. program.

Students who enter the doctoral program with a master's degree may hold the fellowship for no more than four academic years.

Doctoral degree seeking students who enter the doctoral program directly from a baccalaureate program may hold the fellowship for no more than six academic years.

Graduate students holding the fellowship must agree not to be employed (on or off-campus) for more than 20 hours per week (50% FTE). Violation of this provision will result in withdrawal of the funding during the semester in which the violation occurs.

The department graduate programs within the college will recommend graduate students to the college Graduate Education Committee for award selection according to clearly defined criteria consistent with the above and adopted by the college committee. The criteria to be used by the department and/or college selection committee(s) should be published on the appropriate websites.

The college Graduate Education Committee in conjunction with the Department Chairs, the Dean, and College Business Administrator will determine on an annual basis the number of awards based upon funds available.

Distribution of DSTF positions and the number available will be reviewed as resources change.  The department chairs and graduate college committee will make recommendation to the Dean for any change in distribution of DSTF and policy revisions.

Beginning in fall 2012, Clinical Sciences and Administration (CSA) will be eligible to award 18 DSTFs and Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences (PPS) will be eligible to award 40 DSTFs.

UHCOP Competitive Scholarships & Fellowships

Based on funding availability in any given year, graduate students may be eligible for financial assistance through scholarships (endowed or annual) or fellowships within UH College of Pharmacy. Recipients are selected by the UHCOP Scholarship Committee.

Each spring, applications for scholarships are solicited from all COP graduate students. A student may then submit an application for a scholarship, and the college Student Affairs Committee decides on the specific award given to a student, if any. The student will be notified of having received an award before the beginning of the fall semester.

The following endowed scholarships/fellowships have been established specifically for graduate students in Pharmacology and/or Pharmaceutics:

• Micheline and Bourjois Abboud Graduate Fellowship in Pharmaceutics
• Dr. Maktoob Alam Scholarship Endowment
• Alkadhi/Bragdon Graduate Fellowship in Pharmacology
• Diana S-L. Chow Graduate Fellowship Endowment in Pharmaceutics
• Yoginder Nath Goel & Swaran Lata Goel Academic Achievement Award
• Perin F. Lokhandwala Endowed Scholarship
• Dr. Bhagavan Jandhyala Endowed Scholarship
• Lau Family Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences Endowment

UH Competitive Scholarships & Fellowships

Incoming students of exceptional caliber may be eligible for a Presidential/Cullen/Ehrhardt Fellowship through the University of Houston. Prospective PCOL/PCEU applicants must meet specific criteria to be considered, as well as maintain eligibility throughout the funding period, for these fellowships. Please refer to the UH_Presidential-Cullen-Ehrhardt_Fellowships (.pdf) for details.

To learn more about all University-level fellowship programs, please click here.

Graduate Research Stipends & Assistantships

The College of Pharmacy also offers limited opportunities for Graduate Research Assistantships and Stipends. Please refer to the following PDF documents for addiitonal information on these programs:

Matching Graduate Research Assistant Stipends (.pdf)

First-year Graduate Research Assistantship (.pdf)

For more information about these or other college-based programs, please contact your faculty advisor or graduate program director.