Graduate College Scholarship

The Graduate College scholarship provides $1,000 per semester for one, two, or three semesters as recommended by the scholarship selection committee and approved by the dean of The Graduate College. Scholarships are awarded for the academic year (fall, spring, and summer) and disbursed each semester for which they have been awarded.

The Graduate College scholarship will fund only courses that apply to your degree. For example, if your degree plan only requires six hours of thesis course work, the scholarship will not fund thesis courses beyond the six-hour requirement.

If awarded, you must meet the following requirements:

• enroll in at least six hours of graduate-level (5000 or above) courses leading to the degree for each awarded semester

• maintain a 3.5 cumulative graduate GPA 

If you are applying for the Graduate College scholarship, you must be a current student (admitted to a master's or doctoral program at Texas State University) or have completed an application for admission. College of Applied Arts applicants/students are not eligible for this scholarship; however, they can contact their department for additional funding options.

GPA Requirements

• First-time graduate students must have a minimum 3.25 GPA in their entrance GPA (or a 3.0 entrance GPA for international applicants).
• Students who already have taken graduate-level course work or completed a graduate degree must have a minimum 3.5 GPA in all completed graduate course work.

  You must reapply for the Graduate College scholarship each academic year.

First, you must sign into the Bobcat Online Scholarship System (BOSS) and complete the general application. The additional items below must also be submitted through BOSS in order to complete your Graduate College scholarship application.

• current resume (two pages or less), including:
  • name
  • address
  • email
  • education (degrees or special certifications)
  • professional experience
  • scholarship activity, awards, and/or special recognitions
  • articles or presentations 
  • selected community activity
  • other information pertinent to your program and/or demonstrating your intellectual, creative, and leadership promise
• essay (no more than 200 words) expressing your career objectives and reasons for selecting your graduate program
• three letters of recommendation from professional individuals familiar with your academic background and ability, specifically your intellectual, creative, and leadership promise (including two letters from professors) 

  Resumes and essays that exceed the page/word limit will not be reviewed.

  Letters of recommendation submitted for previous scholarship or admissions applications will not be transferred to your current scholarship application(s). However, you can request recommendation letters from the same references through the online scholarship application system, which will provide them with submission instructions.

If you have not yet been admitted for graduate studies, you must complete the following items by February 1: 

1. your online application for admission for graduate studies 
2. your scholarship application

If you have already been admitted or are a current student, you must complete the following items by February 1:

1. your scholarship application

  We strongly encourage you to start the scholarship application process as early as possible to ensure that you will be able to complete your application(s) by February 1. 

Awards will be given to the best-qualified applicants as determined by a selection committee from each college. The selection committee will make its recommendations to the dean of The Graduate College, who will make the final decision.

You must notify the graduate dean if you are in one of the following situations:

• not enrolling: if you do not enroll in the semester of your initial award disbursement, you must notify the graduate dean in writing regarding your future enrollment plans. Failure to enroll may affect your award eligibility.
• dropping a course: if you drop a course and fall below the required six hours of enrollment, you must inform the graduate dean in writing. We will send notification of reimbursement procedures and eligibility for future semesters.
• enrolling in your final semester: if you are in your final semester, you must contact the graduate dean in writing to request approval to enroll in fewer than the required six hours. If your enrollment is approved, an adjustment will be made to the award amount.

Please visit our frequently asked questions page for more information or email gcscholar@txstate.edu.