Fee Grant Application

The UW-Madison Graduate School offers a limited number of application fee grants to ensure that the application fee is not a barrier for students from our key recruiting initiatives. Fee grants are currently available to U.S. citizens, permanent resident applicants, and students with DACA status who can provide documentation of:

Participation in a recognized research/pipeline program designed to prepare students for graduate studies (for a complete list of programs go to our fee grant eligibility page on the Graduate School's website).
A financial background from a low-income family prior to or during college.

If you meet one or more of these criteria, please respond to the following questions. If your eligibility type requires pipeline program director or financial aid office verification, after entering your pipeline program director or financial aid office contact information on the last page, an email will be sent to the email address entered with instructions for your pipeline program director or undergraduate financial aid office to verify your eligibility. If your eligibility type requires you to upload verification documentation, you will need to upload these documents in the application.

Eligibility

What application cycle are you applying for a fee grant? (What semester would you begin classes?)

For applicants starting prior to Spring 2025 entry period, we ask you please use this separate form to apply for a fee grant: Fee Grant Verification Form

Are you a US citizen?

Yes

No

Are you a permanent resident alien?

Yes

No

Do you have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as your legal status?

Yes

No

Based on your responses, you are not eligible for a Graduate School supported fee grant.

For specific information about our Fee Grant policies and eligibility requirements, please review our website.

In the meantime, we encourage you to contact the program you are interested in applying to directly, as they may have different fee grant criteria. Contact information can be found on each program’s webpage in the Graduate Guide.

Please indicate the type of fee grant and most recent year of participation for which you would like to be considered. Note: You may complete this form multiple times to create multiple fee grant request forms for the different eligibility categories that apply to you. However, you are only eligible to receive one fee grant from the Graduate School no matter how many criteria you meet.

Fee grant eligibility criteria

Eligibility type

Most recent year of participation/eligibility

Based on your responses, you are not eligible for a Graduate School supported fee grant.

For specific information about our Fee Grant policies and eligibility requirements, please review our website.

In the meantime, we encourage you to contact the program you are interested in applying to directly, as they may have different fee grant criteria.

Low Income Verification

Upload documentation verifying your enrollment in SNAP, SSI, WIC, or TANF. Your uploaded document should be a PDF or JPEG. Please upload one of the following options:

Letter/Email/Screenshot of Approval for benefits
Letter/Email/Screenshot of benefits changes
Picture of your benefits card

Low Income - FAFSA Verification

Upload your most recent FAFSA Student Aid Report (or screenshot of your FAFSA SAR summary) showing your EFC of less than $2,000, Perkins loan recipient, or other subsidized loan recipient. Please upload documentation as a PDF.

Low Income - Grew up in a substantially economically disadvantaged family

Please describe your upbringing in a substantially low-income/economically disadvantaged family and how this experience impacts your experience today and as a prospective graduate student. (maximum length of 1000 characters)

McNair Scholars

How do you wish to verify your McNair Scholars Program enrollment/completion?

Enter your McNair program director's contact information and grant permission for your McNair program director to send relevant financial information to our office.

Upload a signed McNair Fee Waiver Form

Material Upload

Program Director's Contact Information

Enter the name and email address of your pipeline program director. Once you submit this application, an email will be sent to the email address entered below with instructions for the program director to verify your program enrollment/completion.

Program director name

Program director email

Please check the box below indicating you grant permission to your program director or undergraduate financial aid office to send relevant financial information to our office. This is required to submit your fee grant application.

I grant permission to release relevant financial information

GEM Confirmation

You have selected "GEM" as your pipeline program. Verify that you have listed UW-Madison as a graduate school you intend to apply to on the GEM website before proceeding with your fee grant application. Check the box below once you have listed UW-Madison as a graduate school you intend to apply to on the GEM website, and proceed with your fee grant application.

I verify that I have listed UW-Madison as a graduate school I intend to apply to on the GEM website

Your Contact Information

Please make sure to enter the same information as it appears (or will appear) on you graduate school application.

First name

Last name

Email address

Date of birth

Personal Information

Which graduate program(s) are you interested in?
To learn more about graduate academic programs at UW-Madison, visit the Graduate School Academic Programs website.

What is the name of your undergraduate institution?
Please do not use abbreviations. If you attended multiple institutions, please provide the name of the undergraduate institution that you graduated from.

In what year and term did you or will you graduate from your undergraduate institution?

Note: The Graduate School will verify your eligibility in any of the criteria before providing a fee grant. If provided a code, this code must be entered on the payment page prior to the submission of your graduate application, as no application fee refunds are possible. Therefore, we encourage you to submit the completed fee grant request at least five (5) business days prior to your earliest application deadline.

Please visit our website for additional information, or contact feegrants@grad.wisc.edu with any questions or concerns.