The Rubenstein School makes every effort to work with students to make their graduate education financially affordable. All admissions decisions are made without regard to financial need or ability to pay. Financial support in the form of professional development and/or tuition remission funds may also be available through your employer and/or organizational partner, and we encourage you to pursue these opportunities in addition to applying to our scholarships. We generally do not offer full-tuition scholarships, but rather provide scholarships in the form of a tuition discount based on need and merit.

Deadlines for Scholarships: Your FAFSA application should be completed ASAP. We encourage you to apply for the Leadership for Sustainability program scholarships as soon as you submit your application to the program. Reach out to Margaret.Williams@uvm.edu for the link to the scholarship application form. Scholarships are offered after acceptance into the program.

Please review the opportunities compiled by the UVM Graduate College external funding information and resources for prospective students.

Our students have also received many external scholarships and fellowships including the Ashoka Fellowship, Robert Fullwood Johnson Foundation Fellowship, Switzer Fellowship, and more. View this list of possible external scholarships/fellowships that have been compiled over the years.

Some Ph.D. students have applied for grants, private gifts, and even crowd-sourced support to fund their Ph.D. work (which also benefits their organization/community). Some of this funding has supported travel and direct costs of research, while other funding has supported students’ time and even tuition costs. In some cases, students have used their Ph.D. work to do significant fundraising for their own home community/organization.

Many Ph.D. students receive financial support from their home organization that can include tuition remission and other direct costs. Many organizations recognize that this program will directly benefit the organization. Some students have also designed projects that have led to partnerships with organizations who are willing to fund students for the completion of their Ph.D.

Unlike residential programs that are intended for full-time students who must give up their professional employment, this Ph.D. program is designed as an online program that can be completed while students work full-time. Some Ph.D. students can contribute to their tuition costs through income or professional development funds from their professional employment.