Tuition and Funding

LBJ School applicants are automatically considered for merit-based and needs-based fellowships during the admissions review process as long as funding remains available. No additional application is required. If you receive an admissions fellowship, you will be notified with your admissions offer.

There are three (3) types of admissions fellowship awarded:

1. stipends paid directly to the student;
2. Resident tuition awards paid directly to The University of Texas at Austin on behalf of the student awarded
3. Non-resident tuition awards or waivers paid directly to The University of Texas at Austin on behalf of the student awarded that decrease the out-of-state portion of the tuition billed.​

Students should not rely upon stipend fellowships to pay their entire tuition. Stipends are paid after the 12^th class day of each semester after the eligibility check has been completed. The eligibility check consists of verifying the student's GPA minimum is 3.0 or above (after their first semester) and the student is properly enrolled in courses that credit toward their LBJ School degree. 

Tuition fellowships will be applied to each semester’s tuition bill before 1^st tuition payment deadline. If you need assistance to pay your tuition prior to receiving your award, please contact the Financial Aid Office. Among other types of financial aid, "the University offers two types of short-term loans — Emergency Cash loans and Tuition loans — to help students meet immediate needs." More information about these two short-term loans can be found at Financial Aid Cash & Tuition Loans.

Once a student has accepted a fellowship, it will be paid according to the fellowship agreement and general regulations. No action is required by the student to activate the fellowship payments.

Every LBJ School student receiving an admissions fellowship from the LBJ School or The University of Texas at Austin is required to report all offers of university employment while enrolled at the LBJ School, even if the employment is to be performed for another college unit or department outside of the LBJ School. Please notify LBJFellowships@austin.utexas.edu to be approved to work prior to accepting employment.

Additional information on fellowship funding is available through the UT Graduate School.

Non-Texas Residents and Campus Employment (Required Steps) 
Any Non-Texas resident receiving a tuition fellowship that reduces the out-of-state portion of the tuition billed, who accepts employment as a Teaching Assistant or Graduate Research Assistant/Graduate Assistant, or any combination of these positions, for a total of 20 hours per work or more, must activate the online tuition waiver. If the tuition fellowship that reduces the out-of-state portion of the tuition billed for the admissions fellowship has already been applied to the student's tuition bill, it is incumbent upon the student to notify LBJFellowships@austin.utexas.edu to remove the tuition fellowship, in order for the employment tuition waiver to be activated by the student. 

Ph.D. Fellowships
The LBJ School typically guarantees five years of funding for doctoral students admitted to the program. This normally comes in the form of a combination of subsidized tuition, fellowship support, and employment as a Teaching Assistant or Graduate Research Assistant.