What are the academic requirements for keeping the fellowship?
You must meet minimum enrollment (9 hours) and UA GPA (3.0) requirements and be making satisfactory progress towards your degree. Please see the Graduate Catalog for details.
How will the tuition, technology/infrastructure fees, and course specific fees scholarship be paid?
The tuition, technology/infrastructure fees, and course specific fees scholarship associated with your fellowship is credited directly to your MyBama student account. The amount of your scholarship and the semesters covered are set out in your offer letter. Your scholarship is processed and validated through the University’s GA TOPS system before it can be credited to your account. You will receive email notification when your scholarship has been added to the GA TOPS system. If the scholarship is not showing up correctly in your student account, please ask your supervisor (departmental fellowships) or Graduate School to check and confirm that it has been processed through this system.
What does the tuition, technology/infrastructure fees, and course specific fees scholarship cover?
The value of the benefits associated with your fellowship is based on your residency status for tuition charges and the base of the award as set out in your award letter. Tuition and fee scholarships may only be used to cover actual tuition charges for confirmed registration; any unused dollars cannot be transferred to another expense or cashed. A “full-time” fellowship pays 100% of your tuition (up to 15 hours), 100% of your single health insurance premium, and 100% of your technology/infrastructure fees and course specific fees. A “half-time” fellowship pays 50% of your tuition (up to 15 hours), 50% of your single health insurance premium, and 50% of your college/department fees. Items such as international student fees, health center fees, recreation fees, and other non-tuition items, are not covered. Tuition and fee scholarships are not available for summer semesters under UA fellowship programs. Some externally funded fellowships (NSF, NIH, etc.) may allow tuition scholarships for summer classes. Please check your award letter for details. Tuition and fee scholarships cover graduate classes only.
How does my stipend get to me?
Fellowship stipends are credited to your MyBama student account. They are not paid through UA Payroll. You must meet minimum enrollment GPA requirements each month. You will be notified by email each month when your stipend payment is processed. If you have any questions about the status of your stipend payments, please ask your supervisor (departmental fellowships) or Graduate School to check and confirm that it has been processed through the system.
When is my stipend paid to me?
Your fellowship stipend will be paid to you in equal monthly installments around the 26th of each month. Awards are usually for 4, 5, 9, or 12 months. To calculate your monthly payment, divide the total award by the number of periods of the award to get the monthly amount. Fall only awards (first payment at the end of August) will receive 5 equal payments. Spring only awards (first payment at the end of January) will receive 4 equal payments. Academic year awards are for 9 months (first payment at the end of August) and receive 9 equal payments. Fiscal year awards will cover 12 months.
What are “FEPs” and how do they work?
Your award letter may have included a “Fellowship Enhancement Payments,” these are supplement to fellowships. The Graduate School’s part is simply added to the total regular stipend and paid over the same period. Please check with your department for information about the distribution of the matching award.
How do I set up the direct deposit?
Log in to myBama. Search “Direct Deposit” in the search bar. For more instructions, consult the Banner Self-Service Direct Deposit guide. You will need your bank’s routing number and your account number to complete the set-up for direct deposit. For further assistance, please contact Student Account Services.
What about income taxes?
The impact of both federal and state taxes varies from case to case and upon your nationality as well as many other factors. All monies paid to students by the University are declarable to the tax authorities. Before accepting any award, you should consult with your tax advisor or preparer to determine how your tax position may be impacted. For more information please check the IRS Publication 970. International students must register with the UA Tax Office to determine the extent of their withholding taxes.
What about Financial Aid?
Fellowships will reduce the base level of total allowable federal financial aid. If you plan to receive federal loans or financial aid, please contact the UA Student Financial Aid office.
How does the health insurance benefit work?
Please see the Health Insurance FAQ for more details
International Students
Unless you provide proof of adequate student health insurance that is approved by the University before the start of classes each semester and receive a formal waiver, the University will automatically enroll you in it’s student health insurance plan. Your student account will initially be billed for the single coverage health insurance premium. We will then apply a grant that will pay the cost of the single coverage premium. The grant to cover your health insurance is subject to 14% tax. This tax will be added to your student account mid-October for the fall semester and mid-March for the spring and summer semesters.
To apply for a waiver, submit the waiver form. The deadline to apply for a waiver is the last day to register for classes (around August 24) for the fall semester, and January 18 for the spring and spring/summer semesters.
If you are receiving a partial health insurance benefit, your scholarship amount will be pro-rated based on the award. In order to receive the benefit you will need to pay the portion of the premium not covered by the benefit.
Domestic Students
You must formally accept or decline the health insurance benefit associated with your award (see below for details) by the stated deadline (see below for dates). If you are receiving a partial health insurance benefit, your scholarship amount will be pro-rated based on the award. In order to receive the benefit you will need to pay the portion of the premium not covered by the benefit.
Once you accept, the University will purchase for you fall and/or spring/summer semester single coverage under the UA Student Health Insurance plan for the period August 1 through December 31 for the fall and/or January 1 through July 31 for the spring/summer coverage.
What is the process for receiving the health insurance benefit?
After the enrollment period opens for the semester the Graduate School will send an email to all domestic students receiving the full insurance benefit inviting them to accept or decline the insurance online. Follow the instructions in the email. You must abide by the deadlines. If you have a partial award, you will receive a different email from the Graduate School with separate instructions for claiming your benefit and paying your contribution.
International students do not need to take any action. They are automatically enrolled in the student plan unless they receive a waiver.
Can I purchase additional health insurance coverage under the University’s plan for spouse and/or children?
Please see the Health Insurance FAQ for the cost and process to add dependents.
Is there a deadline to accept the free health insurance?
Please see “When do I purchase the health insurance?” in the Health Insurance FAQ.
What if I don’t want the health insurance benefit?
For international students, you may ONLY decline the UA Student Health Insurance if you have your own insurance equal in coverage to the University’s plan. For more information or to obtain a health insurance waiver please contact the Student Health Center.
Domestic students have the option to decline the UA Student Health Insurance plan benefit associated with their fellowship. If you have your own plan, or remain on a family or partner’s plan, you must notify the Student Health Center and decline your benefit from UA. Failure to properly and fully declare other insurance plans may jeopardize your benefits under the UA plan. If you have any questions about your health insurance, please contact the Student Health Center directly.
The health insurance benefit cannot be transferred to another expense or cashed.
What is the contact info for the Student Health Center insurance office?
Contact the Student Health Center with any question about the health insurance plan.
How do I get my insurance ID card or proof of insurance?
Your digital ID card is available at the UA United Healthcare page.
My department has offered me an assistantship on top of my fellowship; can I accept?
The goal of a fellowship is to give you additional research time and/or time to work on classes by reducing other work obligations; students who receive a Graduate School fellowship may also receive up to $10,000 in additional funds. If receive more than an additional $10,000, your fellowship stipend will be reduced to maintain a $30,000 earning cap for an academic year.
You must contact the Dean of the Graduate School and your Graduate Program Director to request permission to accept an assistantship. Where you accept an assistantship with benefits, those benefits will be paid out first before the fellowship benefits. Please note that you can never receive tuition benefits totaling more than your actual tuition charges for that semester.
What if I withdraw from school?
You must notify the Graduate School Dean’s Office immediately of your withdrawal. Your fellowship stipend payments will cease the effective date of withdrawal as recorded by the UA Registrar’s Office. Tuition scholarships will be pro-rated based on the policies determined by Student Account Services and will match the tuition charges offset. If you withdraw before the end of the first 30 days of classes your health insurance benefit will be cancelled. However, after 30 days in class, your insurance coverage will remain in force through the remainder of the semester.
