AAUW International Fellowships 2027–2028: Historical Cycle and Award Details

AAUW International Fellowships 2027–2028: Historical Cycle and Award Details

The application period for the 2027–2028 AAUW International Fellowships has closed. AAUW’s official International Fellowships page gives the application window as August 17, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time through September 17, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and states that applications have closed for the 2027–28 academic year. The page does not announce a later application cycle. This entry is therefore a historical reference to the closed 2027–2028 round; it is not an invitation to apply now and does not predict when AAUW might next accept applications.

This archive summarizes the award, eligibility rules, selection context, dates, and documents published for that cycle. It is useful to readers checking a past application, understanding AAUW’s program, or preparing questions for a future round. Requirements can change. Anyone planning to apply in a later cycle should wait for AAUW to publish that cycle’s instructions and use those current materials as the authority.

Key details for the closed cycle

The deadline in the page metadata preserves the real closing date for cataloguing. The historical-reference flag and the notice above communicate that the date has passed. AAUW specifies Eastern Time for application deadlines, so applicants in other time zones had to convert the cutoff accurately and submit before it.

What the award provided

For this cycle, AAUW listed a stipend of $20,000 for a master’s degree and $25,000 for a doctorate. The award was payable to the fellow in two equal payments, one at the beginning and one at the midpoint of the fellowship term. It was a one-time fellowship, not a renewable annual scholarship. It should not be described as a guaranteed full-cost package: the stated amounts are the award figures, and the official page says that funds may be used only for eligible expenses incurred during the official fellowship term.

Eligible uses named by AAUW include educational costs such as tuition, fees, and required course materials, including books and supplies. The page also lists housing, food, and dependent care such as childcare as eligible living expenses. It excludes research assistants, past expenditures, deficits or repayment of personal loans, publication costs, institutional overhead, and tuition for dependents. Applicants planning a budget needed to distinguish their total funding need from expenses the fellowship could cover.

The fellowship supported graduate study and research in STEM. AAUW describes its purpose as investing in international applicants who will pursue graduate studies and apply their expertise, professional skills, and leadership in service of their home countries and/or the communities where they reside. That purpose informs the program, but it does not replace the formal eligibility and application requirements. Selection was competitive, based on independent review-panel recommendations and the funds available; submitting an application did not guarantee an award.

Who was eligible

AAUW required applicants to identify as women and to be non-U.S. citizens. A person holding U.S. permanent-resident status, or applying for U.S. permanent residency, was ineligible even if they held citizenship in another country. Applicants had to be admitted to or enrolled in their first master’s degree or an academic or professional doctoral degree in a STEM discipline at the time of application. A person could not use this fellowship for a second master’s or second doctorate.

Applicants needed at least one academic degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree, earned in the United States or abroad. The minimum cumulative GPA was 3.5 on a 4.0 scale for the highest degree earned. The relevant degree for a master’s applicant is the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree; for a doctoral applicant, it is the highest degree earned at application time. Where a school used another grading scale, AAUW required documentation that established the conversion to a 4.0 scale.

The U.S. study route required full-time study at an institution accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants also had to reside in the United States or the country of study for the fellowship term. AAUW provided limited exceptions for study in a country other than the applicant’s country of citizenship or the United States: applicants unable to secure a U.S. student visa because their country was subject to a U.S. travel ban could be considered, and applicants from countries not subject to a travel ban could pursue study outside the United States if they were members of Graduate Women International. AAUW treated foreign branches of U.S. institutions as outside the United States.

The program also identified people who could not be considered because of conflicts or prior awards: current AAUW board members, employees, and review panelists; their spouses and dependent children; and previous AAUW fellowship or grant recipients. The stated prior-recipient exclusion did not include Community Action Grants or branch or local AAUW awards. Applicants with questions about how a particular status applied needed to check AAUW’s instructions rather than infer eligibility from a general description.

Degree fields and program dates

The qualifying field was determined by the formal classification of the degree program, not simply by the subject of an individual research project. AAUW’s STEM listings span life and biological sciences, physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences, and STEM-based health and medical sciences, alongside technology, engineering, and mathematics. Examples include biology, biochemistry, chemistry, physics, environmental science, biomedical science, engineering, and computer science. The published list is broad and includes examples rather than treating every research topic as eligible by itself. If the degree title did not match the selected field, the application instructions required an explanation of the difference.

For the 2027–2028 award year, fellows were expected to begin or continue their program by September 15, 2027. A fellow graduating during the award year had to complete the program no earlier than April 30, 2028. AAUW said it could not make exceptions to these program dates. The official FAQ separately discusses deferred admission and specifies conditions for a deferred program, including proof of admission and deferral approval; a deferred applicant needed to follow that guidance rather than assume that the general date rule alone settled their case.

How the application worked

AAUW directed applicants to its Fellowships & Grants Application Portal to create an account or sign in. The program page linked step-by-step Application Instructions. An application included a narrative and supporting documents. Because the 2027–2028 window is closed, these instructions describe what that round asked applicants to do; they are not a route to submit after the deadline.

Applicants were responsible for making sure every required document was accurate and submitted. The application was not complete until both the applicant’s materials and the required recommendations had arrived. AAUW cautioned that incomplete applications would not be considered. Its page encouraged applicants to start well before the deadline so there would be time to complete the application and collect outside materials.

Two letters of recommendation were required. Recommenders could be advisers, professors, colleagues, or others academically or professionally familiar with the applicant who could discuss their work, qualifications, and academic background. AAUW advised applicants to register recommenders early through the online application, which sent each person a personalized submission link. Applicants were responsible for reminding recommenders of the deadline. AAUW requested professional email addresses and did not accept recommendations routed through dossier services such as Parment or Interfolio; standardized or form-letter recommendations were discouraged.

Documents required in that round

The degree and transcript requirements were detailed. Applicants had to upload copies of diplomas or degree certificates, or official transcripts showing the degree conferred and conferral date, for all programs from which they had earned a degree. Documents had to match the institutions and programs listed in the application and show the applicant’s full name, institution, and degree. All earned-degree documents in another language required translations, with certified translations for the highest earned degree. If the records did not make clear that a credential equaled a U.S. bachelor’s degree, AAUW asked for an official explanation from the institution or governing body or a credential evaluation from a recognized service.

Official transcripts were required for all completed degree programs. They had to identify the applicant and institution, show the degree and courses taken with grades, and include transfer-course details where applicable. If an institution did not issue transcripts or a course-and-grade list, or the degree did not require coursework, AAUW required an institutional letter confirming that fact and the degree completion date. Translation rules applied to transcripts as well, including certified translation for materials tied to the highest earned degree.

Applicants also had to document a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale for the relevant highest degree. If the transcript omitted a cumulative GPA or used another grading system, AAUW listed acceptable supporting evidence such as an official institutional letter, a documented GPA conversion, or a credential evaluation with a detailed grade breakdown. The original transcript still had to accompany conversion evidence.

Proof of English proficiency was another requirement. AAUW listed acceptable evidence as a valid official TOEFL, IELTS, or Cambridge score; a written statement that English was the applicant’s native language; or an academic transcript or diploma showing qualifying education at an English-speaking institution. The posted minimum scores were TOEFL iBT 79, TOEFL Essentials 8.5, revised TOEFL paper-delivered test 60, IELTS 6.5, Cambridge Assessment 176, or Duolingo English Test 120. Institutional TOEFL and other English tests were not accepted. Scores were generally valid for two years from the test date, while Cambridge Assessment scores were valid for life.

Applicants had to show admission or current enrollment in the program they intended to pursue. A new student submitted an official admission letter with the expected start date; a student whose admission had been deferred to the award year also supplied the deferral approval. Someone already enrolled supplied transcripts or course listings, or an enrollment verification letter identifying the student and institution. For eligible study outside the United States, applicants who needed Graduate Women International membership had to submit an affiliate letter, membership certificate, or other official membership documentation.

Review and award timing

After the application window closed, AAUW’s Fellowships & Grants team checked applications for completeness and eligibility. Complete eligible applications went to independent panels of scholars and STEM experts, which met once a year. Panel recommendations were subject to AAUW’s final approval. The page listed award notification in March 2027. It then listed the first stipend payment during July–September 2027, a mid-year report in December 2027, the second stipend payment in December 2027 or January 2028, and the final report due July 31, 2028.

These are milestones for fellows selected in that closed round, not future application dates. The official page’s statement that applications have closed is the controlling status for the 2027–2028 application. AAUW has not published a next application window on this program page in the materials checked for this update. Interested readers should monitor AAUW’s official fellowship page and follow its next posted timeline rather than reuse the dates above as a future deadline.

Official source

AAUW’s International Fellowships page is the primary source for award amounts, eligibility, dates, required documents, and program policies summarized here. AAUW’s page can change as it maintains program information. This entry preserves the 2027–2028 cycle details as an archive and should be read as historical information, not as confirmation that applications are currently being accepted.