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Giving Opportunities

Graduate School 

UMass Amherst Graduate School invites students from all backgrounds to transform their lives with advanced education. Your support creates rich experiences and a sense of belonging for rising leaders. 

The transformative power of a graduate education 

Graduate school can change your life. It opens doors to more focused research, professional development, and direct problem solving.    

UMass Amherst strives to make these paths accessible to all. You can help us increase diversity in our graduate student body and make learning experiences equitable for those from a variety of backgrounds. 

Our vision

Forward-thinking programs for inclusion, engagement, and all-around success 

Mentorship, resources, and targeted support are essential for a productive graduate experience. The UMass Amherst Graduate School is committed to supporting each individual student throughout the course of their program. These efforts build their professional confidence and foster a shared sense of community. 

400 
yearly workshops on grant writing, communication, teaching, and leadership 
$1.6M 
in fellowships awarded to UMass graduate students in 2019 and 2020 
7,814 
graduate students enrolled in our 48 doctoral and 78 master’s programs 

Initiatives for the Graduate School 

Research fellowships and stipends 

Fellowships and stipends provide the means for students to spend time in the lab or library, publish their findings, and engage with the wider research community. We must grow these programs to attract top graduate students from all walks of life. 

Fellowships to complete dissertations  

UMass must support its doctoral students as they finalize their theses and prepare for graduation. Our goal is to create fellowships that provide one-semester of full support to help students make a final push for completion. 

Mentorship and professional development 

Our Offices of Professional Development and Inclusion and Engagement teach academic soft skills, such as grant writing and teaching. We must expand these programs to build confident, effective professionals. 

Wellness and mental health 

A graduate education can be both invigorating and challenging. Students need support networks to navigate this time effectively. Our goal is to establish a wellness fund to provide students mental health support throughout their studies. 

“The Spaulding-Smith Fellowship … aided me in the beginning to balance my time as a student and a budding researcher. ”

Mariela Garcia Arredondo, MS ’18, PhD ’24
Postdoctoral research fellow at Yale University’s Center for Natural Carbon Capture 
Mariela Garcia Arredondo
Claudia Matachana
Spotlight on Doctoral research

Breaking down linguistic barriers through research

Claudia Matachana PhD’24 focused her doctoral research on beliefs and discrimination related to language as experienced by young Puerto Rican Spanish speakers. Matachana is now an assistant professor of modern languages at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass.

Person presenting on stage
Spotlight on the Three Minute Thesis 

Honing presentation skills, celebrating research accomplishments  

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) challenges graduate students to describe their research in an engaging manner, using non-technical language, in three minutes or less. Thakshala Tissera, a doctoral student in the Department of English, was named the winner of the 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition.

Ready to learn more about the Graduate School?