Endowed & Special Scholarships

The Abby O’Neill Fellowship can help cover a considerable amount of your tuition costs at Teachers College. As an Abby O’Neill Fellow, you will need to meet certain eligibility requirements for your graduate school study and your post-graduation career.  

Fellowship Eligibility Criteria	Award Length	Fellowship Benefits
Must enroll full-time in an elementary or secondary teacher education Master’s degree program leading to initial certification Must be committed to teaching in the New York City public school system for two years immediately following graduation from TC.	Up to two academic years	$24,000 per year, for tuition costs only

*Note: For students enrolled in a one-year initial teacher certification program, you may receive up to $48,000 for one-year.

If you are a new student and plan to begin your enrollment at Teachers College in the Summer or Fall term, you may be eligible to apply for the Abby O’Neill Fellowship. If you are selected to receive this fellowship, it will be applied starting in your first Fall semester. 

 

2027-2028 Application Available: September 1, 2026

2027-2028 Application Submission Deadline: February 10, 2027

Tentative Decision Release: On or after March 15, 2027

Note: The Abby O'Neill Fellowship application is embedded within the application for admission and does not require a separate application.

Teachers College and City Year have established a partnership to help support your Master’s degree education. City Year is an education-focused nonprofit organization whose values and goals align with our goal to integrate the power of knowledge and service in addressing social problems. City Year Scholarships have specific requirements:

Scholarship Eligibility Criteria	Award Length	Scholarship Benefits
City Year or AmeriCorps member or alum, with at least one term of service completed City Year staff member for at least two years	Up to one academic year; award period starts in Fall	25% of your total tuition credits required for graduation

 

If you are a new student and plan to begin your enrollment at Teachers College in the Summer or Fall term, you may become eligible to apply for the City Year Scholarship. If you are selected to receive this scholarship, it will be applied starting in your first Fall semester.

 

2027-2028 Application Available: September 1, 2026

2027-2028 Application Submission Deadline: February 10, 2027

Tentative Decision Release: On or after March 15, 2027

Note: The City Year Scholarship application is embedded within the application for admission and does not require a separate application.

The Posse Foundation Fellowship can provide funding to cover much of your tuition costs, and the fellowship may be renewable for up to two academic years. 

 

Fellowship Eligibility Criteria	Award Length	Fellowship Benefits
Posse alum who will enroll full-time in a Master’s degree program	Up to two academic years	Tuition for courses required for your degree

 

If you are a new student and plan to begin your enrollment at Teachers College in the Summer or Fall term, you may become eligible to apply for the Posse Foundation Fellowship. If you are selected to receive this fellowship, it will be applied starting in your first Fall semester.

 

2027-2028 Application Available: September 1, 2026

2027-2028 Application Submission Deadline: February 10, 2027

Tentative Decision Release: On or after March 15, 2027

Note: The Posse Foundation Fellowship application is embedded within the application for admission and does not require a separate application.

If you want to work with underserved students in cities, you may be interested in applying for the Arthur Zankel Urban Fellowship. To learn more and apply, please go to the Office of School and Community Partnerships. 

Do you want to work in literacy or music education? An Evalyn Edwards Milman Fellowship could help you gain professional experience while reducing your graduate school costs. To learn more and apply, please go to the Office of School and Community Partnerships.

• Are you a Ph.D. student and on track to receive your dissertation proposal approval by the end of the school year? The Research Dissertation Fellowship is money you can use to pay for your tuition, living costs, research, or travel expenses. The goal of this fellowship is to support diverse research interests that will help to advance knowledge in your field, including work that could be published in top journals in your field. To learn more and apply, please go to the Office of the Vice Dean for Research, which manages the award program, or email: dissertationfellowships@tc.columbia.edu.

Are you a Ph.D. student with research that provides practical solutions for real-world problems? Consider the Education Policy Dissertation Research Fellowship. This program is open to Doctoral students in any Teachers College department. Your research should reflect the following qualities:

• Potential to improve educational opportunity, success, or fairness in society
• Focus on an important educational policy issue at any level of government
• Likely to be published in the most well-respected journals
• Ability to influence policy and shift public understanding of societal challenges
  Contribute to positive change

To learn more and apply, please go to the Education Policy Dissertation Research Fellowship.

If you are a Doctoral student with an interest in mentoring and developing new teachers, you may be interested in becoming a Morse Fellow for Digital Learning. As a Morse Fellow, you would work in a program as part of the Center for Professional Education of Teachers (CPET). CPET programs provide opportunities for new and experienced teachers to connect with professional development services through online and digital technology. You would gain hands-on experience by collaborating with CPET's signature initiatives, including:

• Global Learning Alliance
• Literacy Unbound
• New Teacher Network
• Student Press Initiative

If you become a Morse Fellow for Digital Learning, you join a team of CPET coaches, curriculum developers, and instructional specialists in supporting new teachers in under-served schools through the development of digital learning opportunities. The Enid and Lester Morse Fellowship provides up to $12,000 in funding for Ph.D. students. To learn more and apply, please go to the CPET website.

The Morse Fellowship for Supporting New Teachers is open to Master's and Doctoral students. As a Morse Fellow for Supporting New Teachers, you would assist the New Teacher Network, which is part of the Center for Professional Education of Teachers (CPET). 

In this role, you have the opportunity to:

• Collaborate with New Teacher Network coaches
• Mentor new teachers
• Assist in the delivery of professional development programs
• Join a team of CPET coaches, curriculum developers, and instructional specialists to support new teachers in high-needs schools.

The Morse Fellowship for Supporting New Teachers is selective. If you apply and are selected, you may receive up to $12,000. To learn more and apply, please go to the CPET website.

Do you seek out advanced research methods for your Ph.D. research? The Postsecondary Education Applied Research (PEAR) Fellowship can train you for a career in applied postsecondary education research using leading-edge scientific methods. As a PEAR Fellow, you will participate in hands-on, year-long apprenticeships with a higher education institution or nonprofit. 

Your apprenticeship may focus on research, policy, or practice. You may qualify for a PEAR Fellowship if you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and you are accepted to a Teachers College Doctoral program in the Departments of Education Policy & Social Analysis or Organization & Leadership. To learn more and apply, please go to the PEAR Fellowship website.