Funding: $2,000–$12,000
Opens: August 1
Deadline: November 15
Career Development Grants provide funding to women who hold a bachelor’s degree and are preparing to advance or change careers or re-enter the workforce in education, health and medical sciences, or social sciences. Primary consideration is given to women of color and women pursuing their first advanced degree or credentials in nontraditional fields.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents whose last degree was received before June 30, 2013. Funds are available for tuition, fees, books, supplies, local transportation and dependent care.
AAUW originally designed Career Development Grants in 1972 to offer “encouragement” funding to AAUW members seeking to renew or resume academic work for credit toward career or employment advancement.
Today, grants support course work beyond a bachelor’s degree, including a master’s degree, second bachelor’s degree, certification program or specialized training in technical or professional fields. Course work must be taken at an accredited two- or four-year college or university in the United States or at a technical school that is fully licensed or accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. Funds are not available for doctorate-level work.
For questions or technical support, please email aauw@applyists.com.
Award Amount
$2,000–12,000
Timeline
November 15, 2020, by 11:59 p.m. Central Time
Deadline for online submission of application and supporting documents.
April 15, 2021
Notification of decisions emailed to applicants. AAUW is not able to honor requests for earlier notification.
July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022
Grant year
When a deadline or notification date falls on a weekend, the date will be observed on the following business day.
Eligibility
Career Development Grants are open to individuals who identify as women and:
- are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
- hold an earned (not honorary) bachelor’s degree.
- received their bachelor’s degree on or before June 30, 2013.
- do not hold an earned (not honorary) graduate or professional degree.
- plan to enroll or are enrolled in courses/activities that are required for professional employment or advancement, and
- plan to enroll or are enrolled in one of the following program types:
- Bachelor’s or associate degree program that is different from the field of study of the previously earned bachelor’s degree.
- Master’s degree program.
- Certification program.
- Technical school.
- Plan to enroll or are enrolled in one of the following fields of study:
- Education.
- Health and Medical Sciences.
- Social Sciences.
All courses of study must occur at a regionally accredited two- or four-year college or university in the United States or at a technical school that is fully licensed and/or accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants must reside within the United States during the grant period.
Distance or online learning programs will be funded only if they are conducted through an accredited institution appearing on the U.S. Department of Education’s list of approved online/distance learning programs. Final decisions about what constitutes distance learning under these grants will be made by AAUW.
Applicants are required to indicate their matriculation status within the application. While applicants are not required to already be enrolled or accepted into their preferred institution of study in order to apply, preference is given to those who are able to demonstrate strong commitment or intent in following the proposed plan of study. Awardees must be able to show proof of admission when submitting their acceptance materials.
Career Development Grant funding is not available for:
- Prerequisite coursework.
- Professional degree in law, business or medicine.
- Doctoral coursework or dissertations.
Career Development Grants are not open to previous recipients of any AAUW national fellowship or grant (not including branch or local awards or Community Action Grants). Members of the AAUW Board of Directors, committees, panels, task forces and staff, including current interns, are not eligible to apply for AAUW’s fellowships and grants. A person holding a current award is eligible for election or appointment to boards, committees, panels and task forces.
Criteria for Selection and Application Review
The Career Development Grants Panel meets once a year to review applications for funding. Awards are based on the selection criteria outlined here. The panel’s recommendations are subject to final approval by the AAUW Board of Directors. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis according to funds available in a given fiscal year. To ensure a fair review process, AAUW does not comment on the deliberations of the awards panels. Thus, AAUW is unable to provide written or oral evaluations of applications. No provisions exist for reconsideration of grant proposals after the board has acted on the panel’s recommendations.
The following criteria apply to the selection of Career Development Grants:
- Demonstrated commitment to education and equity for women and girls.
- Reason for seeking higher education or technical training.
- Degree to which study plan is consistent with career objectives.
- Potential for success in chosen field.
- Documentation of opportunities in chosen field.
- Feasibility of study plans and proposed time schedule.
- Validity of proposed budget and budget narrative, including sufficient outside support.
Quality of written proposal. - Applicant is from an underrepresented racial/ethnic background.
- Applicant is from an underrepresented area of the country and/or type of university other than a top-level research institution.
- Applicant is seeking credentials in a nontraditional field.
- Financial need.
Regulations
Career Development Grant funds are available for:
- Educational expenses.
- Living expenses.
- Dependent child care.
- Travel to professional meetings, conferences, or seminars, as long as it does not exceed 10% of the grant.
Except where expressly stated otherwise, Career Development Grants are NOT available for:
- Purchase of equipment.
- Indirect costs.
- Research assistants.
- Previous expenditures, deficits or repayment of loans.
- Publication costs.
- Institutional (overhead) costs.
- Tuition for dependent’s education
AAUW regards the acceptance of a grant as a contract requiring fulfillment of the following terms:
- Career Development Grants are one-time-only awards.
- Career Development Grants are direct financial assistance to the applicant and cannot be administered by an academic institution or organization at which the applicant is employed.
- Funding may not be used for activities that will benefit, supplement or aid academic institutions with which applicants are affiliated.
- Career Development Grants do not provide funding for partial year coursework, prerequisite coursework or coursework that begins before July 1, 2021, or ends after June 30, 2022. Grants may not be deferred.
- All Career Development Grant recipients are required to sign a contract as acceptance of the award. Retain these instructions, as they will become part of the grant contract if the applicant is awarded a grant.
- Grants are awarded in two equal payments at the beginning and the midpoint of the fiscal year (pending receipt of a satisfactory midyear progress report).
- Any tax liability associated with the receipt of a Career Development Grant is the sole responsibility of the applicant. Specific questions regarding income tax matters should be addressed with the Internal Revenue Service, the applicant’s financial aid office or a personal tax adviser. (AAUW is a nonprofit, tax- exempt 501(c)(3) public charity founded for educational purposes.)
Required Components
Start the application process by clicking on the link to access the application and create an account through our vendor site. Complete all required components in the following tabs.
- Eligibility.
Applicants must pass the eligibility quiz to be reviewed by the selection panel.
- Applicant.
- Recommendation.
Your recommendation must be submitted by a college counselor or adviser, an instructor or a work supervisor who knows you well. AAUW does not accept references from dossier services. - Academics.
- C.V./Résumé.
- Narratives.
- Budget.\
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