Eligibility

The program is open to UCLA PhD students in all academic fields of study who:

• Are officially advanced to doctoral candidacy at the time they apply. “Officially” means ATC documents have been received by the Division of Graduate Education’s Academic & Postdoctoral Services office.
• Are U.S. citizens, permanent residents or registered California AB540 students. For those under AB540, funding will be provided only if AB131 is still in effect for the duration of the fellowship.
• Are continuing PhD students at UCLA who have a demonstrated record of advancing issues of inclusion and equity and showing a commitment to pursuing these efforts throughout their career.
• Are actively pursing a career in the professoriate.
• Received bachelor’s or a standalone master’s degree from a public or private California HSI (Department of Education’s national list of HSIs). Master’s degrees earned en route to the doctoral degree at UCLA are not eligible. Students who transferred to UC from a California Community College (CCC) that is federally designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution are eligible if they can demonstrate substantive and significant participation by having completed at least 24 semester units or quarter equivalent. All other criteria/requirements remain and must be met. The program understands and values the preparation and experience that many scholars bring as transfers from the CCC system.
• Are exceptional students, as demonstrated by student’s research achievements.
• A student who receives a UC-HBCU Initiative Fellowship is ineligible for the UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship. Cota-Robles awardees must have completed all years of the Cota-Robles funding before taking the UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship.
• Students may apply for the UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship in only one doctoral degree department (not major).

Award Amount

Program participants will receive a $37,000 stipend plus $10,000 for each awardee to use for the duration of the PhD for professional development opportunities that will expose, prepare and inspire the awardees to pursue the professoriate.

Deadline

February 9, 2026 to the DGE. Students are advised to consult with their departments about nomination timeline and procedures.

Applications that are not submitted on time, fail to follow the submission procedures listed below or forwarded as an incomplete application will be disqualified and not reviewed.  Applicants/departments will not be notified.  Revisions to applications after submission are not allowed; no exceptions.

How To Apply

By applying, students understand that they are giving their consent to disclose application information to University officials and to relevant funding committees.

The student must be nominated by their home academic department in order to be considered for this award. Please contact the home academic department for nomination timeline and procedures. 

Once the student is nominated, the department must forward the following materials to the DGE in this order, listed as a single, combined PDF file to askgrad@grad.ucla.edu. If there is a document that should be in landscape position and it is in portrait position, please rotate the document before you combine it into the single, combined PDF.

1. The student’s personal statement of career goals after receiving the degree (maximum two pages, double-spaced; minimum font size 11 pt., with at least 1” margins; documents in excess of two pages will not be forwarded for review).
2. Evidence that the student has a demonstrated record of advancing issues of inclusion and equity and showing a commitment to pursuing these efforts throughout their career. The document must be a maximum of two pages double spaced. Any abstract, image captions, graphs, tables, notes and/or references must also be double spaced and must be included within the two pages. Minimum font size 11 pt., with at least 1” margins. Documents in excess of two pages will not be forwarded for review.
3. The student’s resume or curriculum vitae that includes the following, as appropriate to the discipline:
   • Education (degrees earned and in progress, with dates; date of advancement to doctoral candidacy)
   • Extramural, departmental and Division of Graduate Education awards, prizes and fellowships (include year and amount)
   • Published and submitted manuscripts, if any, while a doctoral student at UCLA. Provide full citations, including start/end pages. Do not include manuscripts in preparation.
   • Conference presentations, if any, while a doctoral student at UCLA. Indicate the conference date and place, and whether it was a poster or oral presentation. If there are multiple authors, place an asterisk by the name of the presenter.
   • Other creative, academic and professional contributions in the student’s field, such as performances, exhibits, community and public service.
4. An unofficial transcript that includes Fall Quarter 2025 grades and an unofficial transcript from the qualifying California Hispanic-Serving Institution HSI (see hacu.net/images/hacu/OPAI/6.47%20HSI%20List%203.31.pdf).The UCLA transcript may be printed from MyUCLA. Do not submit a Degree Progress Report (DPR). Also include an unofficial
   • Students who have incomplete grades that remain unresolved (i.e., “I” grades) must provide a statement explaining the reason for the incomplete(s), the steps that will be taken to resolve the incomplete(s) and the timeline for doing so.
5. Two signed letters of reference on department letterhead, one of which must be from the dissertation chair. References should emphasize academic accomplishments and potential as an exceptional academic, as well as comment on the likelihood that the student will pursue a professoriate path after receiving the PhD.
   • The letters must be on official letterhead, signed by the writer, and emailed as a PDF file to askgrad@grad.ucla.edu.
   • It will be the student’s responsibility to ensure that the letters have been submitted on time. Be sure to follow up with your recommenders. The letters of recommendation are due on or before the UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship application deadline. Applications with missing letters of recommendation or with letters not submitted on time will be disqualified and not reviewed.

NOTE: Applications that are not submitted on time, fail to follow the submission procedures listed above or forwarded as an incomplete application will be disqualified and not reviewed.  Applicants/departments will not be notified.  Revisions to applications after submission are not allowed; no exceptions.

Expectations

Recipients must be registered and enrolled in at least 12 units during the entire academic year. At the time of each payment’s disbursement, recipients must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 and maintain at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA during the entire term of the award.

Awardees may not work at all; no exceptions.

Contact

askgrad@grad.ucla.edu