Graduate Opportunity Program (GOP)

Entering students pursuing terminal or professional master’s degrees who meet the diversity criteria below are encouraged to apply.

The diversity of the people of California has been the source of innovative ideas and creative accomplishments throughout the state’s history into the present. Diversity – a defining feature of California’s past, present, and future – refers to the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. Such differences include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, and more. Regents Policy 4400: Policy on University of California Diversity Statement | Board of Regents

Eligibility

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be nominated by their home department
  • U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or undocumented students who qualify for nonresident supplemental tuition exemptions under AB 540
  • PhD, DrPH, DEnv, DMA, MD or DDS degrees, and self-supporting programs are not eligible
Fellows may not work in the first term of the award

Amount

Award Amount

  • One year of funding from the Division of Graduate Education
  • $25,000 stipend + fees/tuition + non-resident supplemental tuition (if applicable
    • Fall Quarter: $8,334 financial support for living expenses, tuition/fees, health insurance, nonresident supplemental tuition (if applicable), provided by the Division of Graduate Education.
    • Winter Quarter: $8,334 financial support for living expenses/salary in the form of a teaching/research assistantship or award, plus tuition/fees, health insurance, nonresident supplemental tuition (if applicable), provided by your department (financial support for living expenses/salary amount effective 2025-2026).
    • Spring Quarter: $8,334 financial support for living expenses, tuition/fees, health insurance, nonresident supplemental tuition (if applicable), provided by the Division of Graduate Education.
  • If awardee is in a professional degree program, the professional degree supplemental tuition is not provided by this award
Awardees may not work in the first term of the award

Apply

How to Apply

  • The deadline is the same as the deadline for your admissions application. Contact your prospective home department for any exceptions.
  • Review the GOP Application Instructions and complete the appropriate sections within the online admissions application, including the Personal Statement.

Accept

New Awardees: Accept Your Award

Welcome new Graduate Opportunity Program (GOP) award recipients! Please follow the steps below to ensure acceptance of your funding.  

Step 1: Complete your Statement of Intent (SIR) to register  

GOP awardees must first accept their admission to UCLA. To initiate your enrollment and access registration information, please create your UCLA Logon ID, then complete the Statement of Intent to Register and Statement of Legal Residence at MyUCLA. 

If you were previously a student at UCLA, you may log on directly to MyUCLA to complete the process. If you never had a UCLA logon, click on Create UCLA Logon/Password under the LOGIN box when you access MyUCLA.  

If you are not enrolling at UCLA, please let us know: SIR Questionnaire  

Step 2: Review and accept your GOP funding offers for the fall term from the Division of Graduate Education  

You will receive an official email from uclascholarships@fas.ucla.edu for each type of funding you have been offered: tuition/fees, financial support award, and non-resident supplementary tuition (NRST) – if applicable. You must take action to accept each component of this award. Be sure to check your spam/junk folder and consider adding uclascholarships@fas.ucla.edu to your address book. 

  • Review the offer email and click on the link that will take you to the award acceptance portal. You will have within 30 days from the date of this email to complete the acceptance process. 
  • Accept the offer in the award acceptance portal. 
  • Complete the “Post Acceptance Questions,” which serve as the terms and conditions for the award. 

You must complete these steps for each source of funding (tuition/fees, financial support award, and NRST – if applicable) to finalize your acceptance. You can expect the offer email within 1-2 weeks after you have completed the SIR process. If you fail to accept the offer within the provided time frame, the offer will be rescinded. 

If you need assistance, please contact us via  askgrad@grad.ucla.edu and include “GOP Acceptance” in the subject line of the email. You may also visit our virtual office hours on Tuesdays and Fridays, 9 am – 3 pm, via zoom.