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Section 5: Financial Aid Programs:
Research Funding Options

Walden Fellowships

Walden offers three fellowships to support research activities. More detailed information about the following fellowships available to Walden students can be found in the Tuition and Financial Aid section of the Walden website under FellowshipsNote: Fellowships support research activities and as such may not be used for tuition remission. The fellowship programs are administered by the Office of Research and Doctoral Services, not the Office of Financial Aid.

Don E. Ackerman Research Fellowship in Educational Leadership

The Don E. Ackerman Research Fellowship in Educational Leadership—named for a significant supporter, owner, and chairman of the board of Walden University over the years since 1992—supports research that advances leadership in education through better understanding or practice. The fellowship provides funding to support faculty or doctoral student research projects that contribute either theoretical or applied knowledge that may potentially change education at the P–12 level (prekindergarten through secondary school), in any education field (e.g., traditional school subject areas, music and the arts, technical or vocational education, remedial education) or education position (e.g., teacher, administrator, policy-maker, curriculum specialist).

Research and Application for Social Change Grant: Social Change Fellows Program

The Research and Applications for Social Change Grant was established to enable members of the Walden community to make a significant and meaningful change in academic and social communities, both locally and globally. The grant will be awarded to the applicants who submit outstanding proposals that reflect the university’s mission to foster social change through research and the education of scholar-practitioners as well as Walden’s determination to uniquely effect positive social change worldwide. The Research and Applications for Social Change Grant is one of the mechanisms used to select Walden Social Change Fellows. Consequently, faculty and student recipients of the Research and Applications for Social Change Grant will be members of the Walden Social Change Fellows Program (SCFP). Fellows will be expected to conduct their proposed research and participate in SCFP program activities (as detailed in the SCFP guidelines).

Research Fellowship in Distance Education

The Research Fellowship in Distance Education provides funding to support faculty and student research endeavors that contribute both theoretical and applied knowledge to the growing field of distance education. This program is designed to encourage research conducted in the name of the university and to continuously improve the distance-education programs at Walden through research.

External Research Grants

Funding from external agencies (such as private foundations) is another means of deferring the costs associated with conducting research. Research and Sponsored Programs, in the Office of Research and Doctoral Services, makes available tools and resources to assist students in identifying external grants to support doctoral research. Student researchers may email Research and Sponsored Programs with questions about determining eligibility and how to apply for external grant opportunities they have identified as possible research funding sources. More information about external funding opportunities can be found at the Walden Office of Research and Doctoral Services website.

Please note that most external research grant funds obtained to support research activities cannot be used for tuition remission.