CLAGS Scholarships
Whether you are a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender – or not – you should take note of the numerous LGBT scholarships that are available through the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), as they can go quite a ways towards helping you to finance your college education.
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies was established in 1991, and it is known as one of the first university based research centers in the United States that is dedicated to concerns of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. The organization sponsors several public programs, and also offers numerous fellowships and financial awards to college students and scholars. The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies is located at the City University of New York, and is often referred to as CLAGS.
Among the many fellowships and LGBT scholarships available through the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, the Martin Duberman Fellowship may be the most popular. The deadline for applying for this award occurs in mid-November each year, and the award amount is $7500. This award is made to either a tenured professor at a university, or to an advanced independent scholar who is doing research on the LGBT experience.
The Joan Heller-Diane Bernard Fellowship is also managed through the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. This fund makes two awards in the amount of $5000 each and two additional awards in the amount of $1250 each annually. The deadline for applying is mid-November of each year. This award is made to a graduate student, an independent researcher, or a college professor who does not have tenure.
Graduate students, academics, and independent scholars are also invited to apply for the CLAGS Fellowship by mid-November of each, for an award worth $3500. This award is given based on your dissertation or a book that you have written. Additional awards that are available through the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies include the Robert Giard Memorial Fellowship, in the amount of $7500, the Out History Fellowship in the amount of $2500, the Sylvia Rivera Award in the amount of $1000, The Paul Monette-Roger Horwitz Dissertation Prize in the amount of $1000, the Graduate Student Paper Award in the amount of $250, and the Undergraduate Student Paper Award in the amount of $250.
While you may not be eligible for all of the gay scholarships available, the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies encourages you to apply for all of those which you are eligible for, as more than one award can be made to you from different funds. If you do apply for more than one award, you only need to submit two letters of recommendation in total, but there is a different application for each program.
It is important to note that this is one of the few LGBT scholarships or fellowship opportunities available to the LGBT community that does not require the applicant to be a citizen of the United States.
