There are a variety of different sources that fund research. On this page, we have sorted funding opportunities into "Internal" and "External" funding.
Internal funding means that only West Chester University Students are eligible.
External funding means that all graduate students are eligible (not only West Chester University students).
The Graduate Dean's Professional Development Award provides funding to current graduate students to attend conferences that are beneficial to professional development and degree advancement. Examples include academic and professional association conferences related to a student's field of study. Training courses or classes are not eligible for the award. The award will only reimburse conference registration fees. Travel and other associated expenses will not be eligible for reimbursement. Graduate students may apply for up to $500 towards conference registration if presenting, and up to $250 for conference registration if only participating. Students may apply for the award once per academic year for one conference, must attend the conference in the same academic year, and must be enrolled as a student at the time of the conference.
Applications are reviewed two times per year. Students are encouraged to submit an application for the award as early as possible in the semester to increase the likelihood of funding.
Some of West Chester University's colleges have funds for graduate student research. Please check out your college's website (linked below) to explore resources and funding opportunities. Be sure to also look at your specific department's website, to see if any funding opportunities are listed there.
Also check out Scholarships for Graduate Students sorted by College.
The Graduate Student Association offers funding sources for your graduate education, such as financial aid, scholarships, graduate assistantships, and more. We hope that these resources will be helpful to you as a graduate student at West Chester University.
Please check back in Fall 2025 for this opportunity. Click here to go to their website!
West Chester University invites applications for our Spring 2025 Student Research and Creative Activity Awards (SRCA). The purpose of the SRCA is to recognize outstanding graduate and undergraduate students who have COMPLETED original research or creative projects in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Student awardees will be given monetary awards. Students must be enrolled at the university during the Spring 2025 semester to be eligible to apply.
Applications are currently closed. Come back in Spring 2026!
GrantForward is a comprehensive database that contains more than 83,000 funding opportunities covering more than 20,000 sponsors worldwide, providing the ability for WCU faculty, students, and staff to identify grants to fund their research. GrantForward’s powerful search system helps to lessen the hassle of searching for grants with advanced search filters and specialized search features. GrantForward researcher profiles allow researchers to highlight their research achievements and interests to receive personalized grant recommendations that match their research needs.
The Compost Research & Education Foundation (CREF) scholarship is for $4,000, and also includes an invitation to present research findings at a US Composting Council Annual Conference during a CREF research session.
The goal of this scholarship is to bring assistance to students doing compost-related research and to spark interest in future careers in the composting industry.
The RAM Research Directory is a tool designed to connect researchers, help students find faculty mentors, and provide a listing for student research and creative activity opportunities (paid and unpaid) that are currently available.
A graduate assistantship is an opportunity to work on campus in a research or service-oriented capacity in order to gain valuable work experience in higher education or an academic field and earn a tuition waiver and stipend.
Federal work study programs are available to eligible graduate and undergraduate students who are in need of financial support. At WCU, we have a database of work study positions by department for you to browse. Some of these positions offer paid research or creative activity experience. If you are interested in pursuing a work study position, reach out to the Financial Aid office to identify your next steps.