Fund Details
Charles P. Howland Postgraduate Fellowship
Competition Type
Yale

Brief Description:

The Charles P. Howland Postgraduate Fellowship is awarded each year to graduating seniors in Yale College to support projects abroad, primarily volunteer public service, for one year (10-12 months). The Howland Fellowship is sometimes awarded in conjunction with the Cohen Public Service Postgraduate Fellowship for eligible public service projects with budgets that exceed $10,000.  In previous years, awards have ranged from $5,500 to $20,000. Please be advised, award amounts vary and there is no set award for this fellowship.

**The Yale College Postgraduate Fellowships Common Application will open on Monday October 21, 2024)** 

Description:

The Charles P. Howland Fellowship is awarded each year to graduating seniors in Yale College to support projects abroad, primarily volunteer public service. Candidates must demonstrate promise of useful activity in efforts to improve international relations and present a proposed project of some benefit to society. Criteria for selection include the feasibility and validity of the proposed project and the candidate's seriousness of purpose and relevant academic and other preparation. The award does not support formal graduate or independent study and academic research.

The Fellowship was established in 1947 by Frances L. Howland as a tribute to her brother Charles P. Howland, Class of 1891. He attended Harvard Law School, became Professor of Government at Yale, and was very active in international relations. He was chairman of the Greek Refugee Settlement Commission of the League of Nations; in 1917 he was one of four attorneys sent to England and France on a special mission of the U.S. Department of State and the American Red Cross in connection with relief service for American prisoners of war and the feeding of Serbian prisoners in Austria and Germany. Howland served as director of research for the Council on Foreign Relations, chairman of the research committee of the Institute of Pacific Relations, Dodge lecturer at Yale on "The United States in International Relations," and director of the Foreign Policy Association. At the time of his death in 1932 he was writing a book on Manchuria.

Duration: 10 - 12 months. Projects of shorter duration will not be considered. 

This fellowship is administered by the Yale Office of Fellowships.

Application Information:

The deadline for the Charles P. Howland Postgraduate Fellowship via the Yale College Postgraduate Fellowships Common Application is Wednesday January 29, 2025 at 1:00PM

Applications received late or submitted via e-mail or in person will NOT be accepted.  It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that all elements of their application, including reference letters are submitted by the deadline. 

Application for this fellowship is managed through a single common application. To learn more and start an application, search Yale Student Grants for the Yale College Postgraduate Fellowships Common Application page and click "Apply." Your single application will be considered for this and the other fellowships you are eligible for and that may overlap with your proposal under the umbrella of the Yale College Postgraduate Fellowships (e.g. Cohen, Gordon Grand, Howland, Parker Huang, and Glee).

A complete Howland application includes:

1. Online Application
2. Two Letters of reference
3. Language Evaluation (for international projects requiring non-native language skills)
4. Letter of Affiliation (optional)
5. Project Proposal / Program of Study
6. Resume / List of Activities or Awards
7. Transcripts

I
nterested applicants should attend an upcoming information session offered by the Office of Fellowships and may schedule an appointment with Dr. Mya Fisher, the advisor for the Yale College Postgraduate Fellowships. Make sure to review the fellowship descriptions and watch the recorded information session or attend and upcoming one prior to meeting with Dr. Fisher. Advising appointments are not intended to be 1-on-1 information sessions. Click here to view a calendar of upcoming information sessions and events. Meeting with Dr. Fisher is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged.

Special Eligibility Requirements:

Applicants must be graduating seniors from Yale College.

Any field or discipline is eligible. 

The fellowship activity must take place outside the United States (internationally).

There is only one application cycle each academic year. Students graduating in December may apply for the YCPG Fellowships in the spring semester following their graduation. For example, a December 2025 graduate will apply in spring 2026. However, the earliest a December graduate would be able to begin a fellowship is May 2026. 

Restrictions to Use of Award:

The fellowship activity must begin BEFORE September 1 of the award year.

To satisfy the minimum duration requirements of the fellowship, the applicant's project must be his or her primary activity, conducted without interruption, for the duration of the experience. 

Additionally, a recipient of any Yale College Postgraduate Fellowship CANNOT undertake any other activities while a fellow. Such activities include but are not limited to part-/full-time work, internship, research, formal educational study, etc.

This fellowship may not be combined with any other fellowship award, internal or external to Yale. If you are awarded a Yale College Postgraduate Fellowship, you cannot accept any other fellowships or awards that overlap the duration of the YC Postgraduate Fellowship. If awarded multiple fellowships, you will be expected to decide on one of the options.

This fellowship award cannot be deferred. 

Yale University policy requires that certain types of research projects involving human subjects be reviewed by an institutional review board (IRB) prior to the start of the study to ensure that the project meets University requirements and any applicable regulations. Click here to see if your project needs to be reviewed (click on "student projects"), for advice on working with human subjects, and for more information about the process and requirements.

All interested applicants must review the Yale University International Travel Policy. Projects in specific countries within approved regions listed below may not be eligible for funding based on current State Department Warnings and the Yale University International Travel Policy.

Links to Additional Information:

  1. Fellowship Policies
  2. Office of Fellowships
  3. Yale University International Travel Policy
  4. Previous Winners
  5. Recorded Information Sessions and Workshops



Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Mya Fisher at mya.fisher@yale.edu