Funding Your Education

The University of Kentucky School of Information Science offers a wide variety of options for students who are in need of financial assistance. In addition to Federal aid, SIS offers opportunities for fellowships, scholarships, internships, graduate assistantships and more. Some are offered by the University or library associations. See below for details and how to apply.

Federal Financial Aid (All Students)

All applicants and students are encouraged to apply for Federal financial aid by submitting their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Interested applicants should also review the information available at the UK Financial Aid web site.

Fellowships (Graduate Students

Fellowships require no service. Each fellowship has distinct deadlines and criteria for eligiblity. Interested applicants should review the criteria and application requirements on the Graduate School’s website: https://gradschool.uky.edu/fellowships. Applicants will also access the fellowship application portal from that website.

Please note, all applicants must be accepted by their program and The Graduate School and have an activated LinkBlue ID and @uky.edu email address to apply for any fellowship.

Once you have submitted the Graduate School’s fellowship application, please email sis [at] uky.edu (Student Affairs) to notify the School of Information Science of the fellowship(s) for which you applied.

Assistantships (Graduate Students)

Graduate Assistantships require the student to provide service, generally 20 hours per week, in an on-campus library. Most assistantships begin in the Fall and run through the following Summer. Students selected for an assistantship receive a tuition scholarship for the Fall and Spring semesters, health coverage, and a stipend.

Assistantships are awarded for a single academic year. Students seeking an additional year of funding through an assistantship must reapply for the second year.

Only applicants who have first applied to the School of Information Science will be considered for assistantships.

The application deadline is March 1. The application for assistantships is available online.

For additional information about funding, visit the Graduate School web site at https://gradschool.uky.edu/student-funding

SIS Scholarships (Library Science Graduate Students)

*Applications due by June 15th, awarded in Fall

Hallie Day Blackburn Scholarship Fund supports Kentucky residents who seek careers in public libraries. The award honors the late Hallie Day Blackburn who worked for many years for the Kentucky State Library.

Williena Burdine Broyles Memorial Endowed Scholarship was established in 2004 by Marvin Burdine to honor his sister Williena, a librarian in the Somerset, Kentucky school system for 25 years. To be eligible for the award students must be from one of Kentucky's Appalachian counties (as defined by the ARC), demonstrate financial need as determined by the Office of Financial Need and be a major in Library Science.

John Thomas Durham Graduate Student Fund was established by Henry Durham to honor his son Thomas, a graduate (’97) of the School of Library and Information Science. Income from the fund is used to support and enrich the experiences of SLIS graduate student(s) working in the UK Libraries. Graduate student expenses may be partially or totally supported with the income from the Fund. Recipients of the Fund are selected by the Director of School in consultation with the UK Dean of Libraries.

Helen E. Fry Memorial Scholarship Award supports student scholarships. The scholarship honors the memory of Helen Fry a (’34) School of Library and Information Science graduate.

Vivian Johnson MacQuown and Melissa MacQuown Forsyth Fellowship Fund supports graduate students seeking Library Science degrees. The award honors the memory of MacQuown a retired UK faculty member.

SLIS Alumni Endowed Fund provides one or more scholarships to graduate students who are enrolled in the School and show a need for financial assistance.

SLIS Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund supports graduate fellowships based on qualifications.

To apply for any of the above scholarships, please submit our online scholarship application.

Note: Preference will be given to students who have not received scholarship money from the School of Information Science. Scholarships are available to those applicants who have completed their application and been admitted into the program.

Professional Organizations (Library Science Graduate Students)

Other fellowship opportunities can be found at http://gradschool.uky.edu/fellowships-0.

The Kentucky Library Association has offered the Kentucky Library Association Scholarship for Minority Students the past several years. More information about that scholarship can be found at http://www.klaonline.org/scholarships965.cfm

Beta Phi Mu, the International Library Science Honor Society, makes available scholarships and other funding opportunities for students at ALA-accreditted programs each year. Students from SIS have received these awards in the past, and all are encouraged to apply online at https://www.betaphimu.org/scholarships.html.

Other groups that frequently offer funding for library students include the American Library Association, the Medical Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association.

ALA Spectrum Scholarship Program (Library Science Graduate Students)

The American Library Association Spectrum scholarships aim "to increase the number of racially and ethnically diverse professionals working as leaders in the field of library and information science to best position libraries and institutions at the core of today’s culturally diverse communities." Students may apply for the scholarship, a one-time, non-renewable award of $5000 made out in two installments, on the ALA website. In addition to the scholarship funds, recipients receive a complimentary one-year student ALA membership, ALA annual conference registration, and numerous other benefits. UK SIS has seen students awarded the Spectrum scholarship before and highly encourages eligible students to apply. The full range of ALA scholarships may be found on their website.