Two awards worth up to $50,000 each are the centerpieces of CIC’s new American Graduate Fellowships program. This initiative, launched in spring 2006, aims to promote doctoral study in the humanities by the most talented graduates of smaller, private liberal arts colleges and universities. Renewable for a second year, the fellowships will be awarded annually for a period of five years. “It is a very generous program,” comments Debra Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, “of which CIC should be proud.”

The fellowships will directly support a few stellar graduates of small colleges, but also have two larger purposes: to encourage the best students at CIC colleges to apply for PhD work in the humanities at top-tier private research institutions; and to raise awareness at leading graduate schools that small colleges remain a rich source of future doctoral students.

“This is a much-needed initiative,” says Theda Skocpol, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. David Brandt, president of George Fox University (OR), observes, “The small college or university environment leads to more cross-disciplinarity than what is found at most larger institutions, and our graduates in the humanities have developed their skills through intense, one-on-one interaction with thoughtful teacher-scholars. The world of the humanities needs such voices.”

“The engagement on small college campuses between students and the great issues in the humanities is up close and personal,” notes John Strassburger, president of Ursinus College (PA). “Their professors light the fires that make students into budding scholars. For humanities education to flourish we must enable the best of these students to go on to graduate school. CIC’s new fellowship program is just what is needed to make that happen more often.”

A 2006 CIC analysis of the Survey of Earned Doctorates shows that as recently as 1980, 28.2 percent of new PhD recipients in the humanities were alumni of smaller colleges and universities. In 2003, that proportion had fallen to 22.9 percent. CIC is concerned that the small colleges’ share of the doctoral pipeline in the humanities is likely to shrink even more unless the situation is addressed now. A report from the American Historical Association in 2005 reached a similar conclusion to the CIC study: “After decades of lowering the barriers of class and privilege, the ranks of new history PhDs are growing less diverse…. [Only] a small number of private liberal arts colleges played a critical part in feeding undergraduates into the pipeline of future history PhDs.”

The American Graduate Fellowships are funded by a generous grant from the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation of Wichita Falls, Texas. “Talent and knowledge are not found in just one area of the country or in one type or size of educational institution,” points out Teresa Pontius, the Foundation’s executive director. “By supporting the American Graduate Fellowships and focusing on smaller and mid-sized liberal arts colleges and universities, new talents and knowledge can be allowed the opportunity to flourish.” Pontius adds, “We are proud to be partners with the Council of Independent Colleges in this important fellowship program.”

Applicants for the American Graduate Fellowships must be citizens of the United States and graduating seniors or very recent graduates (up to one year out) of an eligible undergraduate institution—any college or university in the 2000 Carnegie Classifications BA-Liberal Arts, BA-General, MA-I, and MA-II. Preference in the selection process will go to applicants from colleges that enroll fewer than 3,000 undergraduates. Applications are due October 17, 2006, and the first awards will be made in January 2007 for graduate study beginning in fall 2007. The finalists will be identified by an expert panel of distinguished humanities scholars.

“It is essential that we draw strong people from liberal arts colleges into the research and teaching ranks to help renew the entire professoriate,” argues Niall Slater, Dobbs Professor of Latin and Greek at Emory University, president of Phi Beta Kappa, and a member of the committee that will advise CIC on selections. “I’m honored to be part of the project.” Slater is a graduate of The College of Wooster (OH).

The eligible fields of doctoral study include history, philosophy, literature and languages, and fine arts. Interdisciplinary doctoral programs that incorporate one or more of these disciplines may also be eligible. The American Graduate Fellowships can be used to support doctoral study at any of 23 institutions (see below). Additional information about the American Graduate Fellowships and application forms are available here or by email at americangrad@cic.nche.edu.