The Garman Art Conservation Department provides fellowships to its registered graduate students in good academic standing for all three years of the program. Fellowship stipends are currently $22,500 per year for first and second-year students and up to $25,000 for third-year students. Third-year students often receive additional fellowship support from their internship sites. Students in the first and second year of study receive the same level of fellowship support while the third year is varied depending on internship site funding.
Fellowships are provided by a wide range of supporters including foundations, federal grants, and individual donors. The department is continually seeking support to help bolster our graduate student fellowship endowment.
Buffalo State's Academic Affairs Office provides two diversity scholarships per year that cover all tuition costs for three years. More information on the requirements and an application can be found here. The application for this scholarship is competitive and will be sent to program applicants once they are invited to interview. The due date for the diversity scholarship applications is March 8, 2024 at 5pm EST.
The department was recently awarded funding by a national anonymous foundation for a third diversity tuition scholarship in August 2022. The Conservation Training Diversity Tuition Scholarship program is intended to assist enrolled graduate students in the department to foster an inclusive
environment that appreciates and values an increasingly diverse student body. This application is also competitive and will be sent to program applicants once they are invited to interview with a due date of March 8, 2024 at 5pm EST. The application for this fellowship can be found here.
While both diversity scholarships offered are very similar in scope and requirements, program applicants can apply for both but would only be awarded one of them.
For more information on financial aid, please visit Buffalo State's Graduate Studies website: https://suny.buffalostate.edu/graduate/current#fa
Educational loans are available to graduate students both from federal or private sources and the department.
Students in need of a loan should first contact the Financial Aid Office, Cleveland Hall 309 (716-878-4901) at the beginning of the year in which they are applying for admission to fill out the appropriate paperwork. Students will be asked to file a FAFSA (Free Application for Student Financial Aid) form to establish their level of need.
If additional loan funds are required beyond the amount provided through the Financial Aid Office, students may consider the department's O’Keeffe Conservation Student Loan Fund with the purpose of helping conservation graduate students in need. Entering students are allowed to borrow a maximum of $3,000 in their second semester. Thereafter, students may borrow up to a total of $10,000. Loan interest rates are low, being comparable to other nationally available education loans awarded for graduate studies. This fund was originally established with gifts from both the Mellon Foundation and Ms. Georgia O’Keeffe in 1970. Those who borrow from this fund eventually repay the fund and that in turn helps future students.
