Carnegie Mellon University

Frequently Asked Questions

The Honors Fellowship Program is a Dietrich College initiative that allows you to fund – at any level – individual faculty-mentored student research projects.
All students who have been approved by their departments and the college to conduct honors research in the next academic year are eligible to apply for fellowships of up to $6,500 through the Honors Fellowships Program. A faculty committee reviews these applications and awards fellowships funded from gifts collected through the Dietrich College Honors Fellowship Program website.
  • $4,000 to the student for 10 full-time weeks of summer pre-honors research
  • $1,000 for the student to use for project-related expenses
  • $1,500 for the student’s faculty supervisor, to support his or her research
You can follow our students’ research on the Honors Fellows' Blog.
Yes.
Yes. You can make a gift to the Dietrich College Honors Fellowships General Fund. Gifts received in this fund will be distributed to student projects at the discretion of the Honors Program Director.
To ensure we are able to fund as many student projects as possible for a given summer, gifts should be received by May 31. Gifts received after May 31 will be applied to the ongoing work of the project selected, or if the particular project is not active, other honors fellowship projects at the discretion of the Honors Program Director. In general, gifts targeting specific projects are to be made within a specific time frame in the late winter/early spring months leading up to that summer research period. Donations to the program’s general fund can be made at any time.
First, browse the student projects and find one that interests you. (Remember the name of the project you would like to fund, as that will be your gift designation. Or, you may choose to support the Dietrich College Honors Fellowships General Fund.) Second, click “give now” and you will be sent to a secure page where you will be prompted to enter all pertinent information.
Yes. The Honors Fellowships website utilizes Carnegie Mellon University’s secure giving site. This site complies with all payment card industry (PCI) requirements.
Yes, you are able to select multiple designations when you make your gift online or indicate your preferred designations and corresponding gift amounts on your check.
Due to the short fundraising period of the Honors Fellowships program, please contact us before sending a check so that we can designate your gift to the correct project or projects. Please send e-mail to jd0x@andrew.cmu.edu or call the Honors Program Director at 412-268-6117.

Checks should be made payable to Carnegie Mellon University, with the designation on the notation line “Dietrich College Honors Fellowships, Student’s name project (e.g., Susan Johnson project),” and sent to:

Carnegie Mellon University
P.O. Box 371525
Pittsburgh, PA 15251-7525
Your gift to the Honors Fellowship Program may qualify for a tax deduction, but with a few exceptions. For example, gifts made to projects involving the participation of persons you know, such as family members and friends, while welcomed, do not qualify for tax deductions. For further clarification, please contact your financial advisor.
Should the student project that you fund be discontinued, the gift you made will be transferred to the Dietrich College Honors Fellowships General Fund. These monies will be divided among other honors students at the discretion of the Honors Program Director.
The college will distribute your funds to the student project you selected, even if the project does not receive full funding. The unfunded balance will be funded from the Dietrich College Honors Fellowships General Fund. The only exception would be if the project, for any reason, is discontinued.