Financial Aid

Students engaged in graduate study and research in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign find an environment where collaboration among faculty members and students is nurtured and rewarded. The students’ contributions are recognized and valued. In many cases, this recognition comes in the form of financial awards that enable students to devote concentrated attention to their studies.

Assistantships

Virtually all doctoral candidates receive assistantships which are exempt from payment of tuition and some fees.

Graduate Traineeships

Available for full-time students pursuing teacher certification and provide exemption from payment of tuition and some fees.

Grant Funding Options

Faculty write many grants that fund students.  The funding may include a stipend, tuition, travel, or any number of expenses.  Following are some of the current options:

  • PREP Project - Preparing Relationship-based Early Intervention Personnel
  • Project BLEND -A Federally-Funded Doctoral Leadership in Early Childhood Special Education
  • Project LEAD- Preparing leaders in supporting students with disabilities in high need schools in gaining access to the general curriculum.
  • SCORE - Preparing Leaders in Secondary Curriculum, Outcomes, and REsearch
  • ACCESS - is a masters level personnel preparation program designed to develop highly skilled, innovative special education teachers with expertise in severe, multiple disabilities.  Options within the program include:  On-Campus LBSI Program, On Campus Cohort - LBSII in Multiple Disabilities, and Chicago Cohort - LBSII in Multiple Disabilities.  Learn more through the links above.

Other Financial Aid

(e.g., fellowships and assistantships) is available to part-time and other master’s degree students on a competitive basis.

There are also six monetary awards provided to Special Education Students

JoAnn Bargiel Eisenberg Scholarship -- $1000:

Provided to student in the Department of Special Education. Preference given to a student in a master’s program in Special Education, planning on pursuing a teaching career in an urban setting.
Dr. Eisenberg received a B.S. in 1968 and a M.Ed in 1972 in Learning Disabilities from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Campaign.  She worked in the field of Learning Disabilities at the secondary level for several years before receiving a Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of Chicago.  She and her husband, Marshall, also a UofI alum, lived in Chicago.  They have two sons.
 

Robert Bruce Reinoehl Memorial Award -- $1,300

To provide a graduate student award in the Department of Special Education in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Having received his Master’s degree in 1992 from the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Robert Bruce Reinoehl was close to completing his Ph.D. in the Department of Special Education when he tragically died. In loving memory of Bruce, the Reinoehl family directed memorial gifts and their own personal gifts to an endowment fund. Annually the "Robert Bruce Reinoehl Award" will be presented to a graduate student in the College of Education Special Education Department in the hopes that others will carry on Bruce’s work. Bruce came to the University of Illinois with vast "life experience." After completing his B.S. Degree in human services/psychology from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga he spent more than fifteen years professionally involved in the field of special education. He held Master’s degree level professional positions working with a variety of services for children and adults with special problems or disabilities. He was involved in staff training to enhance quality, humane services. In coming to the University of Illinois, Bruce hoped to gain the credentials he needed to support his reputation and to add credibility to his contributions in the field. A personal statement from Bruce’s records: "One of my primary interests revolves around the provisions of quality training to paraprofessionals who are typically the foundation of all applied settings, both in classrooms and residential programs. It is my long term goal to impact this problem which may directly influence the quality of services received by various special populations regardless of the service setting." Through the "Robert Bruce Reinoehl Award," others who share Bruce’s aspirations will receive support as they work toward a graduate degree in special education.
 

Bansau Scholarships -- $7,700

"...scholarships for physically disabled students, for facilities for physically disable students, for scholarships for student who intent to teach physically disabled students, or any one or more of these purposes, at the discretion of the beneficiaries."
 

Albin and Young Award -- $6,900 graduate students -- $1,000 undergraduate students

For exceptional students in the Department of Special Education.
 

Margaret Westerbeck Award -- $3,500

To exceptional students pursuing graduate degrees in the Department of Special Education
 

Special Education Student Award -- $1,200

Unrestricted

M. Ray and Frances Karnes Scholarship

An endowment was established by Ray and Frances Karnes in memory of their son Christopher who died in 1999. This fund
shall be used to provide scholarships and/or research awards to graduate students enrolled in the College of Education in the
area of gifted education and /or human resource education at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign. The award
rotates between the HRE department (to honor Ray’s career there as department head) and gifted education in the Special
Education Department.