NSF GRFP Fellows at Stony Brook University

The Graduate School serves as the administrative home for Stony Brook graduate students in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).

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NSF fellows receive a three-year, annual stipend of $37,000. Funding is to be used within five years. Fellows must declare their status (tenure or reserve) for the upcoming academic year in the GRFP Research.gov Module each April, as notified by the NSF. A Summer (June 1st) or Fall (September 1st) start date is also selected.

After the fellowship declaration deadline has passed, the Graduate Finance team reaches out to tenured fellows and their graduate program coordinators to begin appointment paperwork. The annual stipend is paid out bi-weekly on Fridays. Direct deposit enrollment is available through the RF self-service website. Fellows who do not enroll in direct deposit will be issued a Key Bank pay card.

In addition to the bi-weekly stipend, NSF fellows are entitled to a Cost of Education allowance and optional health insurance. Details can be found be found below.

Cost of Education (COE) Allowance

An annual $5,280 COE allowance is granted to tenured NSF fellows only. Typically, the first-priority of these funds is to pay the cost of health insurance premiums. If you do not elect health insurance, funds can be used for the following approved expenses only:

Campus Fees

If you would like to put your COE allowance toward any remaining fees not covered by the broad-based fee scholarship, please email Graduate School Finance and Administration. A request will then be generated to the Office of Grants Management (OGM). After OGM reviews, the Office of the Bursar is notified to cut the check and apply it to the requested fees.

Books, Memberships, Software, and Other Educational Supplies/Materials

If you wish to purchase supplies/materials for research, please submit and email to Graduate School Finance and Administration for approval. This can be done one of two ways:
1. Email Graduate School Finance and Administration to check eligibility and availability on the SUNY procurement system (Wolfmart). Typically these purchases will be made via Amazon. Be sure to include detailed information, including links to the items you wish to purchase.
2. Email Graduate School Finance and Administration to check eligibility prior to making any purchases. In lieu of Wolfmart, purchases could be made out-of-pocket and then submitted for reimbursement through the NSF Expense Reimbursement Form. The Graduate School will review the submission.
Typically, expense reimbursements are sent as paper checks to the address on file. If you would like to set up a direct deposit for reimbursements, please submit an ACH Payment Enrollment Form*. There are instructions for completion in the upper left-hand corner of the form.
*The ACH Payment Enrollment Form is for reimbursements only. For direct deposit of the bi-weekly stipend payments, please visit RF Self-Service.

Computer Equipment/ Laptop

This applies to the purchase of a laptop computer, desktop computer, and tablet only. Computer equipment over $500 must be purchased on the fellow's behalf by the Graduate Finance team. Please email Graduate School Finance and Administration with detailed information of the computer you are interested in purchasing.

Travel(Domestic and International)

Travel guidelines can be found on Procurement's website. For travel reimbursement, please utilize the NSF Travel Reimbursement Form. We would advise that any NSF GRFP Fellow seeking to utilize COE funds for travel purchases or for reimbursement, first contact our team Graduate School Finance and Administration.

Health Insurance

As a tenured NSF Fellow, you have Two Health Insurance options:

1. The Research Foundation's Fellowship Health Insurance Plan (Empire Blue Cross), details of which are outlined in detail on the Human Resources Services website.

2. The Domestic Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP), details of which are outlined in detail on the Student Health Services website.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)

When a Fellow is on tenure, the Institution receives a $16,000 allowance from the NSF, to offset required tuition and fees. Stony Brook utilizes $10,720 of the $16,000 to cover those tuition and fees and allows the Fellow to access the remaining $5,280 as detailed above. Many choose to use this to cover their health insurance premiums.
Most Fellows will utilize their entire annual Cost of Education allowance to cover health insurance premiums.
For those Fellows already covered under another’s health insurance plan, you may utilize the COE for fee coverage and additional educational related expenses (as outlined above).
There are additional funding opportunities available through the Graduate Student Organization (GSO). For example, the Resource Access Project (RAP) provides travel grants (up to $500/fiscal year) to students attending conferences, and the Distinguished Travel Award offers monetary support to students who present their work at prestigious conferences, performances, and professional meetings. The GSO typically sends a blast email to all students when applications open. In the meantime, more information can be found here on the GSO website.
As per NSF, Stipends may be considered taxable income. Fellows may find it helpful to consult the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Tax Topic 421: Scholarships, Fellowship Grants, and Other Grants and Publication 970: Tax Benefits for Education. Specific questions regarding the taxation of Fellowship funding and personal tax liability should be referred to the IRS. As such, NSF will not respond to questions regarding tax issues.