HFA Professional and Creative Master's Project Completion Grant

The College of Humanities and Fine Arts Professional and Creative Master’s Project Completion Grants provide up to $2,000 to support master’s theses or terminal creative activities. Funds are designed to cover costs related to producing new work, including research, materials, travel, or other activities related to developing the MFA thesis or other professional master’s projects. 

Eligibility

To be eligible, applicants must be:

• Enrolled in an MFA or professional master’s program. 
• In good standing as defined in your department’s graduate student handbook. 
• A current graduate student during the award period.

Application Components 

The application form is available on the UMass InfoReady portal. For Spring 2027 projects, the application deadline is Friday, November 6, 2026, 11:59 p.m.

The following documents are required at the time of application:  

• Resume or CV
• Artistic statement (not to exceed 100 words)
• Project description, which includes, goals and new work you plan to produce,  contribution of the work, how award will be used to help you meet the goal(s) (not to exceed two pages)
• Up to two images or artistic materials (OPTIONAL)
• Budget and budget justification. Include the amount requested, why the cost is necessary, how it connects to the project goals, and how the amount was calculated. Do not include funds for “miscellaneous” expenses. Current mileage amounts may be found on the UMass Controller’s Office website.
• Letter of recommendation from advisor, including statement confirming that student is in good standing. Applicants will provide the advisor's email address on the application, InfoReady will solicit the letter. 

Eligible Expenses and Award Management  

Expenses eligible for reimbursement must be related to producing new work, including research, or other activities of the MFA thesis or other professional master’s project. Expenses such as those for project-related travel, fees to use libraries, archives, or databases for research or creative work, and materials are eligible. Expenses related to salaries, computers and tablets, online subscriptions, and training are ineligible.

Award recipients should work with their department’s business manager to process all purchases and reimbursements.

Award monies are to be used to support the originally intended project. Extensions and repurposing are not permitted.   

Contact

Lisa Green, Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Student Success, lgree [at] linguist [dot] umass [dot] edu (lgreen[at]linguist[dot]umass[dot]edu)