Graduate Student Travel Awards
The Graduate and Professional School’s Graduate Student Travel Awards support educational and professional development opportunities for graduate students. The Graduate & Professional School does this through two awards:
Graduate Student Research and Presentation (RAP) Travel Award
The program reimburses students up to $1000 for travel expenses associated with academic conferences and research projects in the United States and abroad.
Additional support for the Graduate and Professional School’s Research and Presentation Travel Awards is generously provided by Association of Former Students and the George & Barbara Bush Foundation. The George & Barbara Bush Foundation is dedicated to the idea that public service is a noble calling. It works to preserve the historic legacy of President George Bush and support the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, The Bush School of Government and Public Service and the local community.
Graduate Student Child Care (CC) Travel Award
*NEW* October 2024 Opportunity!
The Graduate Student Child Care Travel Award reimburses students up to $750 for expenses incurred to care for children (either expenses for child travel or child care at home) while attending academic conferences, professional development opportunities, or conducting research in the United States or abroad*.
*NOTE: Travel opportunity must be outside of the local Bryan/College Station area.
Graduate Student Eligibility
Before submitting your application, read through the following carefully and ensure that you meet all of the requirements for eligibility.
Eligibility Requirements for all travel awards
| Travel Start Date (deadline is determined by the travel start date) | Deadline (11:59 p.m. CT) |
| September 1 - November 30 | August 1 |
| December 1 - February 28/29 | November 1 |
| March 1 - May 30 | February 1 |
| June 1 - August 31 | May 1 |
We are unable to accept applications after the deadline has closed. Please submit your application by the deadline (even if you have not received your abstract acceptance yet).
Child Care Travel Award Applicants ONLY: We understand that extenuating circumstances may arise when planning child care. If an unexpected change in child care plans arises after the deadline has passed, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss a potential extension. Otherwise, please ensure your application is submitted by the deadline, even if you have not received your abstract acceptance. Not being aware of the award until after the deadline has passed does not merit a deadline extension.
All travel applications (domestic and international) must meet current Texas A&M travel guidelines AND have an approved Emburse Travel Pre-Approval before travel.
- INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: All graduate and professional students pursuing an independent international experience MUST register with Education Abroad. Registration is a prerequisite for Emburse approval and must be completed before submitting your Emburse Travel Pre-Approval. See below for additional information.
- All graduate students traveling for university business using university funds must submit an Emburse Travel Pre-Approval and have it approved prior to travel (both domestic and international). You must include a copy of your submitted Emburse Travel Pre-Approval in your Travel Award application.
- Note: The Emburse Travel Pre-Approval does not need to be approved at the time of application for the Grad School Travel Award, but must be approved before travel can occur. Please upload it with its current status and email grad-travel-award@tamu.edu when it is approved.
- If you are not employed by the University, please work with your Academic Department's Business Coordinator to submit your Emburse Travel Pre-Approval.
REQUIREMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: Per university foreign travel rules (Standard Administrative Procedures 21.01.03.M0.02), all graduate and professional students pursuing an independent international experience MUST register with Education Abroad http://abroad.tamu.edu/. If awarded, any cost (e.g. registration, Cultural Insurance Services International (CISI)) associated with registering with Education Abroad will be covered by the Graduate and Professional School up to $50 (i.e. students do not need to use part of the $1,000 Travel Award to cover these costs). Education Abroad tracks and assists students participating in international experiences that meet one of the following criteria:
- Experiences granting credit (TAMU credit or transfer credit from another institution),
- Non-credit bearing experiences (e.g., opportunities to research, intern, teach abroad, volunteer, or attend a conference/workshop/training),
- Experience funded by a TAMU entity (e.g., departmental support for a conference or research), or
- Experiences that satisfy a degree or graduation requirement (e.g. thesis or dissertation research).
Education Abroad services include but are not limited to, assistance in the event of an emergency, guidance on pre-departure preparations, as well as access to affordable international medical insurance while abroad. For details about the registration process, visit this page; (scroll to the bottom). There are different registration links by credit type. Additionally, students can contact Education Abroad at 979-845-0544 or abroad@tamu.edu.
NOTE: Education Abroad registration and Emburse Travel Pre-Approval should be submitted as early as possible to ensure approvals can be made before your travel date (a recommended 2-6 months in advance of your travel date, depending on travel location). For questions about the Education Abroad registration, contact abroad@tamu.edu or 979-845-0544. For questions about the Emburse Travel Pre-Approval process, contact your Academic Department’s Business Coordinator.
The applicant must be a currently enrolled graduate student in one of the following colleges at TAMU – College Station: College of Agriculture and Life Science, School of Architecture, Bush School of Government, Mays Business School, School of Education and Human Development, College of Engineering, College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, School of Performance, Visualization, and Fine Arts, or the School of Law.
The applicant must be in good academic standing (3.0 GPR) both at the time of application AND at time of receiving reimbursement.
The applicant must be registered as a full-time graduate student at Texas A&M – College Station at the time of application AND at the time of receiving reimbursement.
NOTE: If the applicant will use the research and presentation travel award to travel during the summer but does not wish to register full-time for the Summer Term, they may:
1) register for 1 or more credit hours during the summer to receive the RAP reimbursement during the summer, or
2) register full-time for the Fall Term to receive the RAP reimbursement when the Fall Term begins. Applicants must submit reimbursement Forms (Emburse Expense Report for RAP Travel Award or GradHub Reimbursement Form for Child Care Award) within 30 days of the trip return date.
The number of Graduate Student Travel Awards a student may receive during their tenure is determined by their primary (i.e. terminal) degree program.
- Master’s students: Students whose primary degree program is a Master’s may receive a maximum of one Research & Presentation Travel Award and a maximum of one Child Care Travel Award.
- Doctoral students: Students whose primary degree program is a doctoral degree may receive a maximum of two Research & Presentation Travel Awards and a maximum of one Child Care Travel Award. NOTE: Students earning a master’s degree during their doctoral degree program may receive a maximum of two awards.
NOTE: Students may NOT receive more than two Graduate Student Travel Awards during their tenure at Texas A&M University (this includes students earning a master’s degree during their doctoral degree program) and awards must be reimbursed before degree conferral.
Conference applicants must commit to fully participating in the conference (beyond their oral or poster presentation). This commitment should be addressed in the Travel Purpose and Impact Essay for the Application AND should be noted in the PDF Reflection required in the reimbursement submission.
The purpose for travel should directly relate to the applicant’s degree program. If traveling to present at a conference (poster or oral presentation), the presentation must be on research or work product created during the current degree program at Texas A&M University. NOTE: Students pursuing a PhD who completed their master’s degree at Texas A&M, may apply to present the master’s work if it directly relates to the current degree program.
Prior to the application deadline, applicants must have attended one Graduate Resources and Development for Aggies (GRAD Aggies) event AND the associated reflection quiz in the GRAD Aggies Professional Development Program's Canvas page. The student must attend the GRAD Aggies event within the 12 month period prior to the application deadline. The Grad School Travel Award Review Committee will verify attendance (i.e. through attendance records and sign-in sheets) and completion of the reflection quiz (i.e. through your upload screengrab of your reflection answers).
To see current GRAD Aggies events, click here. NOTE: The event must be a GRAD Aggies event and posted to the GRAD Aggies events calendar. Visit grad-aggies.tamu.edu for more information.
NOTE: The requirement is to attend one 1-hr GRAD Aggies session and complete its reflection. It is not to earn a full GRAD Aggies Professional Development Certificate.
The reflection quiz can be found in the GRAD Aggies Professional Development Certificate page through Canvas. Quizzes are accessible for 30 days after the event. If you do not have access to this page, submit the form at tx.ag/JoinGRADAggies. NOTE: The reflection quiz does NOT need to be graded before you submit your application, but you MUST upload the screengrab showing all three reflection quiz answers. The application is considered incomplete without the reflection answers. Please see the Template and Reflection Screengrab Instructions under Application Requirements.
IMPORTANT: Do not submit your application if you are missing any requirements (please read the Application Requirements). We are not able to accept supplemental materials via email and the application portal does not allow any additional documents to be added to your application. If you are missing requirements, we will have to return your application to you for you to update.
Eligibility Requirements for the child care travel award specifically
All the above requirements must be met to qualify for the Child Care Travel Award. In addition:
Graduate students who need additional financial support to provide care for their child/children (beyond normal day-to-day care) in order to engage in the professional development travel opportunity are eligible to apply. This can include financial support for the child/children to travel with the applicant or for supplemental care at home.
A child is defined as a minor who resides with the graduate student and for whom the student is the primary caregiver.
PLEASE REVIEW THE LIST OF ELIGIBLE AND NON-ELIGIBLE EXPENSES UNDER THE REIMBURSEMENT SECTION BEFORE APPLYING.
Award categories
Award | Travel Category | Maximum Amount |
RAP Travel Award | Domestic Travel: Continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska | $1000 |
International Travel: U.S. Territories (e.g. Puerto Rico) & all countries other than the United States | $1000 | |
Virtual/Online | Conference registration fee only | |
Local: Bryan/College Station, TX | Conference registration fee only | |
Child Care Travel Award | Domestic or International Travel only *NOTE: Opportunity must be outside of the local Bryan/College Station area | $750 |
Selection Process
Please note, applications are reviewed after the deadline closes and in the order they are received, and it will take 5-10 business days from the deadline date to receive your decision.
The Research and Presentation Travel Award (RAP) is designed to supplement graduate and professional students who need additional financial support to secure FULL travel funding for professional development travel opportunities. The RAP Travel Award reimburses travel expenses AFTER other funding sources have been applied.
The Child Care Travel Award (CC) is designed to support graduate and professional students who need additional financial support to provide care for their child/children (beyond normal day-to-day care) in order to engage in professional development travel opportunities.
Limited budget for the Research and Presentation Travel Award and Child Care Travel Award programs require a selective application process. The Grad School will base award selection on the quality of the application as determined by the Review Committee. Priority goes to students presenting at conferences, traveling for research, or traveling to attend a conference, in that order. The Grad School will consider other types of travel award applications (e.g. unpaid internship, training courses) that do NOT represent a required part of the student’s academic degree program. The review committee, at their discretion, may make adjustments to ensure an appropriate distribution of awards among students from the various Schools/Colleges of the University.
Reimbursement
RAP Travel Award
- lodging
- airfare
- car rentals
- shuttles, taxis, rideshares, etc
- gas
- conference registration fees
- meals, etc
Child Care Travel Award
- Transportation and lodging choices that incur additional costs beyond the costs for the applicant’s travel
- Child’s airfare
- Car seat rental
- Crib rental
- Ground transportation charges for child/children(if applicable)
- Additional charges for child’s lodging (if beyond the cost of the applicant’s lodging if traveling alone)
- Additional charges incurred when checking a stroller on a flight (if applicable)
- Travel expenses for a care provider accompanying on trip (airfare, ground transportation, hotel)
- Daycare charges (not a spouse or relative; must be a licensed childcare provider; must be different from normal childcare)
Both Travel Awards
- meal receipts that include alcohol,
- materials (e.g. poster printing),
- supplies,
- books,
- equipment,
- membership fees,
- extra-curricular activities during your trip
Child Care Travel Award
- Food for your child/care provider
- Transportation and lodging choices that do not incur an additional cost for your child (e.g. can’t pay for the room they would normal use, but if there’s an additional charge for the child that could be reimbursed)
- Purchase of car seats, portable cribs, or other equipment.
Approved RAP Travel Awards for virtual conferences or conferences held in the Bryan/College Station area will only cover the conference registration fee. Annual membership fees will not be covered. The Grad School will not reimburse for travel outside of your travel window or if the travel does not occur. Students must follow Texas A&M Travel Receipt Requirements.
Awardees must be registered as a full-time graduate student at TAMU – College Station at the time of receiving reimbursement. NOTE: If the awardee is traveling over the summer but does not wish to register full-time for the Summer Term, they may: 1) register for 1 or more credit hours during the summer to receive the reimbursement during the summer, or 2) register full-time for the Fall Term to receive the reimbursement when the Fall Term begins.
If awarded, students must submit the Reimbursement within 30 days of the travel return date.
RAP Travel Award Reimbursement Submission
- Emburse Expense Reports must comply with TAMU Travel Guidelines as found here. To receive your RAP Travel Award, you need to allocate expenses within Emburse up to your awarded amount. Please follow the instructions in your award letter to receive the account number that should be referenced in your Emburse Expense Report.
- Instructions on how to perform common Emburse actions (create an expense report, allocate expenses, etc.) can be found here.
- Receipts/documentation for registration with Education Abroad and CISI coverage (only applicable for international travel up to $50)
- Your reimbursement will be issued through the method you select in Emburse. The Graduate and Professional School will not issue a check, nor will the student’s academic department receive reimbursement.
- A two-page reflection of the student’s trip (i.e., research accomplished, conference sessions attended, etc.) summarizing the trip and its impact on professional development and academic pursuits should be attached to the Emburse Expense Report. The reflection must include the following statement followed by the student’s signature: “I verify that this is an accurate representation of my accomplishments using these Travel Award funds.
- If you do not have access to Emburse as a Graduate Student Employee, work with your academic department’s Business Coordinator to submit the Emburse Expense Report on your behalf.
Child Care Travel Award Reimbursement Submission
Child Care Travel Award reimbursement must be submitted using the GradHub reimbursement form (and should not be uploaded in Emburse). This reimbursement form should include:
- Receipts for eligible expenses to be reimbursement through Workday or AggieBuy depending on employment status (See Tax & Compliance below)
- Receipts/documentation for registration with Education Abroad and CISI coverage (only applicable for international travel up to $50)
- A two-page reflection of the student’s trip (i.e., research accomplished, conference sessions attended, etc.) summarizing the trip and its impact on professional development and academic pursuits should be attached to the Emburse Expense Report. The reflection must include the following statement followed by the student’s signature: “I verify that this is an accurate representation of my accomplishments using these Travel Award funds.
Tax & Compliance
- If the Child Care Travel Award Recipient is also an employee, payment must be processed through Workday as supplemental income that is reported on their W-2 and with a supplemental tax rate of 22%, in addition to the combined FICA rate of 7.65%.
- If the Child Care Travel Award Recipient is not an employee, payment can be posted to the student account or through AggieBuy. FMO reports payments made to students through AggieBuy to SFAID. Payments can impact eligibility for other financial aid the student has been offered/paid. Should funding cause a student to exceed financial need or their cost of attendance, Scholarships & Financial Aid will eliminate the overaward/overpayment by reducing other aid, following our policy that reduces loans and work-study before adjusting any grant aid. Scholarships and fellowships are not reduced to resolve overawards/overpayments. Adjustments may result in the student owing a balance to the University.
REIMBURSEMENT FOR EDUCATION ABROAD REGISTRATION FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: Per university foreign travel rules (Standard Administrative Procedures 21.01.03.M0.02), all graduate and professional students pursuing an independent international experience MUST register with Education Abroad. If awarded a Graduate Student Travel Award, any cost associated with registering with Education Abroad (e.g. registration, Cultural Insurance Services International (CISI)) will be covered by the Graduate and Professional School up to $50 (i.e. students do not need to use part of the $1,000 Travel Award to cover these costs) and should be added to the Emburse Travel Expense Report.
Please note that once an expense report is submitted it may route through several offices for approvals (at the department, college, and/or university-level before or after being reviewed by the Grad School). These steps can impact the time of reimbursement, particularly if an expense report needs to be returned for correction.
Once an Emburse Expense Report is fully approved, awardees can expect reimbursement to their student account within 2-3 business days. If there is a balance on the student account, the reimbursement will be applied to the balance. If there is no balance, it will be routed to their bank account through direct deposit (if the awardee has this set up).
You must submit your Emburse Travel Expense Report for reimbursement within 30 days of the return date of your scheduled trip. The Grad School will NOT process reimbursement requests submitted after 30 days from your return date.
The Grad School will review reimbursement requests, through Emburse for RAP Travel Awards and GradHub for Child Care Travel Awards, in the order they are received and within 3-5 business days. Once an Emburse Expense Report is fully approved, awardees will receive reimbursement for any out of pocket expenses typically in 3-5 business days.
Please note that once an expense report is submitted it may route through several offices including the department and/or college before or after being reviewed by the Grad School. Any need for corrections will impact the time for review and pending reimbursements. Graduate students should monitor their inbox for Emburse notifications and comments.
- Eligible Expenses
- Ineligible Expenses
- Reimbursement Eligibility & Guidelines
- Reimbursement for Education Abroad Registration for International Travel
Application Requirements
The Graduate and Professional School will only consider complete applications for the Graduate Student Travel Awards. In order to complete your application, ensure that you’ve included all the required information. Please review the application requirements before beginning your application.
A complete application, submitted through the GrabHub Graduate Student Travel Awards Application includes:
Select if you are applying for one or both awards for this travel purpose
- RAP Travel Award
- Child Care Travel Award
- Student Name, UIN, TAMU Email, Phone, College/Department, Student Level
- Currently employed at TAMU
- Committee Chair Information (Name, Email)
- Academic Department's Business Coordinator Information (Name, Email, Phone Number)
*NOTE: Your Committee Chair and Academy Department's Business Coordinator will be CC'd on application communications (submission confirmation, application decision, etc.)
*NOTE: If your deadline has passed, the application will not be reviewed.
- Travel Award Deadline Selection
- Travel Start Date
- Travel End Date
*We understand that travel dates can shift. If the applicant's dates change so much as to move the application into a different travel period, the applicant must resubmit the application for the new travel period's deadline. Please notify grad-travel-award@tamu.edu of any changes prior to your departure.
- Conference/Event/Trip Name (no abbreviations please)
- Travel Type
- Domestic - Continental United States, Hawaii, and Alaska
- International - U.S. Territories (e.g. Puerto Rico) and all countries outside of the United States
- Virtual/Online Conference (only eligible to reimburse conference registration)
- Local (Bryan/College Station, TX) Conference (only eligible to reimburse conference registration)
Travel Category
- Conference presentation (oral or poster)
- Attend a conference (not presenting oral or poster)
- Research project (i.e. collecting data)
- Training
- Unpaid internship
- Other
- Emburse Travel Request (PDF)
- Travel Budget - COMPLETE Budget Information, either in the Emburse Travel Pre-Approval or using the Travel Budget Estimate Worksheet. Please provide your best estimate for ALL anticipated travel expenses; even if these expenses are beyond the maximum travel award.
- To Print Your Travel Budget Estimate: In the Travel Budget Estimate worksheet, select the cells that you have entered data in from columns A to G (e.g. select A1:G19 with your cursor). Go to File, Print. Under Settings select "Print Selection" & "Scaling - Fit Sheet to One Page". Then please print to PDF. Your budget estimate should be 1 single PDF page.
- To Print Your Child Care Expenses Estimate: In the Child Care Expenses Estimate worksheet, select the cells that you have entered data in from columns A to H (e.g. select A1:H19 with your cursor). Go to File, Print. Under Settings select "Print Selection" & "Scaling - Fit Sheet to One Page". Then please print to PDF. Your budget estimate should be 1 single PDF page.
- Other Funding: Other funding sources (pending, received, denied)
- Conference Presentation Acceptance or Submission Confirmation (pdf) - see template (NOTE: If you have not received your conference acceptance please submit your abstract submission confirmation. We will grant contingent approval until the conference acceptance is received and sent to us at grad-travel-award@tamu.edu. We cannot accept applications after the deadline has passed.
- Academic standing (GPA 3.0 or higher)
- Full-time status
- Travel Award History (received before)
- GRAD Aggies Requirement: GRAD Aggies professional development event information and reflection (pdf) - see template with attendance and reflection screengrab instructions.
- Will the child(ren) travel with you or be cared for at home/locally?
- How many children will be supported by the award?
- Child information (name, age, birthdate)
- Use the Travel Budget Estimate Worksheet (see eligible and ineligible expenses under the Reimbursement section)
- Acknowledgement: By clicking here you certify that funds requested for child care are due to professional travel, and are above and beyond normal child care expenses (e.g., normal daycare or care by a spouse, partner, or other family member will not be covered).
See template (include Emburse Travel Pre-Approval Report for International Travel Applications.
By submitting this application you confirm that you do not have sufficient external funds (i.e. from your department or Chair) to fully fund your travel and that you have made your department and Chair aware of your application.
We will NOT consider incomplete and/or late applications.
FAQs - Frequently asked questions
Check out some of our FAQs regarding the Award application process.
Other Travel Support Options
International Travel: Scholarships
International Travel: Additional Funding Resources
Securing Other Funding: Check with your college, department and/or the conference you are attending for other travel funding opportunities. Some conferences provide travel awards or waive registration fees for spending some time volunteering during the event.