Fellowships and Grants
The NAEd funds education scholars at the dissertation and postdoctoral stages.
Funding status
Accepting applications
Application deadline
Oct 8, 2026 - 5:00 pm ET
Investing in scholars, not just scholarship
The National Academy of Education awards the NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship and the NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship in partnership with the Spencer Foundation. The fellowships encourage new generations of scholars to undertake research that improves education and support early-career scholars who work in critical areas of the field.
FOR SCHOLARS
Fellowships
Each fellowship pairs funding with mentorship from an NAEd member and professional development retreats with senior scholars in the field.
ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
Doctoral · $30,000 · Deadline Oct 8, 2026
The fellowship supports 35 doctoral candidates while they complete dissertations that bring fresh perspectives to the history, theory, or practice of education.
ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
Postdoctoral · $80,000 · Deadline Oct 8, 2026
The fellowship supports 20 early-career scholars who work in critical areas of education research, at their home institution, or another site they arrange.
WHAT FELLOWS RECEIVE
More than funding
01
Stipend
Fellows receive $30,000 at the dissertation stage or $80,000 at the postdoctoral stage, which gives them protected time to research and write.
02
Mentorship
Each fellow chooses an NAEd member or another senior scholar as a mentor, who guides them throughout the fellowship year.
03
Development
Fellows join professional development retreats with NAEd members, senior scholars, and other leaders in the field.
04
Community
Fellows become part of a growing fellow network and gain access to an online community.
WHO GUIDES THE FELLOWSHIPS
Professional Development Committee
NAEd members steer both fellowships through the Professional Development Committee. The committee thinks strategically about the career development needs of NAEd’s various professional development programs, responds to and reshapes changing trends in education to address emerging issues, monitors and evaluates each program's progress. The committee is also responsible for the appointments of individual committees, which, in turn, provide program-specific leadership and guidance.
Okhee Lee
Chair · New York University
Sylvia Hurtado
University of California, Los Angeles
Pamela Moss
University of Michigan
Alan Schoenfeld
University of California, Berkeley
Amy Stuart Wells
Bank Street College of Education
Jack Busbee
ex officio · National Academy of Education
Taylor Johnson
ex officio · National Academy of Education
Keep exploring
Search every fellowship and grant recipient since the programs began.
Meet the NAEd members.
Learn more about the Academy's current and past research.