Community Programs

The Summer Research Opportunities Program is a gateway to graduate education at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities.

The Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) at Michigan State University supports recruitment, retention, and graduation of students in doctoral programs of the natural and social sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

The purpose of the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society is to recognize outstanding scholarly achievement and promote excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate.

Established by the Michigan Legislature in 1986 and named in honor American civil rights activists Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), César Chávez (1927-1993), and Rosa Parks (1913-2005), the King-Chávez-Parks (KCP) Initiative is comprised of seven different programs.

The goal of these programs is to increase the number of Michigan’s most educationally or economically disadvantaged citizens who have the opportunity to complete college degrees and experience career success as active participants in a knowledge-based global economy. 

Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantships help graduate programs recruit and then retain graduate students who have been accepted into a master’s or a doctoral degree program and whose enrollment will enhance their program’s academic excellence and diversity.

Because this is a recruitment assistantship, departments can decide to offer the AAGA recipient a teaching or research assistantship with a reduced time commitment during his/her first Graduate School-funded year in the program. 

The Graduate School recognizes the different opportunities and responsibilities of assistantships across graduate programs. 

The UDF program provides financial support for outstanding graduate students from diversified disciplines and backgrounds who plan to enroll in any of MSU’s doctoral programs (and Master of Fine Arts programs).

The Graduate School is committed to identifying and engaging talented students from all backgrounds to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees at Michigan State University.

Fee waivers are available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents that have participated in select enrichment programs like McNair or for whom the fee represents a significant financial hardship.

If you are a current Michigan State University graduate student or faculty member and would like to be involved in our recruitment efforts, please contact MSU SROP/AGEP Program Director Steven D. Thomas.

Each year, Steven Thomas and other MSU faculty members travel to national conferences (e.g., ABRCMS, AISES and SACNAS) and minority-serving institutions to meet students who might be interested in considering graduate study at MSU.

Programs like McNair, MARC, BUILD, etc. are welcome to arrange prospective student site visit to MSU by contacting Steven D. Thomas.