Freshman Fellowship Program
The Freshman Fellowship Program at Northern Michigan University provides academically talented students with an enriched educational experience. The program provides an opportunity to understand and practice scholarship, work with a university professor, interact with other students and enhance overall intellectual curiosity, all while earning a cash stipend.
Freshman Fellows at NMU
The program began in 1995 as a pilot program with five fellows. Since then it has provided between 20-40 students each year with the opportunity to earn money as an assistant to a faculty member in a research project. Program outcomes include a high average cumulative GPA, and very high 3rd and 5th-semester retention rates.
The Freshman Fellowship program consists of a monetary award of up to $1,000, paid per hour. Most fellows work 3-4 hours per week throughout the year with their faculty mentor. In the past, Fellows have been placed with mentors in a wide variety of academic fields, including biology, business, chemistry, criminal justice, English, economics, education, history, geography, nursing, and psychology.
The 2025 application will open in October, and the grantees will be announced in February. Check back for more updates.
Calling All Alumni
If you were once a student involved in our program, we would love to feature you in an upcoming Alumni Spotlight. Please email freshmanfellows@nmu.edu with the year you were in the program, details of your research project, and what is happening in your life today.
Student Research
Because of the Freshman Fellowship Program, students in every academic field are making strides in research in their first year of college. Research has included working in Northern's Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center on brain tumor research, developing resources for history teachers in Michigan, researching the benefits of Solar Water Disinfection in Honduras, writing code for research simulations, and more. To learn more about the research that students are doing, visit the student research page.
"As a Freshman Fellow, I was given the opportunity to become a member of Dr. Jill Leonard's lab to continue their study of Blue Spotted Salamanders on Presque Isle. This research has led me to attend conferences, gain field experience, and learn how to be a leader. I am very proud of how much this project has grown since I've joined and cannot give enough credit to the NMU Freshman Fellowship Program for granting me countless opportunities to grow and learn in a professional setting." - Anna Hill, 2022-2023 Cohort