2025 fellowship tuition and financial assistance
What is the CELI Fellowship Tuition for 2025?
CELI’s 2025 Fellowship tuition is broken out into two different tiers based on whether or not your employer is contributing to the tuition. No applicant will be turned away for lack of funds as long as they qualify for need-based financial assistance. Candidates should not let the cost of the program prevent them from applying. CELI’s application process is need-blind; application materials and financial assistance requests will be evaluated separately. CELI offers both full and partial scholarships, as well as 7-month payment plans. We encourage you to discuss with your employer whether or not they can offer financial support to you, and at what level, before filling out the Financial Assistance application form.
Financial assistance decisions will be awarded at the same time as acceptances on May 20, 2025.
Tier 1: Employer-Supported Tuition
Applicants should check with their employer to determine the level of employer support that is possible. Tuition for full employer-supported applicants is $5,500. If employers are only able to cover partial tuition (i.e. small start-ups, non-profits, government or academic institutions, depending on size), CELI will work with the selected Fellow to award the employer a partial waiver based on organization size and budget, as well as the Fellow’s eligibility for financial aid (as per determined through the financial assistance application). We encourage you to bring up the cost of the CELI fellowship early-on with your employer, prior to the notification date of May 20, 2025. Employers frequently cover the cost for the fellowship, especially if they are given a heads-up with enough time to set aside that funding in their professional development budgets.
Please note that applicants are notified of acceptance on May 20, 2025, and a non-refundable deposit of $500 will be required of all applicants to be paid by June 5, 2025 in order to hold one’s spot in the program. Please plan accordingly.
Tier 2: Tuition Without Employer Support
For those whose employers will not be contributing to the cost of tuition, and who plan to pay for the fellowship out-of-pocket, CELI offers a reduced tuition of $3,500. At the point that payment is requested (June), selected applicants who are not able to access any employer support will be asked to provide an email or a letter from a supervisor or other means that confirms lack of employer funds. Full-time students, self-employed applicants, and those outside of the workforce may also qualify for the reduced tuition (in this case, proof of student enrollment or other documents can serve as proof). All tuition may be paid on a 7-month payment plan from July through December, 2025. Applicants who are eligible for the “out-of-pocket” tier who need financial assistance based on income, cost of living, dependents, and special circumstances, should be sure to fill out the separate financial assistance application by March 19, 2025.
Please note that applicants are notified of acceptance on May 20, 2025, and a non-refundable deposit of $500 will be required of all applicants to be paid by June 5, 2025 in order to hold one’s spot in the program. Please plan accordingly.
Does CELI offer Financial Assistance Awards?
Full and partial financial assistance awards are available for individuals falling into both tiers as determined by income, cost of living, dependents, level of employer support and special circumstances. CELI does everything possible to support all selected applicants to attend. Persons of color (esp. Native, LatinX, Black), members of the LGBTQIA+ community, persons with disabilities, persons from low-income communities, persons from communities with histories of environmental injustice, and individuals from other traditionally excluded backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply.
Financial Assistance Considerations:
Income-based: Those with income below $80k a year, number of dependents, outside of the workforce, unemployed, students, and those not receiving support from their employer.
Traditionally excluded: Persons of color (esp. Native, LatinX, Black), members of the LGBTQIA+ community, persons with disabilities, first-generation persons, immigrants to the United States, woman-identifying applicants, persons from low-income communities, persons from communities with histories of environmental injustice, and those who come from other backgrounds traditionally excluded in the clean energy ecosystem.
Additional considerations: Transitional candidates who are making a career switch into clean energy/climate from a different field and people with increased financial burdens, e.g. medical debt, taking care of non-dependent family members (parents, siblings), other reasons.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE APPLICATION
Financial assistance applications should be filled out immediately AFTER an applicant completes their fellowship application. Financial assistance applications are accepted on a rolling basis and generally take 10 minutes to complete. All financial assistance applications are due by March 19, 2025, at 11:59 PM PT. Please submit the fellowship application before submitting your financial assistance application. Since we are evaluating the 2025 Fellowship application and financial assistance application separately, some of the questions are duplicative! Thank you in advance for answering any duplicative questions that you may have already answered in the 2025 Fellowship application.
Please click here to submit the 2025 Financial Assistance Application. You will be directed to a Google Form, or you may copy/paste this url into your browser: https://forms.gle/CzQtruabJ9Ga7uxH6
Please note that your answers are non-binding, as we understand that you are filling out this form before you have been offered a spot in the program.
We will review financial assistance applications after we have selected the final candidates. The fellowship application is reviewed separately, and is need-blind. We will notify selected applicants of their financial award determination on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Upon acceptance to the program, CELI works with each applicant individually to determine the right payment plan and offers a flexible, 7-month payment plan.
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