The King-Chávez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship Program

The purpose of the King-Chávez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship Program is to increase the pool of traditionally underrepresented candidates pursuing faculty teaching careers in postsecondary education. Preference may not be given to applicants on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, gender, or national origin. Applications are encouraged from minorities, women, people with disabilities, and individuals from cultural, linguistic, geographic, and socio-economic backgrounds who would otherwise not adequately be represented in the graduate student and faculty populations.

The program was created by the Michigan State Legislature in 1986 as part of the larger King-Chávez-Parks Initiative designed to stem the downward spiral of college graduation rates for students underrepresented in postsecondary education. Future Faculty Fellows are eligible to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree at the public universities in Michigan. Future Faculty Fellowship graduates are obligated, by signed agreement, to remain in postsecondary faculty teaching or administration in a public or private, 2- or 4-year, in-state or out-of-state postsecondary institution for a minimum of three (3) years equivalent full-time.  A portion of this service obligation may be completed while a student earns his/her graduate degree.  Fellows who do not fulfill the teaching and/or other obligations of their fellowship agreement may be placed in Default, which results in their fellowship converting to a loan (referred to as a KCP Loan) that the Fellow repays to the State of Michigan. A Master’s recipient may receive a maximum of $20,000 towards their degree and a doctoral student may receive a maximum of $35,000 towards their degree. Learn more about the KCP initiative through the State of Michigan.