The Academic Excellence Fellowship recognizes the Wharton MBA student with the highest academic performance across the second and third semesters. Wharton measures performance using cumulative GPA for those two terms and excludes summer courses.
Selection is automatic from academic results; Wharton publishes no separate fellowship application. The fellowship is administered by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Benefits & funding
- The recipient receives a $10,000 grant.
- If up to three students tie, each is treated as a recipient; if more than three tie, a total of $30,000 is divided equally among them.
- The academic honor is recorded on the recipient’s transcript.
Eligibility
- Be enrolled in the Wharton MBA program and achieve the highest cumulative GPA across the second and third semesters.
- Complete at least 9 course units across those two semesters; summer courses do not count toward either the GPA or course-unit threshold.
- Have no Fail grades and no MBA Code of Ethics violation.
- Do not have received the Ford Fellowship at the end of the first year.
- Wharton publishes no nationality, residency, age, gender, or work-experience restriction for this award.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Education required
Master Enrolled
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Application process
- 1No separate application is published; eligible Wharton MBA students are assessed through their academic records.
- 2Wharton identifies the student or tied students with the highest eligible cumulative GPA across terms two and three.
- 3The selected recipient receives the grant and the honor is added to the academic transcript.
Program timeline
Second and third semesters
Wharton measures eligible cumulative GPA and the 9-course-unit minimum.
After the assessed terms
Wharton determines the recipient or tied recipients; no exact announcement date is published.