APSA is pleased to provide travel grants to qualified applicants for attendance at association events, specifically the Teaching and Learning Conference and the APSA Annual Meeting.  Qualified applicants include U.S. graduate students, international graduate students studying in the U.S., unemployed members, international scholars, community college faculty, contingent faculty, unemployed faculty, APSA Status Committee members, and any faculty member who has been furloughed or experienced a reduction in available research funds from their college or university.

Travel grants can cover costs such as mileage for attendees who travel to association events by car or plane tickets for attendees who arrive by air.  Grants can also cover hotels, meals, and conference related cab fare.

First time attendees and those on the job market or tenure track will receive priority consideration.  All grant recipients will be reimbursed for expenses after the conclusion of the relevant association event.

For questions about the travel grant program or applications, contact travelgrants@apsanet.org. 

Eligibility

To be eligible for grant, you must:
 

• Maintain your APSA membership through the date of the conference for which you are receiving travel grant funding
• Reside more than 60 miles from the conference location - you are not eligible for a travel grant if you live within 60 miles of the conference site
• Submit all itemized receipts for expenses, an APSA-provided expense form, and your attendance badge as proof of attendance
  • APSA will not cover expenses that are not submitted without an itemized receipt

To accept the grant, APSA requires that all recipients complete and return a W-9 or W-8BEN tax form.

• Form W-9
• Form W-8BEN (for non-U.S. citizens)

Travel Grant Use

A travel grant from APSA can cover the following costs:

• Ticket and cab fare: Economy bus, train, and plane tickets are covered, conference related cab fare around the conference city is also covered
• Mileage: Mileage to the conference is reimbursable with a document showing the distance of your trip, should you travel to the conference by car
  • Mileage is reimbursable at the 2024 IRS standard mileage of 67 cents per mile traveled
  • You must also demonstrate that the cost of your mileage is less than the cost of a flight
  • As proof, APSA accepts a printed copy of the cost of a flight to the conference city on the days that you plan to travel and printed directions from sites like Google Maps as documentation
• Hotels: The cost of a stay in a hotel, hostel, or other rented lodging such as Airbnb during the conference is covered
• Meals: The cost of meals during the conference is covered

An APSA travel grant does not, however, cover any of the following costs:

• Business or first-class tickets
• Rental cars
• Gasoline: Receipts for gas are not accepted - for APSA to cover the cost of a car trip to the conference, you must provide your mileage using the instructions above
• Alcohol
• Registration or APSA Membership: APSA cannot apply grant funds toward the cost of a membership or registration for the Annual Meeting

For a downloadable copy of APSA's grant policy, please click here.
 

Travel grants are made possible by the APSA Annual Fund and provide an opportunity for recipients to enhance their professional network, present their research, and participate in scholarly discussions about issues affecting the political science profession.  Please consider making a contribution to the Annual Fund and support travel grants for scholars.