Each scholar receives a renewable $19,884 annual scholarship for up to four years through the state program.
Sam Houston State University secured state funding for six doctoral students through the Texas Leadership Research Scholars Program beginning in fall 2026, with each scholar receiving a renewable scholarship of $19,884 a year for up to four years.
The students selected for the program are Michelle Akinkuolie, Forrest Floyd, Raven Pigee, Christavia Willridge, Kailee Marchand, and Jasmine Sierra. The Sam Houston State University Graduate and Professional School secured the funding for the six scholars, who joined the fall 2026 cohort of the program.
Each scholarship is renewable annually for up to four years, contingent on continued eligibility and participation in the program. The six scholars will also take part in academic support, mentoring, leadership development, and professional development coordinated by the Graduate and Professional School.
Jennifer Bunn, dean of the SHSU Graduate and Professional School, said the university is proud to support the six students through the program. Bunn said the scholarships provide more than financial assistance, and that they give the students opportunities to develop as researchers, leaders, and professionals who will make a lasting impact in their fields and communities.
The initiative provides financial support to high achieving doctoral students while fostering leadership, research excellence, and academic success. The program pairs the scholarship with a comprehensive program of academic support and mentoring, so the funding is tied to development as a researcher and not only to tuition and living costs.
What the Texas Leadership Research Scholars Program provides
The Texas Leadership Research Scholars Program is a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board scholarship and leadership program for high achieving doctoral students. The program debuted in fall 2024 and supports selected students enrolled in a research doctoral degree at a Texas public university.
The scholarship amount for the 2026-2027 cohort is $19,884 per scholar, based on 150 percent of the average amount of the Texas Leadership Scholars Program awarded across general academic institutions participating in the program. The Coordinating Board announced the 2026-2027 allocation in May 2026.
The third cohort of the program includes 300 scholars from 15 participating institutions across Texas. Sam Houston State University is among the participating institutions, and its six scholars joined the fall 2026 cohort.
The program is aimed at doctoral students with financial need as well as strong academic records. Earlier cohorts at other Texas universities included students whose scholarship support helped them present research at national conferences and pursue fieldwork connected to their dissertations.
Mentoring and leadership development alongside the funding
Beyond the scholarship itself, the six Sam Houston scholars will participate in a program of academic support, mentoring, leadership development, and professional development coordinated by the Graduate and Professional School. The structure is meant to build the scholars into researchers and leaders over the course of their doctoral work.
Bunn said the program represents a significant investment in the students and in the future of research at Sam Houston State University. The dean said the scholarships provide opportunities for the students to develop as researchers, leaders, and professionals who will make a lasting impact in their fields and communities.
The six scholars will carry the funding for up to four years if they remain eligible and continue in the program. That span covers much of a doctoral degree, which makes the award a long term commitment to the students rather than a single year of support.
The Coordinating Board announced the 2026-2027 scholarship allocation in a May 12, 2026 memo from Commissioner of Higher Education Wynn Rosser. The memo said the initial number of scholarships proposed for each institution is based on the funding levels in the enrolled version of Senate Bill 1, the General Appropriations Act of the 89th Legislative Session.
The program debuted in fall 2024, when nine public universities in Texas were selected to participate in the inaugural cohort. The University of North Texas was among the nine, and its first cohort included six students across engineering, science, education, and music.
The scholarship amount for the third cohort is $19,884 per scholar, based on 150 percent of the average amount of the Texas Leadership Scholars Program awarded across general academic institutions participating in the program. The third cohort includes 300 scholars from 15 participating institutions across Texas.
The Graduate and Professional School coordinates the academic support, mentoring, leadership development, and professional development that accompany the scholarship. That structure is meant to build the scholars into researchers and leaders over the course of their doctoral work, and the funding is renewable for up to four years if the scholars remain eligible.
The Graduate and Professional School secured the state funding for the cohort, and the six students were selected to join the program beginning in fall 2026. The university announced the selections on its news site, where the story carries no publication date in the fetched text. The page was first crawled in early November, and the selections are treated here as a fall 2026 announcement.