FSPT Stipends: A New Chapter for Graduate Financial Support

UC San Diego has reached a major milestone in transforming how we support graduate students! The FSPT (Financial Support Payments Tool) Project is replacing the current FSRT (Financial Support Request Tool), which has been used for distributing graduate student fee remissions, fee payments, and non-employment stipends. This project is a collaboration with the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs’ (GEPA) Financial Support Unit (FSU), who will be the future owners of the tool after the project work is completed in 2027.

Stipends is Live!

Our first release for the FSPT, stipends functionality, is officially live as of December 8, 2025! The FSPT is now in motion, and making its way into our day to day work. This milestone marks a tremendous step forward in streamlining the non-employment graduate student funding processes at UC San Diego, transforming a manual process with several touchpoints into a more streamline and smooth process. It couldn’t have been done without the effort, patience and collaboration from all of you. We know that change isn’t always easy, and learning new applications never is, but we’re here to support and guide you through this transition as best as we can. Now, as the FSPT becomes part of our daily workflow, here’s everything users need to know moving forward. 

Get Your FSPT Production Access

If you are a user who will be entering stipends in FSPT and you’ve already acquired your Quality Assurance (QA) access, you’re ready for the next step: Production access! Production (PROD) access allows you to work in the live FSPT application and enter and post stipends to the student information system. 

Learn the PROD access steps and requirements in our Stipends Resource Guide.

What's Changing (And What’s Not)

Because the FSPT is still in development and only the stipends functionality has gone live, this means that users will be using two applications for now. Users will be using both tools: the FSRT for fees payments and remission, as well as the FSPT for stipends.

FSPT is your new home for…

As of now, all non-employment graduate stipends for 2026 and beyond will be entered and processed through the FSPT. The first stipends disbursement to students out of FSPT will be in January 2026, with an entry deadline of January 26, 2026 at 12 p.m. It is important to note that the 12 p.m. deadline is critical to the automation workflow that is built into FSPT, so please be mindful of this change! 

At this time, the FSPT can accept stipend entries dated through June 30, 2026. Keep an eye out for future communications from GEPA FSU once the FSPT becomes available for the 2026-2027 fiscal year by joining the gradsup-g Google group to stay informed.

Keep using FSRT for…

Any adjustments or edits to stipends dated December 31, 2025 and earlier must still be made in the FSRT. At this time, the FSRT will remain the home for processing fee payments and fee remissions. While the Stipends Module was the first release of the FSPT, the second release will include functionality for processing fee payments and fee remission, and is expected to launch in early 2027 after the Triton Student System (TSS) is live. If you are interested in staying up to date on the project work, please subscribe to the SIS Project newsletter, join the FSU FSPT Channel in Teams,  and visit the FSPT Project webpage often. 

Let’s Stay Connected

With this new year comes new changes, and the FSPT Project team and GEPA FSU team are  here to support you amidst this busy time. As you get more comfortable working in FSPT, we want to make sure you have the support and resources you need during this transition.

• Weekly Office Hours: In addition to our monthly Office Hours series, we’re ramping up support with weekly Office Hours sessions throughout January.  These sessions are your space to ask questions, troubleshoot issues, or just get a second set of eyes on something. Weekly sessions will take place on these dates: January 8, January 15, January 22, & January 29. 
  • Sign up via this form, and you can opt in to be forwarded the calendar series.
• 1:1 Support Sessions: Need dedicated time to walk through something specific? Starting in January, the FSU team is offering individual 15-minute sessions every Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m to talk through unique scenarios or give extra support. Sign up for a 1:1 session here.

• MS Teams Community: Sometimes the best answers come from other people who are navigating the same challenges! Join the FSU FSPT Channel to ask questions, crowdsource solutions, and support one another through this transition. The FSPT and FSU teams are active in the channel too, so you'll always have backup.

• Stipends Resource Guide: Your one-stop shop for the most relevant information related to the Stipends Module. This includes a brief timeline, step-by-step access instructions, a user checklist and key dates. 

• Stipends FAQ: This is a living document with questions sourced throughout the development of the FSPT Stipends Module. Our team reviews this frequently to add new questions and update information.

• FSPT Stipends Virtual Training Q&A: Take a look to see all the questions that your UC San Diego colleagues asked during the Stipends Virtual Training session on December 4!

A Milestone Reached Together

Reaching this go live milestone has truly been a collaborative effort, and we want to take a moment to recognize everyone who has contributed to getting FSPT stipends off the ground. This project has taken dedication, patience, resilience, creativity and partnership across many teams and individuals, and we’re grateful for each person who has played a role in making this launch possible.

A heartfelt thank you to:

• IT Services Team
• GEPA FSU Team
• FSPT Steering Committee
• FSPT Advisory Committee
• FSPT Implementation Team
• Project Management Office
• UAT participants
• All our end users!

And, thank you to the entire UC San Diego community for the time and energy you've put into this go live and transition. Here's to 2026, to FSPT, and to continuing to do this work together!