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Department of English
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Department of English

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Funding

The Department of English is committed to providing financial support in the form of fellowships and teaching assistantships for our Ph.D. students for six years and three years for our MFA students. Financial support requires that a student be registered for courses or thesis credits. Continued support from year to year depends on one's demonstrated satisfactory progress toward the degree and successful completion of assigned duties. Some family members of teaching assistants may be eligible for in-state tuition.

First Year Fellowships

First year students are eligible for the following awards, which do NOT require separate application beyond the admissions application.

  • Graduate School Fellowships. Awarded to a few first year students in the Ph.D. and M.F.A. programs. Candidates are nominated in late January by graduate departments. Stipend of about $22,500 for the academic year, tuition waiver, and comprehensive health insurance.
  • Diversity of Views and Experience Fellowships. The goal of the DOVE program is to assist departments in recruiting and retaining underrepresented college graduates. You must be a U. S. citizen. If you are interested in this fellowship, please include with your supporting materials a narrative statement on how your background, experiences and achievements will contribute to the university's goal of promoting excellence through diversity. Stipend of about $22,500 for the academic year, tuition waiver, and comprehensive health insurance.
  • McArthur Scholars Program. The MacArthur Program is an interdisciplinary initiative that promotes graduate study and research on issues of peace, social change, and international cooperation. If you wish to be nominated for this fellowship by the department, please include with your supporting materials a statement of your experience and interest in the issues of the MacArthur Program. Stipend of about $15,000 and tuition for the first and fourth year of study; the department provides support for the second and third years.
  • English Department Fellowships, and Klaeber, Allen, and Ruud Awards. First year students Ph.D. and M.F.A. students are eligible. Candidates are nominated in late January. Stipend of about $16,000 for the academic year, tuition waiver, and comprehensive health insurance. Some awards may be for only one semester, and paired with a teaching assistantship.
  • Canton Fellowship. Provides funding to Cantonese-speaking students from the People's Republic of China who enroll in English Literature and/or English Writing courses. If you are interested in this fellowship, please include with your supporting materials a short narrative statement on how your background and experiences meet the requirements: Cantonese-speaking from the PRC. Support may be extended past first year.

Teaching Assistantships

First year students are eligible for the following assistantships, which do not require separate application beyond the admissions application.

  • Teaching Assistantships in Literature and Language (EngL). Available to all Ph.D. students through their sixth year in the program, and M.F.A. students through their third year. On occasion M.A. may receive a teaching assistantship; this is not guaranteed as part of admission. Teaching Assistants either act as graders or conduct discussion sections for large undergraduate courses in their first year of teaching, and some may teach their own courses in later years. Training provided by a year-long teacher-preparation program. Teaching salary of about $12,652 for the academic year, tuition waiver, and comprehensive health insurance.
  • Teaching Assistantships in Creative Writing (EngW). Available to M.F.A. students through their third year. Graduate students will teach an autonomous discussion section of EngW 1101 (Introduction to Creative Writing) and later an autonomous creative writing class. Compensation as in EngL assistantships.
  • Teaching Assistantships in Composition through the Department of Writing Studies. Graduate students typically teach autonomous composition courses after teaching literature or creative writing recitations, or if they come in with previous experience, such as teaching in an M.A. program or in high school. Compensation as in EngL assistantships.

Awards and Support for Later Years

Graduate students beyond their first years will need to apply for the following awards. Some suggestions for how to write a fellowship application.

  • Shelvin, Dewitt, Stout, and Wallace Fellowships
     University-wide competition for students in the middle years of study, i.e., between course work and dissertation. (These particular fellowships are not offered every year.) Recently, English doctoral candidates have been quite successful in this competition. Stipend of about $22,000 for the academic year, tuition waiver, and comprehensive health insurance.
  • Dissertation Fellowships
    University-wide competition for students in the final stages of dissertation writing. Typically two to four English graduate students win these fellowships each year. Stipend of about $22,000 for the academic year, tuition waiver, and comprehensive health insurance. Additional small awards are available for travel and unusual expenses.
  • Department of English Research Assistantships
    Available from time to time for students who are interested in working on projects with faculty members. Positions usually posted internally. Most research assistantships are 25% appointments (about 10 hours per week); students often hold these in addition to teaching assistantships.
  • Administrative Fellowships
    Occasional job openings in the Department of English (e.g. as Assistant Academic Adviser) or in other University offices (e.g. in CLA Administration as Administrative Fellow). Watch for internal postings. Most administrative fellowships are 50% appointments (work salary of about $12,000 a year, tuition waiver, and comprehensive health insurance).
  • Smaller awards for summer research, travel, and library acquisition.

Other Resources

 

grad students

Potential students meet degree candidates on Prospectives Weekend