Financial Aid
Graduate programs within research-intensive universities will provide support to their Ph.D. candidates to the fullest extent possible from institutional resources. Support may be limited to four or five years. Applicants for admission will be considered for institutional support when they indicate their interest on the application itself. Students should inform themselves thoroughly about both departmental procedures for applying for and receiving financial assistance, and should also be familiar with their graduate school’s office of financial aid.
Scholarships and fellowships
Most financial assistance for Ph.D. candidates is awarded through scholarships and fellowships (internal link to next section). Both scholarships and fellowship support tuition costs and living expenses, and the terms are interchanged frequently. The original meaning of “fellowship,” however, includes some sort of experiential component, generally teaching or research.
Loans
An educational loan is one way to cover the cost of graduate education not paid by scholarships and fellowships or during a period when a student does not receive such an award. Most graduate schools offer Federal Stafford and Perkins loan programs which are restricted to U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents. Graduate students apply for loans as independents rather than as financial dependents of their parents. Applying for an educational loan will require completion of a FAFSA form in order to calculate need.
Employment
Part time employment in non-academic settings should be cleared with the student’s department since graduate support is awarded on the assumption that a student is engaged full time in study and research.