Graduate
Financial Aid
Deadline for Application
Deadline for financial aid applications is December 15 for entry for the following fall and spring.
Departmental Funding
The Department of Linguistics offers a number of teaching assistantships each year to well-qualified applicants for the MA program. Teaching assistants receive a stipend for two terms of service (fall and spring terms), requiring 20 hours of work per week, plus a fellowship covering tuition for the same two terms. Doctoral students are eligible for teaching fellowships. In addition, one or two graduate student assistantships may be available each year with a two-term tuition fellowship. Some teaching assistantships and teaching fellowships also are available in the third term, including a stipend and tuition fellowship for that term.
Students admitted to a graduate program on a provisional basis are not eligible for these awards until their provisional status is changed to full status—usually after two terms of full-time study with a B average.
Most of the teaching awards involve teaching English to students in the English Language Institute, which means that they can normally be given only to students who are native speakers of a standard variety of English. Unfortunately, only a few assistantships are available each year to offer to other applicants. These awards usually involve supervising classes in the Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center. Teaching fellows sometimes are given the opportunity to teach undergraduate linguistics courses under faculty supervision. Additional support may be available in the future.
Application for both types of teaching awards and for graduate student assistantships is made by checking the appropriate box on the application for admission to graduate study in the School of Arts and Sciences. Since competition for these awards is keen, and since preference for the English Language Institute positions is given to applicants with previous teaching experience and/or training, especially in English as a foreign or second language, applicants are urged to attach to their applications a detailed description of any such experience (type of school, age level of students, methods or materials used, and any other relevant information).
University Funding
Besides the awards given by the department, there are a few other sources of financial aid available. These are described in the graduate catalog. Notice especially the announcements of the Andrew Mellon predoctoral fellowships (PhD students only), the Owens fellowships, and the graduate tuition fellowships.
In addition, the Undergraduate Advising Center offers employment to graduate students who are interested in counseling undergraduates toward a well-balanced program, and the work-study program offers part-time employment to U.S. students (apply through the Office of Student Aid). Consult the admissions officer for other current financial aid possibilities, such as research assistantships on grants.