Graduate Student Funding

Assistantships for Graduate Students in English

Teaching Assistantships:

The majority of our Ph.D. students and second-year M.A. students receive funding through Teaching Assistantships, drastically reducing tuition costs, while also providing students a reasonable stipend and valuable teaching experience. Most TAs teach three first-year composition classes per academic year during their time at UGA. Ph.D. students can expect to receive five years of funding through assistantships, assuming they perform well and are making sufficient progress toward degree completion.

First-year M.A. students are eligible to work as consultants at the Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing. In these positions, their stipends are identical to those of Teaching Assistants. If these students are from out of state, they should contact the Graduate Coordinator and ask to be nominated for The Regents’ Research Out-Of-State Tuition (ROOST) award. Second-year M.A. students are eligible to be considered for Teaching Assistantships.

Teaching Assistantships reduce tuition to a mere $25 a semester, though students must pay university fees. (For fees, visit: UGA's Bursar; for health insurance information, see: UGA HR.) The stipend for the 2024-2025 academic year is $20,578.05 for a Ph.D. student teaching three courses per year and $19,365.56 for an M.A. student teaching three courses per year.

Students with no previous composition teaching experience are expected to begin training the summer before their first semester at UGA, apprenticing with an experienced teaching assistant.  All TAs new to UGA will attend a Graduate School orientation as well as a First-Year Composition Office orientation before the fall semester they begin course work.  During their first semester of the program, students take a composition pedagogy practicum (English 6911). Teaching Assistants may also request to work in the First-Year Composition Program’s Writing Center or Digital Learning Labs in lieu of teaching one or more classes each semester, and a few senior TAs teach higher-level literature or creative writing courses each year.

Research Assistantships:

A small number of our newly admitted Ph.D. students may be awarded university-wide, competitively selected Research Assistantships (e.g., the Presidential Fellowship). Recipients of these awards in the English Department assist faculty members in their research for a maximum of sixteen hours per week.

All students applying to the English graduate program, should include a Teaching/Research Assistantship Application with the materials sent to the English Department’s Graduate office.

The Graduate Student Handbook includes further information about Teaching and Research Assistantships.

Travel Funding

The English Department views involvement in scholarly conferences as an integral part of the graduate student experience. Accordingly, students in their first or second year of study may apply to the department for funds to support travel once per fiscal year. Since funds are limited, these students should not anticipate full funding. Once Ph.D. students enter their fifth semester of graduate study at UGA, they are eligible to apply to the Graduate School for funding. More information about travel funding can be found in the Graduate Student Handbook, and current students should pay close attention to due dates for travel fund applications.

Other Awards

Each year, English faculty are invited to nominate students for several awards, which offer recognition and support for the chosen winners, announced at the annual awards ceremony at the end of the spring semester. These awards include the Alice C. Langdale Award, the Robert H. West Scholar Award., the Robert E. Park Essay Award, the Mary Lynn Oliver Hunt and Matthew Alan Hunt Graduate Studies Fellowship in English, and the Jim B. Colvert English Graduate Award. The English Graduate Student Handbook provides more information on each of these awards.

Additionally, several English graduate students have received research awards through the Wilson Center and the Graduate School offers awards, such as the Dissertation Completion Award.

External Funding Sources 

Click here for UGA’s Recommended Databases for External Funding Opportunities

McNair Scholars Program: http://mcnairscholars.com/funding/

The Newberry Library: https://www.newberry.org/fellowships

Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies: http://woodrow.org/fellowships/womens-studies/

Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship: http://woodrow.org/fellowships/newcombe/

American Association of University Women (AAUW) Fellowships: http://aauw.org/

Ford Foundation Fellowships: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/FordFellowships/PGA_047958

Council on Library and Information Resources Funding: https://www.clir.org/fellowships

The John Carter Brown Library Fellowships: https://www.brown.edu/academics/libraries/john-carter-brown/fellowships

Frederick Douglass Institute Fellowship: http://www.sas.rochester.edu/aas/fellowships/index.html

Smithsonian Fellowships: https://www.smithsonianofi.com/fellowship-opportunities/