Funding

Funding for incoming graduate students

Adequate funding can be an important determinant of a student’s success in graduate school; therefore, SAFS requires funding packages for all incoming graduate students. Funding packages typically include multiple quarters of support with each quarter providing a monthly stipend/salary for living expenses, health insurance, and payment of tuition and some student fees. Students in SAFS may be funded in a variety of ways including:

  • research assistantships (RA)
  • teaching assistantships (TA)
  • fellowships (also known as stipend-with-benefits)
  • employer support
  • other forms of internal/external aid (scholarships, governmental sponsorship, scholarships from their home countries for international students, etc.)
    *noting that external aid is typically used before internal SAFS funding

Applicants are not required to have secured funding prior to submitting the application for admission. All applicants are automatically considered for SAFS-based funding – there is no secondary process required. Funding is determined prior to an admission offer being made and is dependent on faculty sponsorship – each funding package is unique and is based on availability of funding from faculty grants, SAFS fellowships, and external funding (ex. fellowships or employer support).

While applicants aren’t required to apply for internal SAFS funding prior to admission, they can (and are encouraged to) apply for external funding such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (among others). External funding may increase the chance of securing faculty sponsorship for admission to SAFS by helping to increase confirmed funding. It can also provide flexibility in research if funding is not tied to a faculty advisor’s research grant(s). See “Additional Resources for Graduate Funding” below.

Student loans, personal funds/savings, or other forms of “self-funding” are not factored into funding considerations for admissions purposes in the SAFS graduate program. Students may elect to use personal funds and student loans to supplement their expenses, but SAFS will only admit students with confirmed funding for at least six to eight quarters from the sources described above (ex. research or teaching assistantships, fellowships, employer support, etc.)

Funding for continuing SAFS students

SAFS has some funding available for continuing SAFS grads, including travel grants*, research grants, research-based fellowship quarters, and finishing quarter fellowships. Applications for these funding opportunities* are accepted on a quarterly basis (unless otherwise noted) and will be reviewed by the SAFS Recruitment, Admissions and Scholarships Committee (RASC).
*Travel grants are managed by other committees, as noted in the resource list below.

Back to Top