Financial Support

Home Graduate Program Financial Support

The department counts as one of its top priorities the provision of adequate financial support for the students in its graduate programs.

For the doctoral program, the approach taken is essentially egalitarian. An informal promise is made to each student admitted to the doctoral program that they will receive funding for the 5 years that it takes to complete the PhD. First year support comes in the form of a fellowship. In subsequent years, financial support comes from teaching assistantships, research assistantships and fellowships. Students are not ranked for the purposes of providing financial support, a policy designed to minimize divisions among students and to emphasize and strengthen a sense of community and solidarity. Some students themselves make contributions to graduate support by bringing in outside funding (from the National Science Foundation, from the Canadian Social Sciences Research Council, from the Fulbright Program and so on).

While it is not possible at present for the department to promise full support for each quarter to students in the MA program, MA students often hold teaching assistant positions or other positions in Linguistics or in other departments. The department is committed to the goal of maximizing such opportunities.