Financial Support for PhD Students

Tuition

PhD students in good standing you will receive a Graduate Scholarship for the full tuition plus health insurance subsidy and Yates and Activity Fees for as long as they are in the program (up to 5 years). 

Fellowship/Stipend Support

Fellowship/Stipend support is merit based and is provided to PhD students in order that they might pursue their academics without having to earn an income. First Year PhD students will receive a fellowship from the Department. For the current stipend rate, please check the Graduate School’s website at https://grad.georgetown.edu/financial-support/merit-based-financial-aid/fellowships/. The purpose of this fellowship in the first year  is for PhD students to focus in on their studies and prepare for the comprehensive exams at the conclusion of the first year. 

Second Year to Fifth Year PhD students will receive a service stipend. Mainly students choose between teaching assistantships (95%) and research assistantships (5%). 

Sixth Year PhD students and above are not guaranteed for Graduate School or Departmental stipend support. At this time, PhD students are encouraged to find alternate sources of income. 

Fellowship support provides a lump sum stipend payment at the start of the quarter and tuition support. Students on a university fellowship also receive a health insurance subsidy.

Teaching Assistantships (TAs)

TAs are hired by the department and receive a payroll check twice a month. TAs work at most 15 hours per week during the semester in which they are employed.

Research Assistantships

Students on Research Assistantships are employed by the professor who hired them. Students are generally contacted by the Professor who is interested in them to work on research. RAs can be employed hourly or by the semester at the same terms as the TAs. The total working hours (including the TA hours) for a PhD students cannot exceed 20 hours per week.

Other Supports

The Director of Graduate Studies may support the Ph.D. students for the following activities.

Journal Submission Fee Support

A student may receive support for journal submission fee by:

(I) emailing the paper and the name of the journal
(II) asking the advisor to email the short letter of support to the Director of Graduate Studies.

Job Market Paper Copy Editing 

A job market candidate can receive up to $500 support for an outside editor’s help on the job market paper.  The candidate has to send the estimate from the editor to the Director of Graduate Studies to receive the support. The editor has to be registered as a vendor with the university.

Conference Travel Match 

If you apply the university-level travel support on conferences and receive one, the department will match up to $500.  The match is limited to be once per school year.