Funding and Graduate Assistantships

Information for Full-time and Part-Time Students

Full-Time Students

All admitted full-time students are awarded graduate assistantships as either a graduate teaching assistant or graduate research assistant. Assistantships provide an annual stipend of $21,762/year, a tuition and fees waiver, and health insurance. As part of this funding package, graduate teaching assistants are required to teach 3 courses per academic year and graduate research assistants are required to dedicate 20 hours/week toward training and research toward an ongoing public humanities project.

Part-Time Students

Part-time PhD students generally work full-time jobs in public-facing fields.

The graduate per credit rate for academic year 2024-2025 is $336. 

The mandatory student fee for academic year 2024-2025 is $386.63.

The optional consolidated student fees for part-time students (which includes health insurance, campus recreation, and intercollegiate athletics) for academic year 2024-2025 is $466.67. Note: To enroll in student medical insurance program, students must be attending at-least half time.  

More information about part-time graduate tuition can be found on UW's Tuition and Fees page. 

Graduate assistantships

The Department of English offers Graduate Teaching Assistantships each year, and, periodically, offers special graduate research assistantships.

Admitted full-time students to the UW PhD in English/Public Humanities are fully funded (tuition/fees, stipend, and health insurance) for up to four years. Applicants should indicate their interest in and qualifications for graduate teaching assistantships, graduate research assistantships, or both in their letter of interest.

Yellow leaves on green grass with building in background

Graduate Teaching Assistants teach 3 courses per year in the Department of English. Typically, upper-division professional writing courses. All students awarded teaching assistantships are required to take ENGL 5900: Practicum in College Teaching, a one-credit training course in the Fall and Spring semesters of their first year.

When funding is available, students have the possibility to work on large-scale public humanities projects. Responsibilities vary based on project. Research Assistants should expect to work on teams and to receive specialized training in methods and practices for public humanities work.

Travel and research funding

All graduate students regardless of status are eligible for travel and research funding. Typically, students will be funded for one conference in which they are participating as a presenter or roundtable participant over the course of their two years in the program. Students may also be funded for one research-related trip and can expect up to $500 and may request up to $2000 for all travel over the two years. Students can apply for additional travel funds from the College of Arts & Sciences, the Office of graduate Education, and the Center for Global Studies. Funding requests should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies after the call for funding is issued at the start of the fall semester, or at least six months before date of planned travel, and must be received by the funding deadline.

Other funding opportunities

Listed below are additional sources of funding that can be used to supplement living and research expenses, and to fund research travel and study abroad:

Department of English Awards

Graduate Travel Awards

College of Arts and Sciences Scholarships and Grants

Beyond the resources listed here, you can also find additional funding opportunities through the School of Graduate Education’s Financial Assistance page, which includes information regarding various fellowships, scholarships, grants, assistantships, and student employment options.