Funding Graduate School
Financing graduate study in economics is often done in conjunction with the student's Ph.D. program. Most graduate school funding is not need-dependent, but instead tends to be merit-dependent. Funding is generally awarded in the form of fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships. Different programs award funding for different durations. According to the study, "Attrition in Economics Ph.D. Programs," (Stock, Finegan, and Siegfried, 2006), about 80 percent of the incoming class of economics Ph.D. students at a representative sample of Ph.D. programs were awarded financial aid during their first year of graduate study. The largest proportion of these was in the form of fellowships (which generally have no work requirement). The second most common financial aid was in the form of teaching and/or research assistantships (which generally include a work requirement). Securing some form of aid and receiving a fellowship are more common among students enrolled at top-tier programs.
Links to Funding Resources
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The American Association of University Women offers a fellowship for women pursuing doctorates. - The National Science Foundation awards funding through its Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
- Cornell offers information about various fellowships available to graduate students.
- Mark Foley provides information on the cost of graduate school, as well as links to outside funding sources (i.e., fellowships, financial aid, and grants).
- The University of Pennsylvania offers Financial Aid Links for graduate students.
- The University of California-Riverside provides an extensive list of links to websites that offer financial support for graduate students, which are categorized by subject area.
- Professor Susan Athey offers information about funding, as well as general information about applying to graduate school. Scroll down to the sections titled “NSF Fellowships” and “Financial Statements” for specific funding information.
- The American Institute of Economic Research provides a description of their fellowship program.
- The University of Washington offers links and information about graduate school funding.