|
Graduate student funding at Columbia is in the midst of an important transition. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, following what is known as the “Macagno Plan,” named for the former dean who designed it, is moving toward the full funding for five years of virtually all Arts and Sciences graduate students. Until the plan is fully implemented, however, there will continue to be a few students who will arrive at Columbia without funding for the first year; these students will, however, will receive funding for years two through five.
Most entering students are admitted with multi-year fellowships, known as Hofstadter Fellowships, which carry five years of funding. Students on such fellowships teach for three years (two if granted Advanced Standing), beginning in the second year. They do no teaching in the first year and, usually, in the last fellowship year. For students who enter without funding, there is a guarantee to all who complete the first year having made satisfactory academic progress of a four-year fellowship beginning in the second year (three years for students with Advanced Standing). The four-year fellowship will include three years of teaching appointments (two for students with Advanced Standing) and one year (usually the last) free of teaching obligations. The requirements of “satisfactory progress” are serious and will be applied equally to students admitted with and without first-year funding. Students who are judged not to have made satisfactory progress by the Graduate Education Committee will be asked to withdraw from the program.
Students have a number of opportunities to secure additional or substitutional funding:
Contemporary Civilization and Literature Humanities. Any student who has received the M.Phil. (the degree awarded after the successful completion of the oral exam) is eligible to apply to teach in the two central courses of Columbia’s core curriculum, Contemporary Civilization (CC) and Literature Humanities (LitHum). If appointed, the student will receive full funding for two and sometimes three years of teaching in the program, including a stipend slightly higher than those awarded to students doing departmental teaching. The selection process for CC and LitHum is competitive, but History Department students have traditionally received a significant number of such appointments. The student will also receive a summer fellowship (currently $3,000) after teaching in the program for at least a full year.
The University Writing Program. Appointments in the University Writing Program are open to all students in the History Department who have completed two years of the Ph.D. program. If awarded an appointment, the student will receive up to three years of full funding, including a stipend equal to those awarded to students doing departmental teaching. The student will also receive a summer fellowship (currently $3,000) for the summer after the second year of teaching in the program. The program is subject-oriented and is, therefore, an attractive funding option for history graduate students. For students without other funding, the University Writing Program is now the best funding opportunity available, offering students up to three years of support beyond what has already been received. This funding can carry the student through the sixth or seventh years in the program.
There are also significant advantages to University Writing Program appointments for students who already have multi-year funding. If, for example, the student accepts an appointment in the Writing Program beginning in the student’s third year (at which point the student will already have taught for a year in the History Department), the student will remain eligible for the dissertation fellowship year when they complete the program. If the student teaches in the Writing Program for two years, the dissertation fellowship would fall in the fifth year. If the student teaches in the Writing Program for three years, the dissertation fellowship would fall in the sixth year—thus extending funding for a year beyond what a multi-year fellowship provides. The student will also be eligible for a summer fellowship after the second year in the Writing Program.
Other Fellowships. There are many other opportunities for fellowship support, some from within the university and others from outside. The Graduate School maintains an extensive listing of fellowships available to graduate students, which is available through both the GSAS Financial Aid Office and History Department websites. Some of the major fellowships students regularly apply for are listed below (for details and deadlines, please visit the Financial Aid Office website.
Pre-Dissertation Fellowships
-
Jacob K. Javits Fellowships
- Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships
- Ford Foundation Fellowships for Minorities
- J.P. Morgan Chase Fellowships
- Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowships
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships
- Paul & Daisy Soros Foundation Fellowship for New Americans
- Social Science Research Council Fellowships
- Travel Fellowships
- German Chancellor Scholarship Program
- American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Research Fellowship
- Columbia University Traveling Fellowship
- GSAS Summer at Reid Hall Fellowship
- W. Stuart Thompson Memorial Fellowship
- Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award
- German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellowship
- Fulbright Institute on International Education Fellowship
- IREX Fellowship
Dissertation Write-Up Fellowships
- American Association of University Women
- Columbia University Whiting Fellowship
- Dwight Eisenhower/Clifford Roberts Graduate Fellowship
- Josephine De Karman Fellowship Trust
- Charlotte W. Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship
- Doris Quinn Dissertation Fellowship
All students—those with funding and those without it—are strongly encouraged to apply for different fellowships every year. If the student has no other funding, the advantages of an outside fellowship are obvious. Even if the student is already funded, an outside fellowship can provide additional years without teaching obligations, additional support for travel and research, and a higher level of financial support than a Columbia fellowship alone would offer. Unfunded advanced students who are not beyond their seventh year in the program and who win outside dissertation fellowships (of at least $8,000) that provide full support can petition the department to have their Matriculation and Facilities and health insurance fees covered by the department during the time of their fellowship.
Summer Research Fellowships. In recent years, the Department of History has been able to award between fifteen and twenty $3,000 summer fellowships to students who have successfully completed their first year in the doctoral program. Funds for these fellowships are provided by the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and although we cannot predict from year to year the exact number of awards we will be able to make, we are confident that a number of these fellowships will be available every summer.
Departmental Travel Funds. Travel funds are available to students through the J. Bartlett Brebner Fund, described below.
|
