Funding

New Applicants

The Department of History has approximately 27 teaching and research assistant awards that we use to support our graduate students. These assistantships come with tuition waivers, health insurance coverage and annual stipends. The department evaluates new applicants for funding as part of the admissions process, and funding awards are merit-based.

The department will let accepted students know about their funding status soon after notifying them of admission. Newly admitted students with funding offers will typically receive multi-year funding packages, although sometimes it may only be possible for the department to extend a funding offer for a single year. Most students who receive assistantships are candidates for the PhD rather than the MA.

Each year, the department also nominates new applicants and returning students for various fellowships offered through the College of Arts and Sciences. One new student in US History will be awarded the Department’s Klein Fellowship. The department picks nominees for these fellowships as part of our regular admissions process, so there are no additional steps to apply for them.

In addition to assistantships, the Department is sometimes also able to provide students with financial support for conference and research travel.

Funding Resources outside the Department

Entering students who do not receive funding through the Department should keep an eye out for funding opportunities elsewhere in the university. In additional to departmental assistantships, in the past History Department students have found assistantships in the College of Arts and Science Advising Center, the Haslam Honors College, and the MARCO Institute, among other places. These other kinds of assistantships can add valuable diversity to students’ professional profiles, and can expand the sorts of jobs for which they might eventually be considered.