Stipends and External Fellowships after comprehensives

[lieutenantdan]

Hello, 

I've been doing some research on history PhD programs that require service to receive a stipend and those that don't. By service I mean some type of RA or TA position. 

 

Do programs that give a stipend without service, generally, differ from those that give a stipend with service when one receives some type of external fellowship to be used abroad?

 

For example, program A gives $25,000 without service and you are in year 2. You would like to do 8 months abroad in your 3rd year for research on a fellowship you earned. The fellowship gives you a living stipend, insurance, etc. Do you still get the stipend money from you university, along with the fellowship stipend? What if you are at university that requires you to be an TA or RA? How can you accomplish the required task for the stipend money when you are abroad? Or do neither get the stipend money from their university?

 

 

Thank you. 

Edited July 11, 2018 by lieutenantdan

[Sigaba]

13 hours ago, lieutenantdan said:

Do programs that give a stipend without service, generally, differ from those that give a stipend with service when one receives some type of external fellowship to be used abroad?

LT--

You might find useful information in this forum https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/17-the-bank/

The exact information you want will likely need to come from institutions you have in mind and that information may vary. That is, what the department tells you may be different than what the graduate school and the financial aid office may offer a third interpretation of the applicable policies. 

[OHSP]

At my school—no service required/teaching is paid separately on top of stipend—people with fellowships to do research abroad usually put a portion of their stipend in reserve to be used later (to fund a 6th or 7th year or supplement summer funding etc). It’s different at every school though—service isn’t required here, across GSAS (at NYU) because of some difficult to explain NYU-specific history.

[L13]

This is university-specific, but almost always the university will consider you externally funded for the duration of the award and you won't receive your usual funding package. Your funding for that semester or year will roll over and extend your financial coverage in the program.

At my university, though, it's not uncommon for people with external fellowships that don't cover tuition to get tuition waivers from the university, which is something.

Edited July 12, 2018 by L13

[TMP]

You will want to use the Funding Package spreadsheet thread/link to get a sense of who offers fellowships after 3rd year.  Sometimes the year can be negotiated (I.e. if you need that money sooner than later, or put it off to another  year).

[AP]

On 7/11/2018 at 11:08 AM, lieutenantdan said:

Hello, 

I've been doing some research on history PhD programs that require service to receive a stipend and those that don't. By service I mean some type of RA or TA position. 

 

Do programs that give a stipend without service, generally, differ from those that give a stipend with service when one receives some type of external fellowship to be used abroad?

 

For example, program A gives $25,000 without service and you are in year 2. You would like to do 8 months abroad in your 3rd year for research on a fellowship you earned. The fellowship gives you a living stipend, insurance, etc. Do you still get the stipend money from you university, along with the fellowship stipend? What if you are at university that requires you to be an TA or RA? How can you accomplish the required task for the stipend money when you are abroad? Or do neither get the stipend money from their university?

 

 

Thank you. 

Typically, if you get a research fellowship, you defer your graduate stipend for later. Programs that require TAing and teaching will typically give you time for your research. I doubt you encountered a program in–say– East Asian history that requires 10 semesters of teaching (=responsibilities in your five years). If you did, don't apply there! Further, many programs don't require more than three years of residency.

Finally, I didn't understand your last question. 

needless to say, everything varies from program to program. 

[lieutenantdan]

1 hour ago, AP said:

I doubt you encountered a program in–say– East Asian history that requires 10 semesters of teaching (=responsibilities in your five years). If you did, don't apply there! Further, many programs don't require more than three years of residency.

Finally, I didn't understand your last question. 

I encountered a program where the stipend every year comes from TAing/RAing (no more than 20hrs a week), unless you are on a fellowship. If you are on a fellowship, then the stipend/teaching money rolls over to the next semester or year. So, it seems that with that program it'd be in your best interest to be continually applying to fellowships, which I guess could be a good or bad thing. On the one hand it is slightly more work, on the other it's evidence of an ability to find money within the university and outside of the university.

To be fair, the department does actively give you fellowships as well. They are just not guaranteed every year. So if a semester comes and they have not given you a fellowship or you have not secured one on your own, then you will be TAing or RAing. 

As for my last question, I meant does the money for that year or semester just disappear? But it's been answered. I think the general result is that money rolls over. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by lieutenantdan

[AP]

8 hours ago, lieutenantdan said:

I encountered a program where the stipend every year comes from TAing/RAing (no more than 20hrs a week), unless you are on a fellowship. If you are on a fellowship, then the stipend/teaching money rolls over to the next semester or year. So, it seems that with that program it'd be in your best interest to be continually applying to fellowships, which I guess could be a good or bad thing. On the one hand it is slightly more work, on the other it's evidence of an ability to find money within the university and outside of the university.

To be fair, the department does actively give you fellowships as well. They are just not guaranteed every year. So if a semester comes and they have not given you a fellowship or you have not secured one on your own, then you will be TAing or RAing. 

As for my last question, I meant does the money for that year or semester just disappear? But it's been answered. I think the general result is that money rolls over. 

Ok, in that case teaching or RAing is a matter of finance, not a program requirement. This would give you the flexibility (funding permitting) of going abroad for research since you don't have to accept responsibilities on campus. Most of the language departments in my school require students to teach if they are in the area (which they have to the first three years). In theory (and by that I mean 'on paper') funding is not contingent upon teaching but it is a program requirement to teach at least six semesters. In that case, the money still comes from the graduate school (not from the college) but it 'liberates' senior faculty from teaching to do their own research. A truly exploitative system. 

Funding in graduate school varies a lot school to school and even program to program within the same school. Some schools guarantee funding for 5 years, regardless of responsibilities, some give you for the first 2 or 3 and then you compete, and some, like the program you mentioned, you have to compete every year. I know that you will weigh in many variables, but if all circumstances are more or less the same, I'd advise you against applying for a program where you have to compete for funding every year. 

[lieutenantdan]

13 hours ago, AP said:

I know that you will weigh in many variables, but if all circumstances are more or less the same, I'd advise you against applying for a program where you have to compete for funding every year. 

Hah. I'm about to enter one that does, but I didn't know about all these funding structures at other schools existed until very recently. I'm debating now whether to go or not. I chose the school because it was a really good fit. They've offered a fellowship for my first year and a one semester fellowship after year 2. If I hold off on using that one semester fellowship until year 5, it becomes a year long fellowship. So, I won't have to TA or RA for at least 3 semesters, but I'm a bit worried about the others. 

I took the fit criteria to heart when applying to programs, opting to not apply to more financially robust programs that did not fit as well. I also figured I might have needed more study (read: a master's, which I don't have) to stand a chance at some of the higher up schools. But it seems now that going the master's route or applying to a school that is not as good a fit (but has more money) might have been a better option..

Edited July 14, 2018 by lieutenantdan